This post is part of an ongoing series of blog posts that acknowledges the ancestral lands on which the National Archives’ buildings are situated. I started this series of acknowledgements as a simple way to offer recognition and respect to the people who lived on these lands before us. After all, the past is prologue. … Continue reading The Importance of Acknowledging our History: The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library
As the home of this nation’s founding documents—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights—we have a special responsibility to the ideals that all people are created equal, that all people have equal protection under the law, and that there is a common good that includes us all. Although we as a … Continue reading Addressing Racial Inequality
This post is part of an ongoing series of blog posts that acknowledges the ancestral lands on which the National Archives’ buildings are situated. I share these land acknowledgements as a way to offer recognition and respect to the people who lived on these lands before us. Today’s post takes us to the National Archives and … Continue reading The Importance of Acknowledging our History: The National Archives in Seattle
This is the second in a series of blog posts that acknowledges the history of the land on which the National Archives’ buildings are situated. Today’s post is the National Archives building in College Park, Maryland, known by staff and local researchers as “A2.” The A2 building site contains archeological remains from prehistoric settlements during … Continue reading The Importance of Acknowledging our History: NARA at College Park, Maryland
I work at the National Archives’ flagship building in Washington, D.C., which sits on the ancestral lands of the Nacotchtank peoples. From the Native Land website map. I have begun to include this simple statement when I provide remarks at meetings, acknowledging the ancestral lands of indigenous people on which we stand. If you have … Continue reading The Importance of Acknowledging History
Today, NARA released two datasets to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Registry of Open Data: the National Archives Catalog dataset and the 1940 Census dataset. The AWS Registry of Open Data is a service provided by AWS to store open, public datasets for free so that they can be accessed and analyzed on AWS. With … Continue reading NARA Datasets on the AWS Registry of Open Data
The University Libraries at Virginia Tech (VT) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), are working on a collaborative planning project, the ultimate goal of which is to ensure future access to the massive and ever-growing collection of government records in NARA’s digital Catalog. A planning grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has … Continue reading Exploring the Future Together
The next Decennial (ten-year) Census of the United States will be available online next year. In 1978, Public Law 95-416, also known as the “72-Year Rule,” restricted access to decennial records to everyone except for the individual named on the record for 72 years. The National Archives will release the 1950 Census records in April … Continue reading Preparing for the 1950 Census
Class in reconnaissance, Group #1, showing calibration of hands and field glasses for use in rapid calculation of firing data (names in caption). Le Valdahon, Doubs, France National Archives Identifier: 86708077 FY2019 FY2020 Number of Record Group descriptions in the National Archives Catalog569*576*Number of Collection descriptions in the Catalog4,7524,764Number of creating organization authority files in … Continue reading By the Numbers 2020
Sunshine Week, an annual initiative to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of unnecessary and excessive secrecy, begins March 14, 2021. One year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of Sunshine Week events across the country, including ours, we invite you to join us (virtually, of course) on … Continue reading Celebrating Sunshine in Government!
