Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. I would wager that few NARA staff members, especially those hired during the past five years, and most researchers are familiar with the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG) nor its website: www.archives.gov/iwg. The website contains a wealth of valuable information not [...]

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. The National Archives holds a substantial quantity Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records. And in the forthcoming years even more records will be accessioned.  The FBI case files contain  a variety of documentation, including FBI agent reports; teletype-messages; prosecutive summaries; accounts of interviews and physical surveillance; letters; memorandums; [...]

Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher. Nancy Yeide, head of the Department of Curatorial Records at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, D.C., in December 1997, began doing provenance research on the NGA’s holdings to ascertain whether any of the works of art had provenance problems.  In the wake of the revelations [...]

In 1971, the National Archives established the Center for the Documentary Study of the American Revolution through its American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (Records of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration: RG 452), at Archives I in Washington, DC.  As one of the major Bicentennial projects, the center was a sort of “one stop” location for the [...]

This post was written by Harry B. Kidd, a volunteer at Archives II, for the volunteer newsletter, The Columns. In the spring of 1918, the German Army launched a major offensive in the hope of achieving a quick victory before the full weight of American Forces could be brought to the line.  Beginning in May [...]

Today’s post is written by Archives II volunteer Jan Hodges. Do you know what a shellback ceremony is? Chances are that unless you’re a Navy man or a relative, you probably don’t. It’s a ritual conducted aboard ship after it crosses the equator. And not just any old ceremony–one that becomes part of the sailor’s permanent record. The Reference Unit [...]

Our guest blogger today is DeAnne Blanton, reference archivist at Archives I. The Archives I Reference Section is pleased to announce our in-house digitization project in honor of the Civil War sesquicentennial.  During the course of the next five years or so, the 2,750 volumes comprising the Collected Record Books of Various Executive, Legislative, and [...]

Today’s post is written by Adam Minakowski, an archives technician who works with researchers in College Park. Opening a box of records in the Textual Research Room at Archives II, you expect to file folders stuffed with typed or handwritten documents.  Sure, you’ll sometimes encounter log books, photos, and maps, but these are still paper-based [...]

So, what is in the RG 286 records and how should researchers approach diving in to world of USAID?  Most important is for researchers to have as much specific information as possible depending on how specific your research needs are.  Knowing specific offices, project names, beneficiary countries or regions, or any other relevant data that [...]

The National Archives has a program of presentations called Know Your Records through which archivists, volunteers, and others share their knowledge of our records with you, the public.  It is a great way for interested individuals to learn what we have and how to use what we have to their advantage. The Text Message, in [...]