Photographs and Graphic Works in the National Archives
- Where the Records are Located
- Online Resources for information about the records and their locations
- How to Obtain Copies
- Contact Us
Where the Records are Located
College Park, Maryland
Still Pictures Research Room
The Still Pictures unit in College Park, Maryland, has an estimated 8 million photographs and graphic images, ranging in date from the 1850s to the present.
Textual Records Research Room
Interfiled with textual records in the Washington, D.C. Area facilities are many thousands of additional photographs.
Cartographic and Architectural Research Room
The Cartographic and Architectural unit in College Park, Maryland, has approximately 9 million aerial photographs in its collection.
Use Archival Research Catalog (ARC) to find images in College Park online
Archival Research Catalog (ARC): The ARC database can be used to search by media type and by subject.
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Among the accessible resources are the majority of series descriptions
covering the holdings of the Still Picture unit of the Special Media
Archives Services Division, National Archives at
College Park, and digitized versions of over 40,000 selected photographs
and posters from these holdings.
Search Hint :
- Go to the ARC basic search screen.
- Select "Photographs and other graphic materials" from the Type filter box, and "Still Picture Records LICON" from the NARA Location filter box.
- Press the "Go" button to retrieve descriptions of photographs within the holdings of the Still Picture unit.
- (You may limit your search further by entering keywords in the Keywords boxes.)
Cartographic and Architectural unit Materials
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The Cartographic and Architectural unit, Special Media Archives Services
Division, located at the National Archives at College Park, makes
available on-line some information about NARA's
holdings of aerial photography. On-line finding aids to holdings and informational
resources include:
- General Information Leaflet 26: Cartographic and Architectural Records (Web Version): This on-line document provides an overview of holdings, reference services, and a list of finding aids related to cartographic and architectural records holdings including aerial photography holdings.
- Ordering Reproductions of Maps, Plans, and Aerial Photographs
- Information available in the Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States 3 vols. (1995), may be used to identify holdings by record group.
- Contact the reference staff of the Cartographic and Architectural unit: carto@nara.gov
Presidential Libraries
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt with Anna and baby James, in Hyde Park, New York, 1908. ARC ID: 195353, (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY)
There are about 5 million photographs and graphic images in the holdings of the Presidential Libraries.
Online Finding Aids- Hoover Library: Research Collections - Photos
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Library: Audiovisual Archives
- Harry S. Truman Library: Audiovisual Materials
- Dwight D. Eisenhower Library: Audiovisual Department
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library: Audiovisual Archives
- L.B.J. Digital Photo Archive
- Richard Nixon Library
- Gerald R. Ford Library: Audiovisual Collections
- Jimmy Carter Library: Audiovisual Collections
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Ronald
Reagan Library: Audiovisual Materials
Search Hint for finding photographs in ARC held in Presidential Libraries:
- Go to the ARC basic search screen.
- Select Photographs and other graphic materials from the Type filter box.
- Select [A Presidential Library] from the NARA Location filter box.
- Press the "Go" button to retrieve descriptions of photographs within the holdings of that Presidential Library.
- (You may limit your search further by entering keywords in the Keywords boxes.)
Regional Archives
Interfiled with textual records in the Regional Archives around the country are many thousands of photographs.
See the Archival Holdings Guides for each Region. You may also contact the Regional Archives directly for information about their holdings.
Search Hint for finding Photos from a specific Regional Archives location:
- Go to the ARC basic search screen, select Photographs and other graphic materials from the Type filter box and [A NARA regional facility] from the NARA Location filter box.
- Press the "Go" button to retrieve descriptions of photographs within the holdings of the of that facility.
- (You may limit your search further by entering keywords in the Keywords boxes.)
Online Resources for information about the records
Still Picture Unit Materials
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The Still Picture unit, Special Media Archives Services Division, located at the National Archives at College Park, makes available on-line some information about NARA's photographic and graphic works holdings. On-line finding aids to holdings and informational resources include:
- "Guide to the Holdings of the Still Picture Branch of the National Archives", compiled by Barbara Lewis Burger (1990); INDEX
- A number of 'Select Audiovisual Records' leaflets and the associated images.
- Records of the National Park Service, Ansel Adams Photographs
- General Information Leaflet 35: National Archives Gift Collection Acquisition Policy: Still Pictures (1991)
- To Obtain Still Picture Reproductions
- Information available in the Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States 3 vols. (1995), may be used to identify holdings by record group.
- Contact the reference staff of the Still Picture unit: stillpix@nara.gov
