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
75 years ago, in August 1945, the United States dropped the first and last atomic bombs used in warfare. The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at 8:15 AM on August 6th, and the second bomb was dropped over Nagasaki on August 9th at 11:02 AM. Whether or not the atomic bombs should have been … Continue reading Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Though our research rooms remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, National Archives staff have been diligently working from home to make records more accessible to the public. In this vein, Still Picture staff have been converting finding aids into online catalog descriptions. Making descriptions searchable via the catalog will ultimately help researchers locate and … Continue reading An Update on Still Picture Catalog Additions
Deep in the stacks of the Cartographic Branch at Archives II, nestled in RG 76, is a series entitled “Maps and Records Pertaining to the Northeastern Boundary of the United States”. This series contains manuscript maps and drawings of various locations along the border, including a set of spectacular color drawings and manuscript maps offering … Continue reading RG 76: Maps and Records Pertaining to the Northeastern Boundary of the United States – An Artistic Glimpse of Past
This week’s blog post covers the U.S. Information Agency (USIA)’s film The Draggin’ Wagon, (Local Identifier: 306.6618). The film offers a unique look into the life of a young African American boy, Clarence Carter Jr., and his journey to create a homemade Soap Box car for the 1963 Soap Box Derby in Washington, D.C. The … Continue reading The Draggin’ Wagon: An All American Soap Box Derby
