What's Online?
- Find information about textual records in the National Archives in the Guide to Federal Records and through the Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
- Information on how to order records
Textual Documents in the National Archives
- Introduction
- Where Documents are Located
- Online Resources for information about the records and their location
- How to Obtain Copies
- Contact Us
Introduction
Robert E. Lee's Amnesty Oath, 10/02/1865. ARC Identifier: 302020. (Textual Archives Services, College Park, MD)
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) holds millions of textual documents in multiple repositories nationwide. Federal records and Presidential materials in paper format constitute the largest portion of NARA's holdings. Document types include correspondence, registers, reports, forms, treaties, case files, and log books. These materials are held by:
Where Documents are Located
Washington, DC Area
National Archives Building - Washington, DC
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Many of the textual documents located in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, are of interest to genealogical researchers. Please visit NARA's Genealogy section for information about those record holdings.
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The Old Military and Civil Records unit of the Textual Archives Services Division provides reference services on those federal records in the National Archives Building that originated in the Executive and Judicial branches of government. Most of these records were created prior to 1900 and include documents created or accumulated by the following government agencies: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Census Bureau, Coast Guard, Customs Service, U.S. Army Commands (1784-1821), U.S. Army Continental Commands (1821-1920), War Department, Veteran's Administration, and Washington-based components of the Judicial branch. Contact the unit at: National Archives, Washington, DC 20408 by mail, by e-mail, or by telephone 202-357-5311 (old military records) and 202-357-5411 (old civilian records).
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The Center for Legislative Archives provides reference services on the records of Congress and on the record set of Publications of the U.S. Government.
The National Archives at College Park
The Civilian Records unit of the Textual Archives Services Division, provides reference services on those federal records in the National Archives at College Park that originated in civilian agencies of the Executive branch of government. Most of these records were created after 1900 and include documents created or accumulated by bureaus within the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, and Treasury. Contact the unit at: The National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, by telephone at 301-837-3480, or via Contact Us.
The Modern Military Records unit of the Textual Archives Services Division provides reference services on those federal records in the National Archives at College Park that originated in military agencies of the Executive branch of government. Most of these records were created after 1900 and include documents created or accumulated by the various components of the Department of Defense and its predecessor, the War Department. Contact the unit at: The National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, by telephone at 301-837-3510, or via Contact Us.
The FOIA and Special Access unit of the Textual Archives Services Division provides reference services on those federal records in the National Archives at College Park that require administration of special access provisions. Examples of these types of records include those accumulated as part of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection and those accumulated by Independent Counsels. Contact the unit at: The National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, by telephone at 301-837-3190, or via specialaccess_foia@nara.gov.
- The Nixon Library staff in College Park, Maryland, provides reference services on the accessible textual (paper) materials from the presidency of Richard M. Nixon. Contact the unit at: The National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001, by telephone at 301-837-3290, or via nixon@nara.gov
See also Textual Records Services in the Washington, DC Area
Regional Archives
Documents created by Federal agencies in offices around the country are often found in the Regional Archives. Online descriptions of the archival holdings of the Regional Archives can be found through Selected Guides and Research Aids for the Archival Holdings at the Regional Archives, and through each facility's Findings Aid pages.
Presidential Libraries
Presidential Libraries are repositories for the papers, records and historical materials of the Presidents. The Presidential Libraries work to ensure that these irreplaceable items are preserved and made available for the widest possible use by researchers.
Online Resources for information about the records and their location
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The Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States (3 vol., 1995) provides a general overview of and introduction to the Federal records holdings in NARA's Washington, DC area facilities and Regional Records Services Facilities. Search by Record Group number or by keywords. The web page "By Federal Government Organization" provides 'record group' level links to chapters in the Guide, arranged by branch of government and by Executive Branch department/agency.
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The "List of Record Groups of the National Archives and
Records Administration" provides researchers with a list of NARA's Federal records holdings,
their location and volume estimates.
- See the Holdings Guides and Finding Aids prepared by the Regional
Archives, which provides
more details about their holdings than found in the Guide to Federal Records
- Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) database includes descriptions of a limited portion of the textual documents in NARA custody. It can be searched by media type and by subject.
Search Hint:
- Go the ARC basic search screen.
- Select "Textual records" from the Type filter box. Due to the large number of textual record descriptions in ARC, a search for this Type should be matched with another search filter, either by entering keywords in the keywords boxes or selecting NARA Unit(s) from the NARA Location filter box.
- Then press the "Go" button to retrieve descriptions of textual records.
Contact Us
- For more information about records, contact us with the details of what you are looking for.
