Ever wonder what exciting new projects the many employees at NARA are working on? The “What are You Working On?” blog feature aims to introduce a variety of NARA employees and highlight some of the exciting projects we are working on around the agency. Check for this blog series on Wednesdays! This week, we introduce [...]

The National Archives introduces an exciting new way to use our historic photograph collections!  History Happens Here! augments reality and combines the old with the new in the same frame, giving the viewer a unique perspective on how our country has evolved over time. For those of us who are familiar with the latest in [...]

On April 2, 2012, the Federal Census Bureau will be releasing the 1940 Census for public access.  For many genealogists and researchers, the release of this census will open new insights into pre-war America, as well as provide opportunities for genealogists and family historians to continue their research into this most recent decade.  Like all [...]

Thanks to your great feedback on our recent Family Tree Fridays and NARA Staff Favorite posts, we’re considering introducing another specialized series here on NARAtions. This new set of posts, called Tech Tuesdays, would allow us to start a discussion about the cutting-edge technologies that are being developed across the archives field (a topic we’re [...]

It happens to all of us.  You follow one lead after another, following a thread of information that seems to link your months, or even years, of research together.  Then, suddenly, the thread is gone.  What do you do then?  For many, this is a dead-end; all that time spent working on a topic has [...]

Customs records at the National Archives often provide interesting glimpses of personal information about our seafaring ancestors.  The occupational hazards of the maritime trade after the Revolutionary War, especially the threat of Impressment by the British, caused many American sailors to purchase seamen’s protection certificates, such as the one pictured here that was issued to [...]

We’ve loved reading your suggestions and comments about sharing NARA’s holdings on Flickr, and it’s been interesting to see which images people are marking as favorites. All of this got us wondering about which records NARA insiders are particularly fond of, so we asked a few of our experienced colleagues for their picks. This week’s [...]

We’ve loved reading your suggestions and comments about sharing NARA’s holdings on Flickr, and it’s been interesting to see which images people are marking as favorites. All of this got us wondering about which records NARA insiders are particularly fond of, so we asked a few of our experienced colleagues for their picks. This second [...]

Yesterday we asked a question on the blog about transcribing NARA’s handwritten records. Thanks to those of you who commented for the ideas and examples! We love the idea of crowdsourcing and have been thinking about how we could make it work for NARA. Projects like the one that Craig mentioned at the Australian National [...]

Family research at the National Archives centers on the use of federal records.  To start the process, we always advise researchers to first consider how their ancestors may have come into contact with the federal government during the course of their daily lives.  If your great-grandparents purchased a homestead in Nebraska, they probably filed an application [...]