Prologue: Pieces of History

Today’s blog post comes from Mary Burtzloff, archivist at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. The black leather-bound journal had water stains and mold around the edges. It looked a bit icky, but the contents of the Civil War journal fascinated me. One hundred and fifty years after our nation’s bloodiest conflict, we are  reminded [...]

The National Archives, with the generous support of the Foundation for the National Archives, announces the 2013 Regional Residency Fellowship Program’s Request for Proposals. The Residency Fellowship Program gives researchers the opportunity to conduct original research using records held at National Archives locations in Boston, MA; Denver, CO; Fort Worth, TX; Riverside, CA; San Francisco, [...]

Today’s post comes from Christopher Abraham at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. “I am a newspaper reporter and I would like to know if anything unusual happened during either of President Eisenhower’s inaugural ceremonies.” —Anonymous   Have you ever seen a U.S. President lassoed by a cowboy? It likely qualifies as “unusual!” General Eisenhower related this [...]

  George Washington As the first President, Washington set many inaugural precedents, but his inaugurations were also very different in ways that would not be repeated. The oath of office is usually administered the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the ceremony. The first President had not yet appointed any Supreme Court Justices, and [...]

On Monday, January 21, President Obama will be sworn in for a second term. It will be the 57th Presidential Inauguration. Beginning at 11:30 a.m., the President’s swearing-in ceremony will be shown live in the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives. If you are in Washington, DC, don’t miss this chance to see [...]