Prologue: Pieces of History

Are these the most famous sideburns in music history? They might be the most famous sideburns in the National Archives. If you are a fan of Elvis, you’ve seen the photograph: Nixon and Elvis shaking hands in the White House. This is the most-requested image in our holdings. The quirky story behind the meeting of the King [...]

Intriguing discoveries are made all the time in the National Archives. This tintype of a woman and child doesn’t look like the typical federal record, let alone one associated with military records. But it was found in one of the 1.28 million Civil War Widows Certificate Approved Pension Case Files. Since 2007, a team of [...]

As 2011 draws to a close, so does our exhibit “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” which will end on January 3, 2012. It’s been a great year for food here at the National Archives. We’ve had amazing guests come and speak, including Chef José Andrés, our neighbor and Chief Culinary Adviser for the exhibit; Chef Roland [...]

I was going to try to find another bearded man to feature, but it’s practically Christmas Eve, and let’s face it, Santa Claus has the most famous beard (and reindeer) of all. It’s like a giant cloud of fluffy white snow around his chin. It’s his defining characteristic. In the middle of July when there’s an older gentleman on [...]

Our featured cat is Socks, who was photographed at the White House in December of 1993. So we asked Terri Garner, director of the Clinton Presidential Library, to be our guest judge. There was a lot of debate and discussion in Little Rock, but she emailed us a winner today. Congratulations to Jean West! Terri chose your caption on Facebook [...]