Photograph caption: Albert Johnson, member of the Milk Wagon Drivers Union, at work, Duluth. From RG 69, General Records of the Workers’ Service Program, Service Division, Work Projects Administration. Not directly related to the information below; just a beautiful image. In June 1941, W. G. Campbell launched a sweeping investigation. As the Commissioner of Food [...]

I see great things in baseball. It’s our game — the American game. –Walt Whitman Although Benjamin Franklin Shibe died in 1922, his accomplishments had a direct effect on your evening plans for tonight. Never heard of him? You should thank Shibe, if you’re among the millions of Americans who are looking forward to tonight’s [...]

Some months ago I attended a book signing at Archives I by author and History Channel star, Brad Meltzer.  It was on the occasion of his new book The Inner Circle, which has at its core an archivist and the National Archives.  Brad is a big fan of NARA, archivists, and the records we keep.  [...]

As the US involvement in World War II heightened, the nation faced many critical shortages. Certainly sugar and butter come to mind, as do images of children collecting bottle caps and pieces of glass. But “Mrs. Housewife” was called to her patriotic duty to conserve another good: household fats. The Conservation Division of the War [...]

Today I had the pleasure of attending a program in the National Archives’ William G. McGowan Theater called Are You In? Citizen Archivists, Crowdsourcing and Open Government that outlined some great projects that involve the public with making records available online. AOTUS Ferriero opened the program with remarks that described how President Obama’s Open Government mandate of December 2009 [...]

  From 1943 to 1946, Colonia Santa Rosa in Guanajuato, Mexico was the site of a US-government sponsored home for Polish refugees. About 240 miles northwest of Mexico City and “10 minutes’ ride by mule-drawn tram from the Leon railway station,” the hacienda included a 39-room ranch house, a flour mill, ten wheat storage warehouses, [...]

Agency correspondence files are like treasure troves. One never knows what one will find inside. Unlike program or subject files, correspondence files often vary widely by topic, capturing the inquiries, suggestions and outrages of the American public. Records of the U.S. Marine Corps are, of course, no exception and the series “General Correspondence, compiled 01/01/1939 – [...]

Welcome to our newest venture, where we, members of the Textual Archives staff, will share our reference and processing experiences with you. Did you ever wonder how our records come to be processed, or what steps are involved? Did you ever ponder all the places a piece of paper has been before that moment in which [...]