If you are familiar with our Citizen Archivist program, you know that we encourage online volunteers to transcribe digitized historical records held in the National Archives Catalog. We often say that these transcriptions help unlock history by improving search results, readability, and access to historical records. So how exactly are your contributions unlocking history? A … Continue reading Transcriptions Reveal Life in the Trenches
Today’s post comes from Meredith Doviak, Community Manager for the National Archives Catalog. Meredith recently spoke to Dr. Jaime Cantrell, Visiting Assistant Professor of English at The University of Mississippi. Dr. Cantrell has introduced undergraduate students to the importance of archival research and materials by encouraging them to become citizen transcribers for the National Archives … Continue reading Teaching from the Archives
You might already know that jelly beans were a staple in Cabinet meetings with President Reagan, or that President George H. W. Bush was not a particular fan of broccoli, but did you know the National Archives Catalog contains many food related records, including recipes from the White House chefs and First Families? The holdings … Continue reading The Catalog is Cooking!
From political campaigns to conventions, from constitutional amendments to landmark documents, the holdings of the National Archives document the history of American democracy in action. To share some of these historic moments, we are pleased to participate in Google Arts & Culture’s American Democracy collection, contributing thirteen interactive online exhibits that tell the story of presidential … Continue reading Sharing historic moments through Google Arts & Culture’s American Democracy Collection
Summer is here and we hope your plans include visiting one or more of the 411 national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails in the National Park System. If you can’t make it to one of the locations found in every state, the District of … Continue reading National Park Service Turns 100
Today is an important day for participation and innovation in the federal government. The White House officially launched the Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Toolkit, a tool that provides information and resources to help federal agencies use the power of public participation to help solve scientific and societal problems. The launch of this toolkit solidifies the … Continue reading Introducing the Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Toolkit
Join us on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 11:00 am as the Archives I Textual Reference Services Branch presents a Civil Reference Team Roundtable. The session will be held in room G-25 at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Photograph of a family with their covered wagon during the Great Western Migration. National Archives … Continue reading Civil Reference Team Roundtable
Join us on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 11:00 am for our next Reference Roundtable session on Navy and Maritime related records. The session will be held in room G-25 at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Learn from the experts who work with the records! We will be discussing new searching tools and … Continue reading Navy Maritime Reference Roundtable
Are you interested in learning more about the many different projects and employees at the National Archives? We are excited to introduce a new staff-run Twitter account: @ThisisArchives! Each week, a different National Archives employee will take a turn on Twitter, sharing details about our profession, projects we are working on, and what it’s like to … Continue reading @ThisisArchives staff Twitter account
Congress has restored funding of appropriated activities and the National Archives has begun to resume normal operations. The National Archives Building in Washington, DC and the National Archives at College Park, MD will be closed to the public today, October 17 to give staff time to ensure the proper protection of holdings. Facilities around the … Continue reading Federal Government Reopens
