Girl Aces Hold Own Air Show: Universal Newsreel and the 1935 Women’s Championship Air Show

“Thirty women pilots have groomed their ships for a wholesale assault today and tomorrow on man’s supremacy in the air.” This quote is taken from a newspaper clipping from the production file for Universal Newsreel volume 7, release 406. Since the early years of aviation, airshows and air derbies have allowed pilots to test their … Continue reading Girl Aces Hold Own Air Show: Universal Newsreel and the 1935 Women’s Championship Air Show

The Film Frontier: Using Films and Videos in Your National History Day Project

The 2022 National History Day contests resulted in many fascinating projects covering topics ranging from labor and environmental debates to U.S.-China Ping Pong Diplomacy. Now it is time to begin looking ahead to 2023! The 2023 NHD contest theme is Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas and on page 35 of the 2023 NHD Theme … Continue reading The Film Frontier: Using Films and Videos in Your National History Day Project

Title IX and Women’s Soccer in NARA’s Film Holdings

This month, 24 soccer teams from around the world will compete in the eighth FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in France. 2019 also marks twenty years since Mia Hamm and company of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team won the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Their win in 1999 became an iconic moment in American sports … Continue reading Title IX and Women’s Soccer in NARA’s Film Holdings

Spotlight: National Women’s Conference of 1977

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the National Women’s Conference held November 18-21, 1977 in Houston, Texas. This conference was the United States’ answer to the United Nations World Conference on Women held in 1975 in Mexico City. After the United Nations declared 1975 International Women’s Year, President Ford issued Executive Order 11832 creating … Continue reading Spotlight: National Women’s Conference of 1977

Spotlight: Celebrating Black History Month

Photos for this blog post were selected and scanned with the assistance of Kaitlyn Crain Enriquez. The United States celebrates Black History Month in February. First established as Negro History Week by African-American historian Carter G. Woodson in 1926, Black History Month was formally designated by president Gerald Ford in 1976: “Freedom and the recognition of individual rights are … Continue reading Spotlight: Celebrating Black History Month

Celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science with NASA Trailblazers

February 11 is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a day set aside to recognize the role women and girls play in science and technology and promote full and equal access to participation in science. What better way to recognize the day than by highlighting a few NASA trailblazers? The NASA film Where … Continue reading Celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science with NASA Trailblazers

Finding Elizabeth Wheeler: Rediscovering a 1940s Woman Filmmaker

Today’s guest blog post is by Sharon Thompson, Executive Director of the Lesbian Home Movie Project (LMHP). A writer, editor, and film archivist, Thompson has used NARA records in her research into women filmmakers. We asked her to write about one of her research projects to close out Women’s History Month. Between one question and … Continue reading Finding Elizabeth Wheeler: Rediscovering a 1940s Woman Filmmaker

Their War Too: U.S. Women in the Military During WWII. Part I

March is Women’s History Month, a great time to highlight  important contributions made to our country by women. This year, we are focusing on the role women played in the United States Military during World War II in a two-part blog post. Part I  highlights recruitment films from the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), the Coast … Continue reading Their War Too: U.S. Women in the Military During WWII. Part I

Spotlight: Women Doing Awesome Things

The first presidential statement observing women’s history was issued by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, who declared March 2-8 as National Women’s History Week. Carter’s official acknowledgment of Women’s History Week was monumental given that it grew out of one local celebration in Santa Rosa, California. The following year, Public Law No. 97-28 was passed, which … Continue reading Spotlight: Women Doing Awesome Things

The Women of World War I in Motion

As a follow-up to our Women’s History Month post The Women of World War I in Photographs, we wanted to highlight moving images that feature women serving.  While working on a project aimed at digitizing a series of films from World War I held at the National Archives, I came across a two-reel set focusing on “patriotic activities” … Continue reading The Women of World War I in Motion