This week marks eighty years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6th, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9th, 1945). We would like to reflect back on previous Unwritten Record posts that highlight records documenting the destruction. Photograph of Hiroshima after Atomic Bomb (Local ID: 243-HP-I-31-2) In the weeks following the surrender of Nazi Germany, President … Continue reading Link Roundup: The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Photograph of Air Mail Display in Manteca, California (Local ID: 28-MS-3B-5) This week marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States Postal Service (USPS), which the Second Continental Congress established on July 26, 1775. The service was formalized as the United States Post Office Department (POD) through the Postal Service Act of … Continue reading Special Delivery! – 250 Years of the United States Postal Service
Happy Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week! This week was established by the Chesapeake Bay Commission in 2016, and formally designates nine days each June to celebrate the history and natural beauty of the nation’s largest estuary. This year, Chesapeake Bay Appreciation Week is June 7 to 15, and focuses on the protectors and wonders of the bay.
It’s National Donut Day! While we hope you celebrate with a few tasty glazed treats, maybe refrain from celebrating with donut hole target practice. That’s right, the National Dunking Association celebrated the donut and its all-important hole at their October 1941 New York conference. Still taken from Universal Newsreel Volume 14 Release 38 (Local ID: … Continue reading Do-Nut Try This At Home: Celebrate Donut Day with the National Dunking Association
For an overview of Military Personnel Photographs, please see our website https://www.archives.gov/research/still-pictures/military-personnel-photographs. This post was written in collaboration with Heather Sulier, Archives Specialist. The Still Picture Branch has multiple indexes to search for various branches of the U.S. Military. Our U.S. Air Force index, 342-Z: Personality Index to Photographs of Activities, Facilities, and Personnel is … Continue reading How to Search Still Photographs for Air Force Personalities
The Works Progress Administration or Work Projects Administration (WPA) was the largest New Deal agency. Created by the United States government in 1935, the agency provided jobs to unemployed workers during the Great Depression. During its tenure, the agency employed millions of job seekers to carry out public works projects such as constructing public buildings, … Continue reading The Federal Theatre Project Presents: “Voodoo Macbeth”
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. With the last American combat troops withdrawing from Vietnam in March of 1973, Richard Nixon resigning his presidency in August of 1974, and the resignation of South Vietnamese president Nguyễn Văn … Continue reading Haste: Operation Frequent Wind and the Fall of Saigon
Still taken from 306.6536 We are continuing our celebration of National Library Week by highlighting films from our collection featuring stories about libraries. Check out Part One here and use this tool to help you find your local library. The films featured in this post were made for different reasons and audiences, but both highlight … Continue reading Happy National Library Week Part Two!
Still taken from H-HF-103 R. 2 First formalized and sponsored in 1958 by the American Library Association, this is a week dedicated to the promotion, use, and support for local libraries. Every year the week is given a theme; 2025 is Drawn to the Library![1] but today we are going off-theme to take a look … Continue reading Happy National Library Week!
This weekend marked the 60th anniversary of the Gemini III mission, which took place on March 23, 1965. The flight, while being one of many that would eventually lead to Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps on the moon, would itself establish many firsts that would define mankind’s traversal of the stars. Photograph of Gemini III … Continue reading Trials, Tribulations, and A Smuggled Sandwich: The Story of Gemini III
