One century ago, San Francisco's 1915 World’s Fair closed its doors, ending one of the most unique events in American history. For 288 days, the fair brought together an odd array of individuals that seemingly belong in different chapters of the history textbook. Civil War veterans could watch as Henry Ford produced a car every … Continue reading A Fair to Remember: Colored Lantern Slides at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
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 the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) documents at the National Archives at College Park. This article is part seven of the series about World War I Art and Artists. … Continue reading World War I Combat Artists – Ernest Peixotto
While it is generally understood that venison graced the table of the first Thanksgiving celebration, the idea of Pilgrims chowing down on turkey is solidly enshrined in the American imagination. The 1930 film The Turkey Business (Local Identifier: 33.364)shows how the "early explorers" of America hunted and prepared wild turkeys. The Turkey Business begins by establishing … Continue reading Gobble Gobble: America’s Thanksgiving Turkey Tradition
This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives' Motion Picture Preservation Lab. You might remember a fun little post last summer about the Yellowstone Kodacolor discovered within a National Park Accession deposited with NARA in 2012. The Yellowstone Kodacolor is one 453’ reel of 16mm “reversal.” An early … Continue reading An Update on Kodacolor Decoded
There aren’t many schools that include jumping out of an airplane as part of your final exam, but that’s just what these women parachute riggers had to do in 1951. Women sailors in the Navy went through the same training as men at the Parachute Materials School at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in New Jersey. These … Continue reading Spotlight on Veterans: Navy Women in Parachute Rigger Training
Robert Mitchum To the People of the United States, 1943 (Local Identifier: 90.13) More than a decade before he terrorized children as creepy preacher Harry Powell in Night of the Hunter (1955), and two years prior to his Oscar-nominated role as Lieutenant Walker in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), Robert Mitchum played a grounded … Continue reading Before They Were Famous: Actors Who Appeared in Government Films
This post was written in collaboration with Beth Fortson. We are approaching the end of October and fall is in full bloom. Trees are changing colors, pumpkin-flavored foods are on the shelves, and people are swapping their short-sleeves for winter coats. But amidst this lovely season, a more frightening day is lurking around the corner. This … Continue reading Circus Clowns and Masks: 13 Images from the Stacks
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 American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) documents at the National Archives at College Park. This article is part six of the series about World War I Art and Artists. Captain … Continue reading World War I Combat Artists – Wallace Morgan
In honor of the Major League Baseball playoffs, the Cartographic and Architectural Branch has pulled together a few records featuring the national past-time.
Back in June, we published a post about animals in the military. It featured war dogs, bat and pigeon bombs, and monkey saboteurs. We thought we’d covered everything, but almost as soon as that post was published, we digitized a film for our research room that highlights torpedo-retrieving whales. One of these whales is Ahab. … Continue reading Playing Fetch with Pilot Whales: The Navy’s Project Deep Ops
