Photograph of Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Captain Charity Adams of Columbia, NC Drilling Her Company. Local Identifier: 111-SC-238651; National Archives Identifier: 531334. “No mail, low morale,” or so the motto goes. Even before the founding of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion, the mail was piling up for the soldiers serving during World War II. … Continue reading No Mail, Low Morale: The 6888th Central Postal Battalion
As we move into 2022, celebrations of the New Year take shape in many different forms. Due to the current circumstances, the celebrations for 2022 most likely looked very different than those in 2021, and even 2020. However, consider how different the New Year celebrations looked in 2004, 1952, 1943, and even 1869. Pictured in … Continue reading Different Years, Always New: The New Year in Photos
One of America's most iconic memorials will be celebrating its 100th anniversary on Veteran's Day 2021, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. It is visited every year by millions of visitors. The National Archives Still Pictures Branch holds photographs relating to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier depicting visitors paying their … Continue reading 100th Anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
I'm back again with another update regarding the progress of the Subject Finding Aid Project in the Still Picture Branch. Harnessing the momentum gained with Batches 2 and 3, I'm happy to announce that roughly 3500 descriptions for Batches 4 and 5 are LIVE in the NARA Catalog! The Finding Aids in these batches cover … Continue reading Subject Finding Aid Project (Update 2)
Navy photographer, PH1 Greg McCreash, downloads a Kodak DCS 420 digital camera into the Electronic Imaging Center (EIC) while deployed to Zagreb, Croatia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor. Local Identifier: 330-CFD-DD-SD-99-03481.jpeg, NAID: 6503275. With the move to a digital world, photography follows suit. Born-digital photography is becoming increasingly popular and prevalent. The term “born-digital” … Continue reading Visual Cues and Clues: Born-Digital Photographs and their Metadata
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States. On September 11, 2001, four coordinated terrorist attacks were committed against the United States when two hijacked planes were flown into the North and South Towers at the World Trade Center, a third hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., … Continue reading Remembering 9/11
In 1941 the United States had begun to prepare for the possibility of war and consequently, millions of jobs were being created. However, racial discrimination kept African Americans and other minorities from obtaining these defense industry jobs. In response to pressure from A. Philip Randolph, who had been organizing a march on Washington, and other … Continue reading Montford Point Marines
The White House hosted its first - and only - fashion show on February 29, 1968. The fashion show and luncheon was presented by the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, and was titled "How to Discover America in Style." The audience included the wives of governors who were in Washington D.C. for the midwinter meeting … Continue reading Spotlight: 1968 White House Fashion Show
Hello my fellow Unwritten Recordians, I’m back with an update from the Still Picture Branch regarding progress on the Subject Finding Aid Project! As of my last post in June, we had one batch of descriptions live in the National Archives Catalog, with a second one on the way. As of today, the second AND … Continue reading Subject Finding Aid Project (Update)
Aquarius Plateau. J.K. Hillers at work (as photographer). Local Identifier: 57-PS-809, NAID: 517983. This image is cropped from the original. When you think of photographic negatives today, perhaps you imagine flexible, plastic-like film. However, some of the earliest negative images would be found on glass. Glass served as a viable support to capture the photographic … Continue reading Visual Cues and Clues: Cracking the Code of Glass Negatives
