While the pandemic significantly altered our day-to-day responsibilities in the Still Picture Branch, our team adapted to the challenges presented by the work-from-home environment and bolstered our Research and Reference capabilities by increasing access to our holdings, digitally and on-site. One of the projects we’ve undertaken to help in this endeavor is the description and … Continue reading Subject Finding Aid Project
Today’s post was written by Alan Walker, archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. For Preservation Month, here is a visual story of how the staff of the National Archives once did important work on a small piece of American naval history. The Union's shallow draft navy was one … Continue reading The Voyage of the USS Chimo
Have you ever wondered what the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area looked like from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century? Thanks to the Bureau of Public Roads role in documenting road constructions, highways, building structures, etc., you are in luck. Record Group 30: Historical Photograph Files, 1896-1963 (30-N) contains … Continue reading Historical Roads and Buildings in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia
Photograph of Researcher in the Central Search Room of the National Archives Building. 64-PR-20-1, NAID: 74228254 In this edition of Visual Cues and Clues, let’s step outside the box and explore photographs from a different angle. Instead of looking at what’s in the photograph, let’s explore what’s on the photograph. Markings, emblems, and logos sometimes … Continue reading Visual Cues and Clues: Looking ON the Photo
Photograph of Members of the Tokyo Raid; Local Identifier: 342-FH-3A-48559-59885AC; NAID: 148728204 If you’re searching for World War II-era United States Air Force photography, look no further! Earlier this year, scans were added to our online catalog for nearly all of the World War II, US Air Force photography. Originally, the military branch was known … Continue reading Spotlight: US Air Force World War II Photography
Recently, a series of photographs entitled Photographs Related to the Operation and Development of the Panama Canal Zone, ca. 1938 - ca. 1960 (185-CZ), went live on NARA's online catalog. The 2,483 photographs document various functions of the civil government and the Department of Operations and Maintenance of the Canal Zone. Included in the images … Continue reading Panama Canal Zone Photographs
Photograph of Josephine Cobb holding a Mathew Brady photograph. Local Identifier: 64-NA-1595, NAID: 12169321. Finding a specific photograph on the internet can be easy. Finding a specific photograph within the holdings of the National Archives can be trickier. If you have a specific photograph you found in the course of your research and it is … Continue reading Visual Cues and Clues: Picking the Right Record Group for Still Pictures
The Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit, known as the "Hello Girls", was a unit of women who operated telephone switchboards, sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps, during World War I. The term, "Hello Girls", was used for women who first greeted callers with the word "hello". The corps was formed due to a … Continue reading “Hello Girls” – Women Telephone Operators during WWI
Though our research rooms remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, National Archives staff have been diligently working from home to make records more accessible to the public. In this vein, Still Picture staff have been converting finding aids into online catalog descriptions. Making descriptions searchable via the catalog will ultimately help researchers locate and … Continue reading An Update on Still Picture Catalog Additions
If you are not familiar with the name Dorothea Lange, at the very least you may recognize Lange's iconic photograph "Migrant Mother." Throughout the 1920s, Dorothea Lange worked as a studio portrait photographer in San Francisco. However, by the height of the Great Depression, she turned her focus towards documenting people and her surroundings. As … Continue reading Spotlight: Dorothea Lange
