VJ-Day 75th Anniversary

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

Summer Road Trip: Albuquerque to Las Vegas

Entering: Albuquerque, New Mexico This post was co-written by Kevin Quinn and Caitlin Hucik As we leave Texas and the Boll Weevils in our rear-view, we continue our journey through the Southwest with a stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We enter Albuquerque through Record Groups 18-AA: "Airscapes" of American and Foreign Areas, 1917 – 1964; … Continue reading Summer Road Trip: Albuquerque to Las Vegas

Falling Down an Archival Rabbit Hole: Following the Trail from Finished Film Back to the Research that Inspired It

We’ve written here before about the 2007 rescue of a treasure-trove of government films from a shuttered film laboratory. Archivists from the National Archives recovered many films produced across the Federal government so they could be preserved and made accessible to the public. You may be familiar with the anti-drug film Curious Alice, but I … Continue reading Falling Down an Archival Rabbit Hole: Following the Trail from Finished Film Back to the Research that Inspired It

Visualizing Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later

Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In remembrance of the event, we are presenting related maps, photographs, ship plans, and films held by NARA's Special Media Division. Photographs documenting the aftermath of the attack may be found in the General Photographic File of the Navy (RG 80-G, RG 80-GK), Color Photographs … Continue reading Visualizing Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later

Film Preservation 101: What’s the Difference Between a Film and a Video?

What's the difference between these objects? A reel of 16mm film.An object of similar size and shape that is actually a 1″ video. If you’re one of the people who can immediately identify the objects in the images seen here, the answer to this question is easy.  But with the way the language has evolved … Continue reading Film Preservation 101: What’s the Difference Between a Film and a Video?