This week I was in Kansas City visiting two of our three facilities in the area. The limestone caves at Lenexa hold both temporary and permanent records of Federal agencies in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska including the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, the growing collection of records of … Continue reading The One Who Got Away
Iodite of potassium, sulphate of iron, nitrate of silver, rice starch, ferro cyanite of potassium, and even lemon juice. These are some of the ingredients necessary to reproduce the secret writing techniques described in the six documents declassified by the CIA last week as part of the work of the National Declassification Center (NDC). The … Continue reading Spies and Secret Writing
On Sunday, I was honored to provide the keynote address for the Next Century Convocation at MIT, the institution which launched my career and shaped my worldview. I shared my thoughts on MIT’s striking founding vision and how pervasive its influence has been over the last 150 years, even in unexpected places. MIT's motto is … Continue reading Mens et Manus: Reaching for the Future
A test of a nation's commitment to transparency and self-government comes in how it explains to succeeding generations the more difficult or controversial moments of the past. Watergate is one such moment in our nation's history -- and a topic that is now more fully explored at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. Last week, … Continue reading Understanding Watergate
You may think that the National Archives is an unlikely place to learn the secrets of Michael Jackson's dance moves -- but you're wrong! Within Record Group 241, Records of the Patent and Trademark Office, patent 5,255,452 gives us the secrets behind one move in particular -- Michael's "lean" as done in the music video, … Continue reading How to be a “Smooth Criminal”
