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 [...]

Today’s post is written by Kimberly Kronwall. My grandfather was an avid pilot and builder of airplanes.  As a child, I remember walking into his garage to check on the progress of his latest Taylorcraft aircraft.  Other than this limited exposure to airplanes (and the commercial flights I frequent) I am not by any means [...]

In her 2005 study Drawing The Line: Nature, Hybridity and Politics in Transboundary Spaces, geographer Juliet Fall recounts a parable from a tumultuous corner of Europe: “A local tale told of a man who was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, christened in Czechoslovakia, married in Hungary, had his first child in the USSR, and died [...]

In February 1963, the United Nations (UN) held the UN Conference on the Application of Science and Technology for the Benefit of the Less Developed Areas (UNCAST) in Geneva, Switzerland. This conference, held at the peak of the Cold War, brought together about 1,600 delegates from 96 countries, including delegations from both the West and [...]

The “National Archives Researcher News” recently carried an FAQ that provides guidance on ways to improve your research experience at the National Archives. It is reissued here to bring it to the attention of readers of The Text Message. HOW CAN I MAKE MY VISIT MORE SUCCESSFUL? The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) reference [...]

Several months ago, as part of a processing project relating to Record Group 516: Records of the Federal Judicial Center, 1967 – 1994, I did a little research on a woman named Alice L. O’Donnell. In the Archives Research Catalog, also known as ARC, a researcher can, according to the Archives.Gov website,  search by a [...]

To assist researchers interested in records of the Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies, the most heavily used records in the National Archives, the Textual Archives Services Division has launched a newly revamped set of pages on the Archives’ website for providing an introduction to foreign affairs records. The conduct of foreign affairs [...]

Today’s post is by Alan Walker, a processing archivist at Archives II. As a kid I was captivated by the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The drama of such a man-made behemoth falling victim to an iceberg and the scope of the human tragedy conspired to trigger the imaginations of this impressionable youth. I read [...]

As 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, the Reference staff at Archives 1 want to provide a glimpse of some of the series that we have in our custody relating to this conflict.  The following list may assist researchers who want to locate records pertaining to the War of 1812.  Please note that this list [...]

Today’s post is written by Alan Walker, a processing archivist in Research Services. Earlier I described to you the Overseas Mission records of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and our project to transform them from the unfortunate and inaccessible state in which they arrived at Archives II. These records have proven a time-consuming challenge for [...]