Clip from Universal Newsreel Volume 26, Release 440 (Local ID: UN-UN-26-440-1-4) Please Note: Primary source documents used in this post may contain harmful language. See NARA’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Language. The scenes shown in this 1953 Universal Newsreel footage are some of the first moments pioneering transgender woman Christine Jorgensen would spend in the … Continue reading Christine Jorgensen: America’s First Transgender Celebrity
This post was written by Harry Kidd. Harry is a volunteer at the National Archives working on textual and photographic digitization projects. Harry is a former Navy photographer himself and came across this story while researching military photographers. In the early morning of January 1st 1919 Surfman Roger Smith reported sighting the U.S.S. Northern Pacific … Continue reading Rescue from Fire Island
Washington, D.C. is no stranger to protests. Most are one-day affairs, consisting of a march or rally with some speakers and a musical guest or two. A handful, though, have been more long term, with protestors spending days or weeks camped out in our nation’s capital to fight for their cause. Two of the most … Continue reading Protest Camps in D.C.: The Poor People’s Campaign and the Bonus Army Marchers
As Memorial Day 2018 approaches, we thought it would be appropriate to draw attention to a unique series in our Still-Picture Branch, RG 117-KDS, which covers a competition that took place in the 1980’s to design the Korean War Veterans Memorial. In 1986, the American Battle Monuments Commission was authorized to build a war memorial … Continue reading Looking Back at the Korean War Veterans Memorial Competition
In August, an e-mail came to motion picture archivist Carol Swain’s inbox asking about a World War II training film called Security on the March. Richard Herde contacted the Motion Picture unit looking for information about a film his 100-year-old uncle, Corporal Lloyd Heller, had helped make while serving as a tanker in the United … Continue reading World War II Veteran Lloyd Heller Shares Details About Production of 1943 Tank Training Film
Long before Pete Gray or Jim Abbott stepped up to the plate, veterans of World War I recovering at military hospitals throughout the United States formed amputee baseball teams. Elbert K. Fretwell, Director of Recreation in Hospitals in the Department of Military Relief with the American Red Cross, insisted that the best recreation for recovering soldiers was their traditional … Continue reading Batter Up: World War I Amputees Play Ball
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
Harold Russell is an anomaly in film history. When Russell was cast in the classic film, The Best Years of Our Lives, he had practically no acting experience. Despite being the only person to win two Academy Awards for the same performance, Russell had no desire to be an actor. Moreover, Russell’s rise to stardom came in … Continue reading Diary of a Sergeant
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
