As you may know, the Cartographic Branch holds many maps relating to Civil War battles and sites. However, what you may not know is that many of these maps are available to view anytime and anywhere through the National Archives Online Catalog. Today we're featuring maps showing the Shiloh Battlefield. All of the maps featured … Continue reading Mapping the Battle of Shiloh
On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, American troops landed on Okinawa and began their 82-day fight to secure the island. For the Allies, capturing Okinawa was a crucial part of their plan to invade mainland Japan. For the Japanese, holding on to Okinawa was crucial to their ability to defend the mainland. And trapped between … Continue reading Spotlight: Battle of Okinawa
Today's guest blog post is by Sharon Thompson, Executive Director of the Lesbian Home Movie Project (LMHP). A writer, editor, and film archivist, Thompson has used NARA records in her research into women filmmakers. We asked her to write about one of her research projects to close out Women's History Month. Between one question and … Continue reading Finding Elizabeth Wheeler: Rediscovering a 1940s Woman Filmmaker
Note: This post was originally meant to highlight opening day of MLB baseball for the 2020 season while commemorating the role women play in the sport. While baseball may be on hold during this difficult time, we still wanted to highlight the achievements of women in the sport and hope this post helps get you … Continue reading Spotlight: Universal Newsreel Highlights Female Baseball Players
Original caption: Somewhere in England, Maj. Charity E. Adams,...and Capt. Abbie N. Campbell,...inspect the first contingent of Negro members of the Women's Army Corps assigned to overseas service. National Archives Identifier: 531249. Local Identifier: 111-SC-200791. As we make our way through Women’s History Month, we are reminded of the incredible accomplishments of women throughout history. … Continue reading African American Women in the Military During WWII
Here in the Still Picture Branch we most often work with still photographs. However, we also receive records from federal agencies that include graphic materials. For example, the Department of Labor Historian's Office recently transferred records to our department that include a series of WWI-era broadsides. Broadsides are single sheets with information printed on one … Continue reading Spotlight: WWI-Era Broadsides
Horsepower! We hear this common phrase everyday associated with everything from cars to lawn mowers to available human capital. It's all about power and the power to get things done. While today the term "horse power" typically refers to the power of an engine in a car or truck and is a single, compound word, … Continue reading Fire Up the Horses and Let ’em Run! Early Representations of Horsepower from RG 241: Restored Patents
The 6th Marine Regiment celebrates after playing a game of baseball. (From 111-H-1361) 2020 marks the long-awaited completion of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Historical Films digitization project. Boasting nearly 800 reels of film, Record Group 111 (Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer), Series H (Historical Films) has been digitized in its … Continue reading Now Playing: Historical Films of the U.S. Army Signal Corps
75 years ago, from February 19th to March 26th, 1945, the Battle of Iwo Jima raged in the Pacific Ocean. For 35 days, American and Japanese forces fought for control of the strategically important island. That battle produced one of the most iconic images of war, a photograph taken four days into the battle by … Continue reading Uncommon Valor: The Making of the Marine Corps Memorial
Still frame from Chicks to Order vs. still frame from Chicks Made to Order In the early days of cinema, no one knew if it was possible to copyright a movie. This sounds strange to us today, but at the time copyright law only covered written works and photographs. Is a movie like a written … Continue reading Pioneers of Movie Piracy and the Expansion of Copyright Law
