History in a Cap and Gown

We’re now in the middle of commencement season, and there’ll be many words of wisdom coming from the mouths of speakers: academicians, celebrities, inventors, authors, artists, business people, and political leaders. Sometimes commencement speeches become historic. President John F. Kennedy announced talks for a test-ban treaty in his commencement speech at American University in 1963, and a … Continue reading History in a Cap and Gown

Facial Hair Friday: Our very own beard!

If you visited the National Archives in Washington, DC, last year and waited in line on the Constitution Avenue side of the building on your way to see our Charters of Freedom, you may have seen a red cart with a big red umbrella and a sign that says "Ask the Question." And now, you … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Our very own beard!

What’s Cooking Wednesdays: Eat your peas in NYC

  To celebrate our new exhibit "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" we are featuring a food-related blog post every Wednesday. Today's post comes from Christopher Zarr at the National Archives in New York City. The National Archives maintains the primary source documents of the U.S. Food Administration (USFA). Thousands of documents illustrate the local sacrifices and quality … Continue reading What’s Cooking Wednesdays: Eat your peas in NYC

A record of valor

If you have watched the movie Glory, you saw a recreation of the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, by the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. But a real-life hero from that battle was Sgt. William Harvey Carney, who was awarded the Medal of Honor on May 23, 1900—37 years after the assault on Fort Wagner. The Medal of Honor is … Continue reading A record of valor

Friday Facial Hair: It’s Date Night!

Earlier today, I was searching for images with "bicycles" to create a Facebook album after being inspired by the commuters of DC, who took to the streets on their bikes to celebrate DC Bike to Work Day. I was thrilled to see this image, which is not only a fine example of a nineteenth-century velocipede, … Continue reading Friday Facial Hair: It’s Date Night!

Thursday Photo Caption Contest

Congratulations to Jenny, who has won 15% off in our eStore! Out of 25 entries, your caption sounded right to guest judge and Supervisory Motion Picture Preservation Specialist Christina Kovac and her fellow staff in the Audio/Video Preservation Lab. If you listen carefully to this photograph, you may still hear National Archives employees J. W. … Continue reading Thursday Photo Caption Contest

Kuchem-Buchem just like Grandma used to make

Today on "What's Cooking Wednesday," we are excited to share a special guest post and recipe from food writer Joan Nathan, who will be speaking at the National Archives on May 25 with Chef Spike Mendelsohn about Jewish holiday traditions and cooking.  In all the years I have been writing about food, I thought that … Continue reading Kuchem-Buchem just like Grandma used to make

The Archivist and the Chef

Our new exhibit "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?" opens on June 10 and has over 100 original records about food. But what if you could do more than just look at the records? What if you could taste them—and taste history? Chef Jose Andres—the 2011 Outstanding Chef at the James Beard Foundation Awards, host and executive producer … Continue reading The Archivist and the Chef

It’s a bird, it’s a beard, it’s Audubon!

If you are planning to attend our event next week on crowdsourcing, you will hear a presentation by Jessica Zelt from the U.S. Geological Survey’s North American Bird Phenology Program. My colleague here in the office was editing the text for this event. She thought her husband, an avid bird watcher, might be interested in the … Continue reading It’s a bird, it’s a beard, it’s Audubon!