An Update on Still Picture Catalog Additions

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 discover records more easily. Additionally, we’ve been working to upload digital surrogates to our catalog that were scanned prior to the research room closure. Below we have highlighted some of the still picture additions that have been made available. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of additions and we are continuing to add as much as we can to the catalog during this time.

111-SCA: U.S. Army Signal Corps Photographs Of Military Activity During World War II and The Korean Conflict

This series consists of bound photo albums that document American military activities. 111-SCA has not been fully digitized. However, thanks to a previous Still Picture intern, six photo albums relating to D-Day/the Normandy Invasion have been scanned and the captions transcribed. The albums are now available in the NARA catalog. Following are links to each album.

111-SCA, Album number 1298: France – Normandy Invasion: Utah, Omaha, and Other Beaches; Green, Red, and Yellow Beaches; Southern France. To see all images in 111-SCA-1298, click here.

111-SCA, Album number 1299: France – Normandy Invasion Beachheads: Omaha and Utah Beaches. To see all images in 111-SCA-1299, click here.

111-SCA, Album number 1300: France – Normandy Invasion Beachheads: Omaha and Utah Beaches. To see all images in 111-SCA-1300, click here.

111-SCA, Album number 1301: France – Normandy Invasion Beachheads: Omaha and Utah Beaches. To see all images in album 111-SCA-1301, click here.

111-SCA, Album number 1302: France – Normandy Invasion: Omaha and Utah Beaches. To see all images in 111-SCA-1302, click here.

111-SCA, Album number 1303: France – Normandy Invasion: Omaha and Utah Beaches. To see all images in 111-SCA-1303, click here.

80-GK: Color Photographs of U.S. Navy Activities

80-GK contains Naval WWII color photography, and includes views of: Navy ships and aircraft; activities of Naval personnel on board ship; award ceremonies and surrenders of enemy forces; training activities; coverage of the major invasions of the war, such as Anzio, Sicily, Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Saipan; prominent Navy personalities; and some Korean War activities.

This series is comprised entirely of slides and transparencies and at this time it has not been systematically digitized. However, staff are currently working on creating metadata for 80-GK, which will be used for a future scanning project. That said, through the course of reference activities, select scans have been made from original 80-GK transparencies. To see 80-GK images that have been added to the catalog, click here.

342-C: Color Photographs of U.S. Air Force Activities, Facilities, and Personnel, Domestic and Foreign, ca. 1940 – ca. 1980

The color images in the series document the activities of the U.S. Air Force and predecessor agencies during World War II, the post-war occupations of Germany and Japan, the Korean War, military incidents, the Cold War, and the war in Vietnam. Included are images of aircraft, weapons, combat action, bombings, military operations, fields and installations, tests, organizations, units, and military personnel.

342-C is comprised of transparencies, negatives, and slides. At this time, there has not been a systemic effort to digitize the entire series. However, similar to 80-GK, scans from original 342-C transparencies and negatives have been made through the course of completing reference duties. To see what types of 342-C images have been added to the catalog, click here.

306-DRC: Democratic and Republican National Conventions, 1968

306-DRC includes photographs taken by the United States Information Agency of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami. This series has not been fully digitized, though there are 21 images from this series that have been added to the catalog here.

57-GCL: Historical Lantern Slides Relating to Geological Expeditions

This series consists of lantern slides (including hand colored slides) that primarily document the Grand Canyon Mapping Expedition of 1923, headed by the Geological Survey’s Chief Topographic Engineer, Claude Birdseye. Also documented is a miscellaneous group of earlier expeditions to the Grand Canyon and Canyon De Chelly in Arizona, and the Green and Rio Virgin Rivers in Utah. 57-GCL has been fully digitized and made available in the catalog here.

35-MOPB: Panoramas of CCC Companies and Camps, 1934 – 1940

35-MOPB consists of panoramas of Civilian Conservation Corps campsites, companies of enrollees, and camp personnel in Colorado and Wyoming. It has been fully digitized and made available here.

35-MOPD: Composite Photographs of CCC Companies in Colorado and Wyoming, 1939 – 1940

35-MOPD consists of black-and-white composite photographs made by the firm Spencer and Wyckoff of Detroit, MI. Each photograph contains from four to seven images, mostly panoramas, of camps, enrollees, and camp personnel. This series has been fully digitized and made available here.

77-A: Office of the Chief of Engineers – Activities Files Photographs, ca. 1875 – ca. 1912

This series consists of photographs primarily relating to the training of military engineers. The Office of the Chief of Engineers accumulated, created, and maintained these photographs from approximately 1875 to 1912. Some of the subjects predate the creation of this series. 77-AJ, a subseries of 77-A, has been digitized and added to the catalog here. 77-AJ includes 164 oversize glass plate negatives that document maps of coastal defenses, dynamite and mine explosions, engineer drawings, and reconnaissance maps.

Scans from Record Group 242: National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized

242-JRP: Photographs taken by Waffen-SS Photographers. This series includes photographs of front-line activities of Waffen-SS units on the Eastern and Western Fronts (including France, the Balkans, Poland and the USSR), as well as images showing training exercises, portraits of individuals and groups, and views of cities, towns and local civilian populations. 72 photographs from 242-JRP have been added to the catalog here.

242-GAP: Photographs taken by Propaganda Units of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) and the Waffen-SS. Among the subjects covered in 242-GAP are images documenting the invasion of European countries, their occupation by the Germans, civilian life under German rule; front-line military action, German soldiers in barracks, POWs, military equipment; civilian life in Germany, bomb damage to German cities, German military leaders and officials, political leaders, soldiers decorated with medals. Examples from 242-GAP have been added to the catalog here.

242-HD: Summer Olympic Games, Berlin, August 1936. 242-HD includes photographs of the lighting of the Olympic Torch at Mt. Olympus; the opening ceremonies in Berlin; pre-games training by different teams; athletes in the Olympic Village; various ceremonies, pageants and parades; athletes participating in track and field events, equestrian events, swimming, polo, weightlifting, rowing, bicycle races, soccer, field hockey, basketball and gymnastics; and informal portraits of athletes, crowd scenes. Examples from 242- HD have been added to the catalog here.

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Research Room Status

The Research Room at College Park remains closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please monitor our web page (https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus) for future developments. We appreciate your understanding and patience.