Press Release
September 30, 2005
National Archives Presents Free Lectures in November 2005
Washington, DC…In November, the National Archives presents public programs with topics related to DNA testing for genealogy, Civil Rights in the 1950s, and an "American Conversation" with Lynne Cheney. Reservations are recommended. Reserve by email (public.program@nara.gov) or telephone 202-501-5000.
Programs are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. The William G. McGowan Theater is located in the National Archives Building on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC. Room G-24 is located in the National Archives Building Research Center. Please note: the public must use the National Archives Building Pennsylvania Avenue entrance between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, to access Room G-24. Some lectures will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, MD, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, facility.
Tuesday, November 1-World War II Electronic Army Serial Number File
Archivist Theodore Hull will describe the history of the Electronic Army Serial Number File and how it came to be accessible in NARA's Access to Archival Databases (AAD) resource. He will provide search tips and demonstrate how to access this file in AAD.
11 a.m. Room G-24. (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, in Lecture Room B, on Thursday, November 3, at 11 a.m.)
Wednesday, November 2-Tracking Your Genes in Genealogy: DNA Testing
Dr. Thomas H. Shawker will explain the basic principles behind Y chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA tests for genealogy; how to interpret the results; and how you can use them for genealogy. Reservations required. Call 202-208-0781, ext. 248.
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Room G-24.
Wednesday, November 9-Impressed American Seamen Records, 1789-1815
Archives Specialist John Deeben will discuss records of the State Department and Customs Service that document the Federal Government's efforts to track impressment cases and repatriate American seamen who were illegally seized by the British Navy.
11 a.m. Room G-24 (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, in Lecture Room B, on Thursday, November 10, at 11 a.m.)
Saturday, November 12-Italian Genealogy: Research in the United States and Italy
Dr. John Colletta, author of Finding Italian Roots, will address U.S. and Italian resources available for family research. Reservations required, call 202-208-0781 ext. 254. $20 fee payable by cash or check at the door.
10:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Washington Conference Room.
Tuesday, November 15- "But those records have to exist": A Brief History of the National Archives and the Fate of Selected Federal Records
From the War Department fire in 1800 to the establishment of the National Archives in 1935, archivist Connie Potter looks at why some records did not survive and how others just made it to the National Archives. Her focus is on records of genealogical interest.
11 a.m. Room G-24. (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, in Lecture Room B, on Thursday, November 17, at 11 a.m.)
Tuesday, November 15-Eisenhower's Civil War: The Politics of Civil Rights in the 1950s
The Eisenhower Library and Eisenhower Foundation present a Herbert Brownell Memorial Lecture, "Eisenhower's Civil War: The Politics of Civil Rights in the 1950s," by Dr. David Nichols. Based on extensive research, some into recently available materials, Dr. Nichols examines the complexities-some ground breaking, some controversial-of civil rights during this time period, focusing on the role of President Eisenhower and Attorney General Herbert Brownell. Dr. Nichol's premise is that the Eisenhower administration developed the legal framework for civil rights legislation and Government policies of the 1960s. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, and Ann Brownell Sloane, the late Attorney General's daughter, will make brief comments.
Noon. William G. McGowan Theater.
Friday, November 18-Orphan Works and the Visual Record
The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film at the National Archives, with the Center for Social Media and the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, American University, presents a program on a timely issue in copyright law. Some images remain unavailable to those who would benefit from access to them because these so called "orphan works" defy the best efforts of would be licensees, including documentary filmmakers, to trace current rights holders. The U.S. Copyright Office is engaged in an important study that aims to develop a solution. Tonight's panel will consists of Jeffrey P. Cunard (counsel to the College Art Association), Jule L. Sigall (U.S. Copyright Office), Maggie Burnette Stogner (Blue Bear Films), Robert B. Townsend (American Historical Association), and a representative of the Library of Congress. Peter Jaszi of American University Law School will moderate.
7 p.m. William G. McGowan Theater.
Wednesday, November 30-American Conversations: Timing the Past A Talk with Lynne Cheney
In the inaugural program of the National Archives new series of American Conversations, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein talks with author Lynne Cheney about the way Americans have come to perceive their past. Her recent book, A Time for Freedom: What Happened When in America, is an extension of her longstanding interest in the education of young people in American history. Dr. Cheney, as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts in the early 1990s, published the landmark study of America's challenges in history education, American Memory, and as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute has continued to be an advocate for change.
The program with Dr. Cheney is one in a series of informal conversations between the Archivist and people who have shaped the dialogue about the interpretation and use of our heritage. In December, guests in this series will include documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, discussing his new project on World War II, and Dr. Lonnie Bunch, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
7 p.m. William G. McGowan Theater.
Wednesday, November 16-A Farewell to Justice
Joan Mellen, author of A Farewell to Justice: Jim Garrison, JFK's Assassination, and the Case That Should Have Changed History, revisits the investigation of New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison, the only public official to have indicted a suspect in President John F. Kennedy's murder. Working with thousands of previously unreleased documents and drawing on more than 1,000 interviews, Mellen's book examines new evidence surrounding the assassination that altered the course of the nation as well as the investigation that followed.
Noon. Jefferson Conference Room.
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For PRESS information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 501-5526.
To verify the date and times of the programs, the public should call the Public Programs Line at: (202) 501-5000, for information, or view the Calendar of Events on the web site.
To contact the National Archives, please call 1-866-272-6272 or 1-86-NARA-NARA; (TDD) 301-837-0482.
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