Local Identifier: 342-B-ND-018A-167731USAF; Original Caption: MRBM Field Launch Site, San Cristobal #1, October 14 1962. (This photo provided the first photographic evidence of Soviet offensive missile deployment in Cuba.) The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in October 1962. The international crisis escalated when American missiles were … Continue reading 60th Anniversary: The Cuban Missile Crisis
On October 14, 1947, USAF Captain Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. Yeager flew a Bell XS-1, nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis" (a tribute to his wife), over Rogers Dry Lake located at Edward's Air Force Base (formerly named Muroc Air Force Base). The X-1 reached a speed … Continue reading Captain Chuck Yeager: Breaking the Sound Barrier
Queen Elizabeth II (April 21, 1926 – September 8, 2022) served as Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms for 70 years up until her death at age 96, making her reign the longest of any British monarch. Here in the Still Picture Branch at the National Archives, we have a handful of photographs within our holdings of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her official travels to the United States.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is well known for preserving the first written records of our nation. People come from around the world to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. But what about the first government films? The oldest known government-produced film in our holdings is First Army Aeroplane … Continue reading The Wright Military Flyer Soars on Celluloid: Uncovering the Story of Our Oldest Government Film
Sidney Lust's Drive In Theatre, U.S. Route 1, Beltsville, Maryland (NAID: 169136694) It’s summertime and that means that it is drive-in movie season! In their heyday, there were thousands of drive-in theaters across the United States. Some of these drive-ins could accommodate over a thousand vehicles at a time, so you can imagine the kind … Continue reading See Movies from Your Car! (If You Can Beat the Traffic)
For an overview of Military Personnel Photographs, please see our website https://www.archives.gov/research/still-pictures/military-personnel-photographs. Finding veterans who served in the US Navy during World War II just became digital. At the Still Picture Branch we have multiple indexes to search for various branches of the US Military. Our index, 80-GX: Index to Photographs of Personalities in the … Continue reading How to Search Still Photographs for World War II Navy Personalities
Mrs. Laura B. Prisk, who is the originator of the Flag Day idea. Local ID: 165-WW-429P-1247, National Archives Identifier: 45532768. This post was created in collaboration with Heather Sulier, Archives Technician in the Still Picture Branch. Flag Day celebrates the adoption of the official flag of the United States on June 14. “The Flag Act … Continue reading Celebrating Flag Day
World War II records from the Adjutant General’s Office of the War Department (Record Group 407) have been digitized and are available to view and download from the National Archives Catalog. This series consists of maps and charts, overlays, city plans, aerial photographs, photomaps, pencil sketches, and architectural drawings relating to the European, Mediterranean, and … Continue reading World War II Records Digitized
It’s been a while since my last update on the status of the Subject Finding Aid Project. An update for Batches 6 and 7 was promised as “on the horizon” in my previous blog, and it’s finally time to deliver the goods. In Batches 6 and 7, we’ve been able to add 4,356 new descriptions … Continue reading Subject Finding Aid Project (Update 3)
All this month, the National Park Service is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the completion and dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. Here at the National Archives, we hold literally thousands of records related to the iconic landmark, including several thousand that are digitized and available in the online Catalog. Photograph of the Abraham Lincoln Statue … Continue reading Lincoln Memorial Link Roundup
