Years before the United States Marine Corps officially adopted the bulldog as its mascot or the United States Military academy adopted the mule, many military regiments adopted mascots and pets. Some were donated by local groups and many were found. Many of these mascots had jobs, whether utilitarian or ceremonial. Pigeons carried messages, dogs helped … Continue reading Photographs of Military Mascots in WWI
If you've ever read a Highlights magazine, you've likely played the hidden picture game--the one where children are asked to find out-of-place objects like pencils hidden in trees and candy canes hidden in striped dresses. As I came across photographs from the Women's Reserve Camouflage Corps, I was instantly reminded of the classic childhood time-killer. Only this time, … Continue reading Hidden Women: The Art of WWI Camouflage (Photos)
The 1950 Census population schedules will be released in April 2022. In preparation, we are adding over 8000 Enumeration District Maps to the online catalog, including all county maps and any map that includes five or more enumeration districts. Click the NAID links to download full size maps from the online catalog Enumeration Districts-- or "E.D.s" as they are known … Continue reading Snapshot USA: 1950 Census Enumeration District Maps
Long before Pete Gray or Jim Abbott stepped up to the plate, veterans of World War I recovering at military hospitals throughout the United States formed amputee baseball teams. Elbert K. Fretwell, Director of Recreation in Hospitals in the Department of Military Relief with the American Red Cross, insisted that the best recreation for recovering soldiers was their traditional … Continue reading Batter Up: World War I Amputees Play Ball
Guest blogger Jan Hodges became interested in World War I combat art as a result of her involvement as a volunteer in a holdings maintenance project for Record Group 120, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) documents at the National Archives at College Park. This article is the last posting in the series about World War I … Continue reading World War I Combat Artists – Harry Townsend
A few years ago the Still Picture Branch accessioned two 19th century French gold tooled albums that contain photographs of a portion of the Schloss art collection. Regarded as one of the last great Dutch art collections to be assembled in 19th century France, the Schloss Collection was curated by internationally renowned French art collector, Adolphe … Continue reading The Lost Paintings – The Schloss Art Collection
In late July, Audrey and I traveled to Bucksport, Maine, to attend the Northeast Historic Film (NHF) Wunderkino 5 symposium. The theme for the annual event was “Images of War and Peace,” which aligns perfectly with the types of films preserved at the National Archives (NARA). We were delighted to see several presentations that highlighted … Continue reading NARA Holdings Well-Represented at Archival Film Symposium
This post was written by Gregory Tavormina, of the National Archives' Still Pictures Unit. Gregory Tavormina is an archives technician within the Still Pictures Unit. Archives Researcher: “Do you have any photographs of ships?" NARA Employee: “Why yes, we do. You’ll find a card catalog of hull numbers right over there.” *points* Did you want pictures of ships, … Continue reading Help Me Help You – Or, “What do you want?”
When I first started working with the Still Picture Processing Team in College Park, MD , my first three projects dealt with gelatin dry plate glass negatives, albumen cartes-de-visite and Kodachrome film. Even though we will still be accessioning analog photography for years to come and dealing with the issues that come with that (most … Continue reading From Analog to Digital
