Veterans Day is observed every November 11th in the United States. It marks the end of fighting in World War I, the war that was supposed to end all wars, and honors our nation’s military veterans. Here at the Unwritten Record, we share a lot of records related to military history and those who have … Continue reading Veterans Day Military History Link Roundup
On October 31, 1969, approximately 250 children arrived at the White House for a Halloween Party that was hosted by First Daughter Tricia Nixon. According to the Nixon Foundation: "Each room of the state floor held surprises for the guests. In the Green Room, there was a tarot card reader...In the Blue Room were large … Continue reading Spotlight: Tricia Nixon’s 1969 Halloween Party
I'm back again with another update regarding the progress of the Subject Finding Aid Project in the Still Picture Branch. Harnessing the momentum gained with Batches 2 and 3, I'm happy to announce that roughly 3500 descriptions for Batches 4 and 5 are LIVE in the NARA Catalog! The Finding Aids in these batches cover … Continue reading Subject Finding Aid Project (Update 2)
Navy photographer, PH1 Greg McCreash, downloads a Kodak DCS 420 digital camera into the Electronic Imaging Center (EIC) while deployed to Zagreb, Croatia in support of Operation Joint Endeavor. Local Identifier: 330-CFD-DD-SD-99-03481.jpeg, NAID: 6503275. With the move to a digital world, photography follows suit. Born-digital photography is becoming increasingly popular and prevalent. The term “born-digital” … Continue reading Visual Cues and Clues: Born-Digital Photographs and their Metadata
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States. On September 11, 2001, four coordinated terrorist attacks were committed against the United States when two hijacked planes were flown into the North and South Towers at the World Trade Center, a third hit the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., … Continue reading Remembering 9/11
In 1941 the United States had begun to prepare for the possibility of war and consequently, millions of jobs were being created. However, racial discrimination kept African Americans and other minorities from obtaining these defense industry jobs. In response to pressure from A. Philip Randolph, who had been organizing a march on Washington, and other … Continue reading Montford Point Marines
The White House hosted its first - and only - fashion show on February 29, 1968. The fashion show and luncheon was presented by the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, and was titled "How to Discover America in Style." The audience included the wives of governors who were in Washington D.C. for the midwinter meeting … Continue reading Spotlight: 1968 White House Fashion Show
Aquarius Plateau. J.K. Hillers at work (as photographer). Local Identifier: 57-PS-809, NAID: 517983. This image is cropped from the original. When you think of photographic negatives today, perhaps you imagine flexible, plastic-like film. However, some of the earliest negative images would be found on glass. Glass served as a viable support to capture the photographic … Continue reading Visual Cues and Clues: Cracking the Code of Glass Negatives
Today’s post was written by Alan Walker, archivist in the Textual Records Division at the National Archives at College Park. For Preservation Month, here is a visual story of how the staff of the National Archives once did important work on a small piece of American naval history. The Union's shallow draft navy was one … Continue reading The Voyage of the USS Chimo
This post is by Daniel Dancis, a Textual Records Archivist and blogger at The Text Message. When is a photograph more than just a photograph? Of the millions of digitized images in the National Archives Catalog it is always a thrill to find something new in an old picture. Even more, discovering a connection between two or … Continue reading Double Take II: Finding Posters within Photos
