Still taken from 29-General-81, 1950 Census On April 1, 2022, the National Archives will release the 1950 Census population schedules online. By law, these records have been confidential for 72 years, but on April 1, the public will be able to access and search the census through a dedicated website. To mark this special occasion, … Continue reading Spotlight: 1950 Census Public Service Announcements
Please Note: Primary source documents used in this post may contain harmful language. See NARA’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Language. Are you in need of some winter sports action during the break between the Olympics and Paralympics? The U.S. Forest Service has the perfect film for you, aptly titled Winter Olympics. Winter Olympics documents the 1960 … Continue reading The U.S. Forest Service Presents: Winter Olympics
Have you ever seen a dam or road or some other massive public works project and wondered who could be responsible for such a massive project? Chances are it was the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). George Washington appointed the first army engineers on June 16th, 1775 and the Corps of Engineers was … Continue reading The Problem Solvers
Still taken from 111-WF-25, The Hidden Army Sometimes films in our holdings stand out for their entertainment value in addition to their historical value, The Hidden Army is one such film. When I came across it looking for another item, it stood out because of the unique way it covers a common topic in propaganda … Continue reading Hitler’s Downfall, The Hidden Army
This post is by Alexandra Geitz, Supervisory Archivist of the Moving Image and Sound Branch. In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, this post will highlight just a few of the moving image and sound records in our holdings that depict the site over the … Continue reading 100th Anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moving Image Records
On May 18th, 1933, Congress chartered the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), beginning one of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first projects of his “New Deal” social welfare programs. Its goals were to “To improve the navigability and to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River; to provide for reforestation and the proper use of marginal … Continue reading Working for the TVA
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently partnered with the University of Maryland’s Cinema and Media Studies Program to present Films of State: Moving Images Made by Governments, a virtual conference running from April 7 to 9, 2021, highlighting current scholarship on the topic of government films and filmmaking. This inaugural conference featured international … Continue reading Films of State Conference Recordings Now Available
Today marks the 117th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, ushering in the age of powered flight. To celebrate this incredible milestone, we would like to present records related to the Wright Brothers and their achievement. The dawn of the twentieth century was a time of tremendous scientific progress … Continue reading Caretakers of the Sky: The Wright Brothers and Recording the Aerial Age
The International Military Tribunal, more commonly known at the Nuremberg trials, began this week 75 years ago in Nuremberg, Germany. The trials were a series of military tribunals held to convict major Nazi German leaders on charges of crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit each of these crimes. It … Continue reading The Nuremberg Trials, 75 Years Later
This post was compiled by Harry Kidd. Harry is a volunteer at the National Archives working on textual and photographic digitization projects. Harry is a former Navy photographer and came across this story while researching military photographers. On June 6, 1944 tens of thousands of American servicemen landed on the Normandy Beaches. The National Archives' … Continue reading 75th Anniversary of D-Day
