“This is an American soldier – he is your friend.”  So read the leaflet prepared by the United States for use in Vietnam.  Underneath that caption, it pictured several American infantrymen advancing into combat. The time, however, was not the 1960s; it was mid-1945 and World War II in the Pacific was drawing to a [...]

As 2012 marks the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, the Reference staff at Archives 1 want to provide a glimpse of some of the series that we have in our custody relating to this conflict.  The following list may assist researchers who want to locate records pertaining to the War of 1812.  Please note that this list [...]

With the annual Army-Navy game less than two weeks away, I thought I would share an interesting letter I found among the records of the Adjutant General’s Office (Record Group 94). 2nd Lieutenant Robert C. Foy, 8th U.S. Infantry, sent a letter to Major John A. Johnson, Assistant Adjutant General, on November 14, 1899, in [...]

 As we are in the midst of the college and professional football seasons, I thought it might be interesting to have a blog about this sport during its early years, one which shows a few of the football-related records we have here at Archives I.   At the turn of the last century, football was [...]

Our guest blogger today is Dennis Edelin, Chief, Forms Section at Archives I. On September 26, 2011, the National Archives began a preservation re-boxing project.  The purpose of the project is to re-box the nearly 900,000 Solider Certificate (“SC”) Civil War and Later pension application files in our custody.  Please note, these records are not leaving [...]

In a previous blog (Music at the National Archives, June 2011) I wrote about those rare instances when archivists and researchers come across a document that stands out because it is so different from what is usually found within our holdings.  On one occasion I located two such records within the Secretary of War records at Archives [...]

A common research topic concerns information on military installations, i.e., forts, camps, depots, barracks, etc.  Generally, the bulk of the records we have relate to permanent installations, but we do have a few records pertaining to some temporary posts. Records relating to military installations can be found in a number of different record groups in [...]

Today’s post is written by T. Juliette Arai, a reference archivist who works at Archives I.  Along with M. Marie Maxwell, she will be joining us as a regular blogger.  “What records do you have here?” is a common question we are asked everyday at Archives I.  This post — Part 1 of a 3-part series [...]

Today’s post is written by Lopez D. Matthews, Jr., an Archives Technician in the Holdings Management Division at Archives II.  Celebrate Women’s History Month and discover the the WAC! The story of women in the military is one of strength and courage in the face of discrimination and doubt. Part of the story can be [...]