In 1945, the U.S. Government faced low morale and growing frustration over undelivered mail amongst those serving in Europe. It was decided the large backlog of undistributed mail would be dealt with by the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The battalion, nicknamed the “Six-Triple Eight," was a multi-ethnic unit of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) comprised … Continue reading The Six Triple Eight Link Roundup
The World Series gets underway this week as the New York Yankees face the Los Angeles Dodgers. Regardless which home team you root for during the regular season, anyone who enjoys history should enjoy the series between these two iconic baseball teams. They’ve played each other twelve times for the baseball world championship, beginning in 1941, … Continue reading Spotlight-1955 World Series: Dodgers and Yankees
Today we spotlight the historic launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, with two items from the National Archives and Record Administration’s (NARA) motion picture holdings of Record Group 255, Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Series (NASA). Washington Headquarters - Apollo 11 Pool Footage: Part 1 of 2 (National Archives Identifier: … Continue reading Spotlight: Apollo 11 Launch Footage-July 16, 1969
This week, sixty years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act, signed into law on July 2, is the nation’s benchmark civil rights legislation and remains one of America's most significant legislative achievements. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The act … Continue reading Spotlight: Passage of The Civil Rights Act of 1964
D-Day and the Combat CameramanThis week marks the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Operation. Starting on June 6, 1944, about 175,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, supported by 5,000 naval craft and more than 11,500 aircraft. By June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed … Continue reading How To Locate D-Day Footage in NARA’s Moving Image Holdings
Today’s post was written by Caitlin Hucik and James Konicek. Still taken from US The first World Exposition sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions was named the Great Exhibition and held in 1851 London, England. Since then, over 30 sanctioned expos have been held every 5 to 10 years. In 1968, San Antonio hosted … Continue reading HemisFair ’68, When The World’s Fair Came to Texas
This post was created in collaboration with Phillip Wong, Archives Technician in the Still Picture Branch. On October 17, 1989, the ground shook as a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit San Francisco, interrupting game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. Across the country, the ground was also shifting. … Continue reading Living “the future of our past”: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Archives II
To celebrate the 221st anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase on April 30, let’s use the catalog to see related records! On April 30, 1803, 828,000 square miles of land were purchased by the United States from the then-owner of its territory, France, for $15 million, which today would be about $342 million. Napoleon Bonaparte famously … Continue reading Celebrating the 221st Anniversary of The Louisiana Purchase with Special Media
Please Note: Primary source documents used in this post may contain harmful language. See NARA’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Language. The First Motion Picture Unit When America entered the war in Europe in 1941, the country's greatest challenge was finding enough manpower to wage a two-front war. The country needed to quickly increase the number … Continue reading Wings for This Man: Celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen
At first glance, Martin Scorsese, the Osage Nation, and Henry Ford have nothing in common. Scorsese is an award-winning American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. The Osage Nation is a thriving American Indian tribe whose ancestral land includes much of Oklahoma, and Ford is an industrialist who changed the manufacturing landscape. But despite assumptions, … Continue reading Spotlight: Killers of the Flower Moon and the Ford Film Collection
