Prologue: Pieces of History

Today’s guest post was written by Miriam Kleiman, who works in the National Archives Public Affairs Office.

George Clooney’s next film—which he will write, direct, and star in—is based on holdings from the National Archives! 

Clooney announced last weekend that his number-one priority is to make a film about the “Monuments Men,” a group of cultural scholars and historians who donned Army uniforms to serve the Allies by rescuing, identifying, and trying to return precious artworks looted by Adolf Hitler.

Clooney shared with the press that while the Monuments Men were not trained for combat, they did face live fire and even had to give orders. He offered a possible example: “Don’t aim your tank over there, that’s the Leaning Tower of Pisa!” And it will be a big-budget film, not a small artsy one.

Clooney is now working on the screenplay. The movie will be an adaptation of Robert Edsel’s 2009 book, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.

Edsel is no stranger to the National Archives. His work is largely based on National Archives records, including those of the Office of Strategic Services Art Looting Unit, images from the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and records of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives branch of the Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany).

In Monuments Men, Edsel praises … [ Read all ]

Choosing the winner was as easy as falling off a log for our guest judge Andrea Matney, who has experience balancing guest speakers and programming for the Know Your Records series.

Congratulations to the excellently named Ryan Tickle! Your caption tickled our funnybone and–combined with the oppressive heat this week–made us all long to be at “Camp Kishioka.” Check your email for a code for 15% off a purchase at the eStore!

So where do such delightful log-rolling contests happen? This image (ARC 557772) is from our DOCUMERICA series and shows Unicoi State Park in Georgia on the Fourth of July. The state park isn’t far from Helen, another town in Georgia that was photographed as part of this series. Helen is best known for having made itself into a tourist attraction by decorating the town in a Bavarian motif.

It’s so hot here in Washington, DC, that we would happily jump into a lake in Georgia or Bavaria. The weather has inspired us to choose this week’s photo–put your best caption in the comments below!… [ Read all ]