Wings for This Man: Celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen

Please Note: Primary source documents used in this post may contain harmful language. See NARA’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Language. The First Motion Picture Unit When America entered the war in Europe in 1941, the country's greatest challenge was finding enough manpower to wage a two-front war. The country needed to quickly increase the number … Continue reading Wings for This Man: Celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen

Spotlight: Killers of the Flower Moon and the Ford Film Collection

At first glance, Martin Scorsese, the Osage Nation, and Henry Ford have nothing in common. Scorsese is an award-winning American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. The Osage Nation is a thriving American Indian tribe whose ancestral land includes much of Oklahoma, and Ford is an industrialist who changed the manufacturing landscape. But despite assumptions, … Continue reading Spotlight: Killers of the Flower Moon and the Ford Film Collection

Drawing Benefits: The USIA’s Space Race Message and the Animators Who Brought It to Life

It’s time for us to return to one of our favorite topics—Cartoons! And not just any cartoons, but the animation produced for the United States Information Agency (USIA). You may already have joined us for our exploration of anti-Communist Mexican cartoons, animation and animatics by the “Walt Disney” of Thailand, or this psychedelic symbolic history … Continue reading Drawing Benefits: The USIA’s Space Race Message and the Animators Who Brought It to Life

Dong Kingman: Watercolor Master

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and in honor of this, we will be highlighting records related to the Chinse American watercolor artist, Dong Kingman.  The Moving Image and Sound Branch has two beautiful color films that capture the work of Kingman and show the process of how he painted his masterpieces.  … Continue reading Dong Kingman: Watercolor Master

Spotlight: The Discovery of King Tutankhamun

February 16, 2023 is the 100th anniversary of the opening of King Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. The tomb was discovered in November 1922 by English archaeologist Howard Carter and his team, who had been searching for it for five years. The tomb, located in Thebes, Egypt, was found virtually intact after 3,000 years.  On February 16, … Continue reading Spotlight: The Discovery of King Tutankhamun

The Art of War

Still from US ARMY ARTISTS, 111-LC-55581 ABOUT THE FILM Working in the Special Media Division at the National Archives, we are used to seeing images of war captured by moving images and still photos. However, the US military also uses more traditional forms of artwork to document their operations and daily lives. All military branches … Continue reading The Art of War

The Wright Military Flyer Soars on Celluloid: Uncovering the Story of Our Oldest Government Film

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is well known for preserving the first written records of our nation. People come from around the world to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. But what about the first government films? The oldest known government-produced film in our holdings is First Army Aeroplane … Continue reading The Wright Military Flyer Soars on Celluloid: Uncovering the Story of Our Oldest Government Film

Universal Newsreel Release Descriptions Now Live in the National Archives Catalog

Universal Newsreel Opening Credits /Logo Nearly 4,000 Universal Newsreel Release descriptions have been added to the National Archives Catalog, the result of a unique, multi-year collaborative effort by NARA staff of the Moving Image and Sound Branch and Citizen Archivist Phil Stewart. The project’s goal was to systematically transcribe the content of the twice-weekly synopsis, … Continue reading Universal Newsreel Release Descriptions Now Live in the National Archives Catalog

The Film Frontier: Using Films and Videos in Your National History Day Project

The 2022 National History Day contests resulted in many fascinating projects covering topics ranging from labor and environmental debates to U.S.-China Ping Pong Diplomacy. Now it is time to begin looking ahead to 2023! The 2023 NHD contest theme is Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas and on page 35 of the 2023 NHD Theme … Continue reading The Film Frontier: Using Films and Videos in Your National History Day Project

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX with Archival Footage of Sporting Legends

June 23, 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the landmark federal bill designed to guarantee equal opportunities for women in education and sports by prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools. Title IX was passed as part of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, U.S. federal legislation under public law … Continue reading Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX with Archival Footage of Sporting Legends