Using the National Archives Mid Atlantic
for National History Day 2008
Our Mission and Collections
The National Archives is the official record keeper of the American democracy. Only the National Archives has a mandate to preserve and make available the historically significant records of the United States. These records evidence what the Federal Government does--why, how, and with what consequences. Our mission is unique--to ensure ready access to the essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of Federal officials, and the national experience. The National Archives carries out this mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential libraries and on the Internet. The Mid Atlantic Branch is a division within this national network.
The National Archives - Mid Atlantic Archives covers the geographic areas of Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. We maintain the historically significant Mid Atlantic Federal records from 1790 to the present. Our records are diverse in content covering the Mid Atlantic's costal areas and inland waterways; immigration and naturalizations; inventions and technology; landmark court decisions; the steel, railroad, and mining industries; the labor movement; school desegregation; lighthouses and lifesaving stations, illegal slave importation; maritime, commerce, and admiralty law; national parks and historic sites; and many other subjects.
Our holdings are open to the public age 14 and over. Children under 14 must have adult supervision. Group project teams or classes must call ahead to make arrangements to use the facility. With planning we can make our training facility available for your use.
To use our facility and holdings, check our Historical Research page.
To access our on-line guide to our holdings, check our Holdings Guide.
To access the National Archives on-line Archives Research Catalog (ARC), check ARC.
Explore Conflict and Compromise in the records of the National Archives
- Native Americans, World War II, and Conflicts over Race: The Case of William Branham
- After the Compromise of 1850: Fugitive Slaves and the Resistance at Christiana
- Centuries Old Conflicts and Compromises: Paul Diabo, the Jay Treaty, and Immigration in 1920s America
- A Compromising Situation: Edgar Fong and the Question of Chinese Labor in Industrial America
- The Conflict over Guano?: The Case of Henry Jones, Imperial Expansion, and Racial Tension in Post-Civil War America
- Tracing Conflict over Time: Changing Laws on Interracial Marriage in Virginia
- Conflict in Carnegie: The KKK's Menacing Presence in 1920s Pennsylvania
- The Everpresent Conflict over Free Speech: Charles Schenck's Seditions Speech during World War I
- A Conflict with the President: Pennsylvanian Thomas Cooper, President John Adams, and the Alien and Sedition Acts
