Hole World

by kquinn, posted in Animals, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Posters, Space, State History, Still Pictures, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, World War I, World War II

With my last blog, I may have inadvertently started a quest to bring Unwritten Record readers the most random finds from the Still Picture holdings.  Today, I present to you, Holes.  When I began brainstorming for this blog post, it was the first word that popped into my head (most likely due to me hitting a brutal pothole on the way into work), so I trusted my gut and dug in.  Luckily for our readers, I was able to sift through the Catalog results and unearth some unique pictorial treasures.

I started out in the NextGen NARA Catalog looking for “Holes” — when using the Catalog, it’s a good habit to put your search terms in quotation marks, as it will ensure the returns come back for the contained word or phrase (e.g. Fox Hole vs “Fox Hole” will produce different results).  From there, I filtered my results to Photographs and other Graphic Materials in the Type of Materials section, then opened the Location of Archival Materials section, and filtered by National Archives at College Park – Still Pictures.  With 90 pages of results, I had the hole world at my fingertips.  Here’s what I found:

I liked this Fox Hole because of the makeshift roof – lack of roof being one of the clear disadvantages of setting up camp in a hole.

Photograph showing two soldiers operating a radio in a Foxhole
Original Caption: “MAINTAIN VITAL COMMUNICATION — Operating their radio from a message center in a foxhole, Sgt. Nolan Johnson (Oakwood, Texas), and Pfc Fred D. Bleney (Salem, PA), maintain important communication for the 93rd Infantry Division as they go into action for the first time at Bougainville, South Pacific. They are set up a headquarters along the Numa-Numa Trail in preparation for the attack. Bougainville, Solomon Islands.” Photographer: Schuman National Archives ID: 178140810; Local ID: 111-SC-189382

It was easy to understand the need to examine this hole.  In the aftermath of a tense situation, hopefully their inspection brought some clarity or relief.

Soldiers examining a hole, near a Liberty Ship, created by a Japanese bomb
Original Caption: Soldiers examine bomb crater in dock, as a result of near miss on liberty ship in background. It will be noted that ship is sprayed with shrapnel holes, which are being examined by ship’s officers. The damage was done by three Jap raiding planes, only two bombs hitting the land. Tacloban, Leyte Island, P.I. 10/25/44. National Archives ID: 276537160; Local ID: 111-SC-230450

The holes they were making, while undoubtedly smaller than a Fox Hole, were an important component of clothing manufacturing during the Great War effort.

Workers at the Cohen Endel Company making button holes and sewing on buttons.
Original Caption: MANUFACTURING ARMY OVERCOATS AT THE COEHN ENDEL CO., N.Y. PLANT. Making button holes and sewing on buttons. National Archives ID: 45490500; Local ID: 165-WW-229C-7

I’m not sure I understand the pattern this Woodpecker was going for, but I respect the abstract nature of nature.

Photograph showing Woodpecker holes in a tree in the Australian Pine Tamiami Canal Area
This item was produced or created in July 1972. The creator compiled or maintained the parent series, DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, between 1972–1977. National Archives ID: 544662; Local ID: 412-DA-2169

Speaking of nature, it looks like our friends needed a drink from the watering hole.

Photograph showing cattle at a watering hole
Note: Some of the following information may have arrived from the agency cut off or incomplete. Creator: Hollingsworth, John and Karen. Subjects: Wetlands; Potholes. Publisher: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. National Archives ID: 166705534; Local ID: 022-DP-07900.jpg

Our Science poster collection is truly remarkable.  I won’t pretend like I understand what’s going on here, but I needed to share because of its vibrant coloring.

Poster detailing the Anatomy of a Black Hole.
Gamma Ray Image, X-Ray Image, X-Ray Spectrum, Radio Image, Optical/UV Image, X-Ray Light Curve National Archives ID: 165318176; Local ID: 255-BH-1

Finally, we end this quest with a beautiful image of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  The snow capped mountains, the stillness of the water – I can almost feel the peacefulness radiating.

Landscape image of Jackson Hole - Wyoming, showing mountains and water
AIRSCAPES – Wyoming National Archives ID: 68154206; Local ID: 18-AA-162-36

3 thoughts on “Hole World”

    1. Hi Mary,

      The Title/Caption information in our Catalog usually accompanies the images upon transfer to the Still Picture Branch. If you believe there may be an error with the title/description, we have a burgeoning Citizen Archivist program that you may be interested in.

      Information on how to get started can be found here: https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist

      And the Catalog entry for this particular image can be found here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/544662

      Thanks for your comment!

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