Family Tree Friday: How to decipher compiled service record jackets.

Compiled military service records at the National Archives for the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) through the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) are filed in separate envelopes or jackets that contain basic information about the soldier.  The example shown here for my ancestor Adam Dale (his surname is actually DEAL, which shows how spelling mistakes/variations can find their way … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: How to decipher compiled service record jackets.

Filing Manuals online!

Trying to find the War Department decimal classification number for the Maritime Labor Board or the Department of State's decimal classification number for extradition treaties?  We have scanned some of the filing manuals which our researchers use most frequently and posted them in the researcher section of Archives.gov.  Included are filing manuals from the War Department, the … Continue reading Filing Manuals online!

Family Tree Friday: Slave Schedules

If you’ve been watching the new NBC show, Who Do You Think You Are?, you may have seen a recent episode where slavery in America was discussed. Researchers with slave ancestors often have trouble because there just aren’t a lot of federal records which list slaves by name. One type of federal record that researchers … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Slave Schedules

DC-area Researchers – Agenda for the Researcher Meeting on March 19th at Archives II

Please join us for our monthly researcher meeting on Friday, March 19th, at 1 PM in the auditorium at Archives II in College Park. Jim Hastings, the Director of Access Programs, and Diane Dimkoff, the Director of the Customer Services Division, will be on hand to discuss the following questions and topics: 1. Digitization a. … Continue reading DC-area Researchers – Agenda for the Researcher Meeting on March 19th at Archives II

Family Tree Friday: Vessel crew lists are part of immigration records.

Immigration records at the National Archives contain more than just information about passengers traveling into the United States from foreign ports.  Quite often they also include accompanying lists of crewmen, both American and foreign-born, who worked on the vessels.  These lists exist because of an early 19th-century law that required the masters of American vessels … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Vessel crew lists are part of immigration records.

Family Tree Friday: Genealogy Programs at the National Archives Building

The National Archives in the DC area has a lot of public programs. One of our most successful ventures is our Know Your Records lecture series. We present weekly lectures, both at the National Archives Building and the National Archives in College Park, on a wide variety of research topics. A year and a half … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Genealogy Programs at the National Archives Building

DC-area Researchers: Mark your calendars for the next researcher meeting.

Please join us on March 19th at 1 PM at Archives II in College Park (room TBD) for the first of a new series of monthly researcher meetings. Continuing the tradition of our Archives I Users Group, we will be holding monthly meetings with researchers to keep you informed of what is happening at Archives … Continue reading DC-area Researchers: Mark your calendars for the next researcher meeting.