NARA

Question 1: Do I need specific information or am I just curious and want to browse?

• Do you need specific information from archival records, specifically from records at the National Archives? If the answer is yes, you will need to:
  • decide your topic of interest
  • decide whether it's best to use a library or an archives
  • use our web site to start your research
  • decide if you need to visit us in person

• Or are you looking for information about how to look for your family history/genealogy or for records about a veteran related to you? If so, you should see our Genealogists/Family Historians and Veterans and Their Families web pages.
  
  

To obtain copies of military service and family history records, you must complete a form and mail it to us. You may request these forms online or order reproductions of certain records and pay with most major credit cards online. Learn more about ordering copies of records from the National Archives.

If you are a veteran, or the next-of-kin of a deceased veteran, and want to receive a copy of the veteran's military service record:

• use eVetRecs to create your request, which you must print, sign, and mail to us, or
• use the paper form, called an SF-180, that you can print, complete, and mail to us.

• Are you curious about history and interesting documents in our holdings? On our web site you can see, for example:
  • The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America, and the Bill of Rights
  • photographs by Ansel Adams or Civil War photographer Mathew Brady
  • a variety of treasures–"American Originals"–from our stacks and vaults in our museum exhibits online.

Browse our web site to find these records and more.

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