Sometimes when receiving permanent photographic records from federal agencies, we find surprises within the boxes. These can include photographic related items and non-photographic artifacts. For this post, I am highlighting just some of these items, but certainly not all found within our Still Picture Branch holdings. One of our favorite non-photographic items are J. Edgar … Continue reading Still Picture Branch Artifacts
Many recognize Rosie the Riveter’s “We Can Do It!” or Uncle Sam’s “I Want You” posters from World War II. Just as the posters created a rousing call to the public at the time of their creation, they also serve as hallmarks of the Second World War. The Still Picture Branch at the National Archives … Continue reading We Can Do It!: World War II Posters at the Still Picture Branch
While we frequently share interesting early maps from the Cartographic Branch holdings, today we wanted to focus on some of Cartographic's more recent maps. The RG 263 CIA Published Maps (also called the CIA Numbered Maps or Numerical Series) is made up of over 22,000 declassified maps. These maps date primarily from the 1940s to … Continue reading RG 263 CIA Published Maps: A Digitization Project In Progress
Pulitzer Prize winning photo journalist John H. White is well-known for his photographs of life in the city of Chicago, IL, particularly African American life, during the early 1970s. At the time, White was with the Chicago Daily News working for the federal government, photographing for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) DOCUMERICA project. DOCUMERICA was … Continue reading Spotlight Photographer – John H. White
In the Still Picture Branch, we aim to cultivate a habitat that promotes access to the unique images in our custody. Today, I’m highlighting series 22-DP: Photographs from the National Digital Library, ca. 1998 – 2011, a collection of born-digital images and digital reproductions of analog photographs, brought to us by the U.S. Fish and … Continue reading Into the Wild
Why We Fight stands among the most ambitious and successful film projects ever undertaken by the United States government. Over the course of seven films, released from 1942 to 1945, director Frank Capra and his team argued forcefully for American service-people and civilians to unite in the massive labor of defeating the Axis Powers and … Continue reading Why We Fight: Prelude to War, America’s Crash History Lesson
Though the United States Coast Guard officially took on that name in 1915, its origin dates back over 230 years ago. In August 1790, what became known as the United States Revenue Cutter Service was established under the Treasury Department to assist with customs enforcement. The Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service … Continue reading Lantern Slides of the Revenue Cutter Service, 1900-1915
Poster used in A.L.A. Campaign for books, Camp Meade (165-WW-33D-5, NAID 20801784) When America entered World War I in 1917, the American Library Association decided to take part in the war effort by establishing the Library War Service. Its purpose was to provide library services to American soldiers in training camps and overseas. The Association … Continue reading Wartime Reading: The Library War Service
The RG 241: Restored Patents (NAID 305885) are finally here and available for viewing and download via the National Archives catalog! In addition to containing some very detailed and colorful images, this series is particularly interesting because of its unique background. In 1836, the Patent Office was being housed in the Blodget Hotel in Washington, … Continue reading RG 241: Restored Patents Now Fully Digitized and Available Online!
Friday, August 14th, marks the 75th anniversary of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, ending the Second World War. To commemorate this event, the National Archives Moving Image and Sound Branch would like to present films from our holdings documenting the tremendous moment in world history. After the surrender of German forces on the … Continue reading VJ-Day 75th Anniversary
