Spotlight: The Making of Coffee

Coffee is a morning staple for many of us. The gurgle of the coffee pot; the ceramic warmth of a favorite mug; the rich aroma of caffeinated bliss... Yes, whether we make it ourselves or buy it from our friendly neighborhood baristas, coffee is culturally pervasive. And it has been for generations. But have you ever wondered about … Continue reading Spotlight: The Making of Coffee

Spotlight: Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway

This week’s post highlights photographs from RG 30, Records of the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR). These images come from series 30-RW and depict the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway from the clearing of land to paving. The series begins with images from 1931 depicting the construction of Skyline Drive, a scenic road that connects to the … Continue reading Spotlight: Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Spotlight: Race Horses

This week's images are from RG 17-HD. They are mounted prints depicting beautiful race horses from the early 1900's! Accompanying metadata is limited to the captions, which are included with the images below. These captions, affixed to the mounts and written in Spanish, appear to include the date that the photographs were taken and the … Continue reading Spotlight: Race Horses

Happy Mother’s Day from the National Archives!

To the women who play with us: Teach us: Keep us well and well-fed: Who work: Multi-task: And to mamas of pets: Happy Mother's Day

Spotlight: Eggs through the Ages

The annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn - a longstanding American tradition. Maybe you're planning to hunt them down, dye them brilliantly, roll them across the White House Lawn - or maybe you're just hoping to get through the next two weeks with as few boiled eggs in your life as humanly possible. Whatever the case may be, it is … Continue reading Spotlight: Eggs through the Ages

Introducing The Unwritten Record!

Today we’re debuting our new name! From now on, the blog of the National Archives’ Special Media Services Division will be known as The Unwritten Record. We’ll feature the same great content—film, photographs, videos, sound recordings, and other non-textual records from the National Archives’ holdings-- just with a new and improved name! Media Matters was fine, … Continue reading Introducing The Unwritten Record!

Images of the Week: D-Day in Color

This week I’m highlighting color photographs taken as the Western Allies prepared for the invasion of Normandy (D-Day). The overwhelming majority of D-Day related color still film found in the National Archives document the pre-assault phase and not of the invasion area. Black-and-White photographs and other D-Day related documents from the National Archives can be … Continue reading Images of the Week: D-Day in Color

Images of the Week: NASA Digital Images

This week I'm highlighting new digital images transferred from NASA that will soon be available in our research room and eventually uploaded into OPA. The four series, 255-AMP, ASTP, STS, and GRC, cover digital surrogates created from the original still film from the Apollo missions, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, and the Shuttle missions. In addition, … Continue reading Images of the Week: NASA Digital Images

Images of the Week: Lewis Hine

This week's post features the documentary photography of Lewis Hine. Local Identifier:  102-LH-523, “Some doffer boys. Macon, Ga., 01/1909”, Photograph by Lewis Hine Local Identifier: 102-LH-136, “Young Driver in Mine. Has been driving one year. 7 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. daily [at] Brown Mine, Brown W. Va. [West Virginia]”, Photograph by Lewis Hine Local Identifier: … Continue reading Images of the Week: Lewis Hine

Images of the Week: British Photographs of World War I

The photographs featured this week come from the series 165-BO, “British Photographs of World War I, 1914-1918”, (National Archives Identifier 533104), which is currently being digitized. Local Identifier: 165-BO-0001, “King George of England visits American cemetery near St. Quentin Canal, France, 12/2/1918” Local Identifier: 165-BO-0038, “King of England talking to Scottish soldiers, France” Local Identifier: … Continue reading Images of the Week: British Photographs of World War I