To celebrate the 221st anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase on April 30, let’s use the catalog to see related records! On April 30, 1803, 828,000 square miles of land were purchased by the United States from the then-owner of its territory, France, for $15 million, which today would be about $342 million. Napoleon Bonaparte famously … Continue reading Celebrating the 221st Anniversary of The Louisiana Purchase with Special Media
Following on from Caitlin Hucik's excellent post highlighting trailblazers at NASA, we would like to present some recently digitized films highlighting actress Nichelle Nichols' work to recruit a more diverse field of astronauts and other personnel for NASA in 1978. These films are outtakes from promotional material featuring Ms. Nichols and also former Astronaut Alan … Continue reading Behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center with Nichelle Nichols
Before the National Archives held more than half a million reels of film, nearly 200,000 videos, and over 300,000 sound recordings originating from dozens of government agencies (and decades before the existence of the National Archives) Carl Louis Gregory was a motion picture cameraman dedicated to the evolution of the field. Staff identification card for … Continue reading Carl Louis Gregory, Founder of Film Preservation at NARA
Today's post was written by Allie Mackenzie Roberts. Roberts is an Audiovisual Preservation Specialist at the Richard Nixon Library. Richard Nixon successfully ran for the presidency in 1968 during a very tumultuous time in American history that included the Vietnam War and its protests, North Korea capturing a Naval vessel, the assassinations of Martin Luther … Continue reading “Listen, my friends”: Digitizing the 1968 Richard Nixon Campaign Speeches
Film Preservation 101 is an occasional series in which we answer our most frequently asked questions. You may have heard that old films can be dangerous, and potentially even explosive (we covered this topic in Film Preservation 101: Is Nitrate Film Really Dangerous?) and you’re worried about your grandfather’s home movies that you keep in … Continue reading Film Preservation 101: Why does this film smell like vinegar?
Working within the Special Media Division presents many challenges. Not only do staff strive to become experts on the subject matter covered within our holdings, but also the physical format and the processes that made them. In the Still Picture Branch, we have a wide range of photographic formats and processes that provide unique preservation … Continue reading 19th Century Photographic Processes and Formats
Today’s post is written by Larry Shockley, Archives Specialist in NARA's Office of Innovation. One of the more rewarding aspects of working for an institution such as the National Archives is our ability to serve archival colleagues at state and local levels. A recent trip to the West Virginia Archives and History provided one such … Continue reading NARA Film Preservation Unit Serves State and City Level Colleagues
Is Nitrate Film Really Dangerous? Nitrate film is a material we don’t often encounter at the National Archives for obvious reasons. After the devastating 1978 nitrate vault fire, the agency quickly copied any remaining nitrate to acetate or polyester safety film and disposed of the original reels. When we do come across a reel in … Continue reading Film Preservation 101: Is Nitrate Film Really Dangerous?
The Battlefield at Gettysburg is primarily known for two things. First, over three days, July 1 through July 3, 1863 the bloodiest battle of the Civil War took place there. Second, it was the site of The Gettysburg Address, the famous speech that President Abraham Lincoln delivered four and a half months after the battle on … Continue reading Gettysburg: Civil War Monuments, Nuclear Arsenals, and Dreams of Peace
For those working with archival films, encountering film scratches is just part of the job. At the National Archives we care for films that range from pristine camera negatives with not a scratch to be seen, all the way to beat-up projection prints that look like they were rubbed with sandpaper. Scratches can be black … Continue reading Film Preservation 101: Scratch Hazards and Fixes
