In 1951, the United States Army created a television series called The Big Picture, which they would describe as “the official television report by the U. S. Army to its members and to the American people.” Episodes were made available at U. S. Army facilities around the world, as well as television stations across the … Continue reading The Big Picture: Nurses in the Army
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
General Douglas MacArthur served as the commander of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East during World War II. During the war, MacArthur led the campaign in the Pacific theater for the Army. In 1966, the Department of the Army published two volumes of reports of MacArthur’s involvement in the war. These reports describe … Continue reading General Douglas MacArthur’s Strategic World War II Maps
The photographs featured this week come from the series 165-BO, “British Photographs of World War I, 1914-1918”, (National Archives Identifier 533104), which is currently being digitized. Local Identifier: 165-BO-0001, “King George of England visits American cemetery near St. Quentin Canal, France, 12/2/1918” Local Identifier: 165-BO-0038, “King of England talking to Scottish soldiers, France” Local Identifier: … Continue reading Images of the Week: British Photographs of World War I
With the 110th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’s birth, we are reminded of his enormous impact on children’s literature. Less remembered, however, was his time spent serving in the US Army’s Information and Education Division. During World War II, Theodor Seuss Geisel inspired thousands of soldiers and honed his storytelling skills. And, before there were cats wearing … Continue reading Uncle Sam-I-Am: Dr. Seuss’s Private Snafu
Are you ready for Thanksgiving? If it’s your turn to cook, no doubt the next few days will be stressful. But imagine trying to cook Thanksgiving dinner for an entire ship or regiment, or being a mess sergeant tasked with cooking and bringing the meal to troops in the field. Do you know how you’re … Continue reading Mission: Turkey! Thanksgiving Dinner and the U.S. Military
Photographs posted this week come from one of my favorite series, "Airscapes" of American and Foreign Areas, 1917 - 1964" (18-AA). Click on the images below to view higher resolution versions. Local Identifier: 18-AA-138-5. Washington, D.C. - Keystone Bombardment airplanes of 2nd Bombardment Group. April 23, 1931. Local Identifier: 18-AA-139-2. Washington, D.C. - Griffith Stadium. … Continue reading Images of the Week: Airscapes
Have you ever wondered how moving images and sound recordings get declassified? The process isn’t as simple as you might think. Because our records are media based - film, video or audio - the review process takes a few extra steps. Agencies transfer classified moving images and sound recordings to NARA according to Records Control … Continue reading From Top Secret Vault to Open Stacks: Declassification of Moving Images
Recently I was working on some film and video records from the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) and came across an interesting news program. Television Journal was a program produced by AFRTS that reported and broadcast armed forces news to U.S. military installations around the world. This particular broadcast includes stories on Army … Continue reading Military to Civilian Life
The Navy film How to Succeed with Brunettes teaches male officers how to behave like gentlemen, but what were the military’s expectations for the many female recruits? Once again, staff in NARA’s Motion Picture Preservation Lab and Special Media’s Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Branch were able to find the answer in the large accession … Continue reading The Women’s Army Corps Requests “The Pleasure of Your Company”
