Shifting the Lens on WWI: Stories from the Home Front

Today’s post comes from Marissa Friedman, intern at Historypin. Historypin teamed up with the US National Archives (NARA) to develop the Remembering WWI tablet app, part of the Anonymous Donor Project. You can learn more about the national collaborative Remembering WWI project here. For the past eleven months, I have scoured NARA’s digitized collections of … Continue reading Shifting the Lens on WWI: Stories from the Home Front

Spotlight: “Our Wings of Victory,” the Manufacture of Military Aeroplanes During WWI

 "To fill the skies of France with fighting aircraft--that was America's tremendous task. What we did and what we have accomplished of that task is here fully revealed for the first time" reads an intertitle slate from the film Our Wings of Victory which highlights the production of American-made aircraft during World War I. World War I was … Continue reading Spotlight: “Our Wings of Victory,” the Manufacture of Military Aeroplanes During WWI

Spotlight: Women Doing Awesome Things

The first presidential statement observing women’s history was issued by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, who declared March 2-8 as National Women’s History Week. Carter’s official acknowledgment of Women’s History Week was monumental given that it grew out of one local celebration in Santa Rosa, California. The following year, Public Law No. 97-28 was passed, which … Continue reading Spotlight: Women Doing Awesome Things

Hidden Women Update: WWI Camouflage in Action

You may remember our July 2016 post about the Women’s Reserve Camouflage Corps, made up of women artists who developed camouflage for use by American troops in Europe during World War I. The website Atlas Obscura also featured the story and photos in October 2016. The Women’s Reserve Camouflage Corps photos held by the National … Continue reading Hidden Women Update: WWI Camouflage in Action

The Women of World War I in Motion

As a follow-up to our Women's History Month post The Women of World War I in Photographs, we wanted to highlight moving images that feature women serving.  While working on a project aimed at digitizing a series of films from World War I held at the National Archives, I came across a two-reel set focusing on “patriotic activities” … Continue reading The Women of World War I in Motion

Hidden Women: The Art of WWI Camouflage (Photos)

If you've ever read a Highlights magazine, you've likely played the hidden picture game--the one where children are asked to find out-of-place objects like pencils hidden in trees and candy canes hidden in striped dresses.  As I came across photographs from the Women's Reserve Camouflage Corps, I was instantly reminded of the classic childhood time-killer.  Only this time, … Continue reading Hidden Women: The Art of WWI Camouflage (Photos)

Happy Mother’s Day from the National Archives!

To the women who play with us: Teach us: Keep us well and well-fed: Who work: Multi-task: And to mamas of pets: Happy Mother's Day

The Indian School for Practical Nursing

By: Kelsey Noel Several weeks ago, the Still Picture Branch received a particularly fascinating accession when a number of boxes arrived filled with records from the Indian Health Service. On any given day around here it is almost impossible not to encounter something fantastic and fascinating. Yet every now and then, something of particular interest … Continue reading The Indian School for Practical Nursing

This Week in Universal News: The All-American Girl Baseball League, 1951

This week in Universal News, the All-American Girl Baseball League plays a pre-season game in Alexandria, Virginia. The league operated from 1943 to 1954, and was created to fill stadiums that were left empty when professional baseball players went to war. You probably know about these women baseball players from the 1992 film A League of … Continue reading This Week in Universal News: The All-American Girl Baseball League, 1951