Archival Research Catalog (ARC)

Search Hints for the Mid Atlantic Region


Library, Farmville, from Photographs filed in Dorothy E. Davis, et al. versus County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia ..., ARC ID 279099

The National Archives (NARA) Mid Atlantic Region in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the National Archives' 11 Regional Archives. The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) includes descriptions of records held by the Regional Archives. The online catalog allows you to filter your search results by location. The search hints below highlight the Mid Atlantic Region records available in ARC. The Mid Atlantic Region holds federal records from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

ARC is a work in progress, and NARA staff add new descriptions to ARC all the time. More than 77% of the Mid Atlantic Regional Archives' records are currently described in ARC at the series level. If you do not find the records you are seeking, please contact the Mid Atlantic Region staff.


Featured Topics

The featured topics are a sample of subjects covered by records held by the Mid Atlantic Region and described in ARC. Follow the search instructions, or customize your search with your own keywords.

  1. Go to http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/.
  2. Press the yellow Search button to go to the Basic search screen.
  3. Enter keywords (use some of the sample keywords below or your own) in the Keywords box.
  4. Select the limit results radio button for 2000.
  5. (Optional step:) Select the box marked Descriptions of Archival Materials linked to digital copies to retrieve digitized documents and photographs.
  6. Select the Location filter for NARA's Mid Atlantic Region (Philadelphia) .
  7. Press the Go button.
  8. When hits are returned for your search, view the full result of your hit by selecting the Title link.
Topics Sample ARC Keyword Searches Sample Digitized Documents
Agriculture agricultur% or farm% or extension service

Note: The percent sign (%) works as a wildcard character for keyword searching in ARC.

Aviation and Space Flight
  • Avia%
  • National Aeronautic and Space Administration or NASA
  • Langley

Civil Engineering
  • Engin%
  • Min%
  • Army Corps of Engineers
  • OCE or Chief of Engineers and [name of city, i.e. Philadelphia, Baltimore, Huntington] [commonly known as the Army Corps of Engineers]
  • OCE or Chief of Engineers and [name of state] [commonly known as the Army Corps of Engineers]
  • Fort Delaware
  • Fort Mott

Civil Rights
  • Desegregation
  • Dorothy Davis
  • Civil Case Files
  • Prince Edward County
  • Gobitis or Minersville

Plantiff Exhibit filed in the Gobitis Case, 1936 - 02/11/1938, ARC ID 279040

Civil War
  • Civil War
  • Date filter 1861-1865
  • Confiscation
  • Civil War & Prize
  • Civil War & Philadelphia
  • Arsenal (and date filter: 1861-1865)
  • Fort Monroe (and date filter: 1861-1865)
  • Confederate


Court Records
  • District court & (state name, ex. Delaware)
  • Circuit court &  (state name, ex. Delaware)
  • Third court
  • Third circuit
  • Fourth court
  • Fourth circuit
  • Admiralty
  • Bankruptcy
  • Civil & court & (state name, ex. Delaware)
  • Criminal
  • Equity
  • Law
  • Prize case
  • Confiscation
  • Minutes & court & (state name, ex. Delaware)
  • Opinions or (Briefs and Appendices)
  • Patent
  • Copyright

Deposition of Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1850 - 01/03/1853, ARC ID 278936

Environment
  • Environment%
  • Fish
  • Wildlife
  • Conservation
  • CCC
  • Forest%
  • Park%
 
Housing & Price Controls
  • Housing
  • Rent
  • Price
 
Immigration
  • Immigra%
  • Alien%
  • Chinese
  • Contract Labor
  • Naturalization
  • Declarations of Intention
  • Landing Reports of Aliens

Page 3 of Volume 1 of the Landing Reports of Aliens, 1798 to 1807, 06/25/1798 - 09/04/1807, ARC 279083

Import, Export, Trade, International
  • Custom%
  • Manifest%
  • Vessel%
  • Crew lists
  • Slave%
  • Bureau of Customs and [name of city, i.e. Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Annapolis]

Marine
  • Lighthouse
  • Light Station
  • Lifesaving
  • Wreck%
  • Custom%
  • Vessel%
  • Admiralty
  • Nav%

Architectural Drawing of First Order Lighthouse for Bodys Island, North Carolina, 1871, ARC 594800

Military and Veterans
  • Southern Branch
    (This will bring back descriptions for the Southern Branch of the Soldiers Home.)
  • Rehabilitation
  • Nav%
  • Arsenal
  • Philadelphia Naval Asylum
  • Philadelphia Navy Yard
  • Norfolk Navy Yard
  • Holabird
  • Draft
  • Selective Service
  • Quartermaster
  • War Department
  • Coast Guard

U.S.S. Olympia at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia, 1977?, ARC 279185

Mining
  • Min%
  • Solid Fuels

Parks & Forests
  • National Park Service
  • Colonial National Historic Park
  • Sagamore Hill

[Letter Regarding] Sagamore Hill and Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace, 08/01/1962 - 07/15/1964, ARC ID 279152

Slavery
  • Fugitive Slave
  • Slave Manifests
  • Slaves
  • Slavery

Jacob Cook's Original Fugitive Slave Petition and Ownership Documentation: Inventory, 02/12/1793 - 12/24/1850, ARC 278799

World War I
  • Date filter: 1917-1919
  • World War & Food
  • World War (and date filter: 1917-1919)
  • Port of Embarkation
  • Quartermaster (and date filter: 1917-1919)
  • Ordnance (and date filter: 1917-1919)

World War II
  • Date filter: 1941–1945
  • World War (and date filter: 1941-1945)
  • Price (and date filter: 1941-1945)
  • Rent (and date filter: 1941-1945)
  • Emergency Management (and date filter: 1941-1945)
  • Quartermaster (and date filter: 1941-1945)
  • Ordnance (and date filter: 1941-1945)
 

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