Archive for May, 2011
History in a Cap and Gown
We’re now in the middle of commencement season, and there’ll be many words of wisdom coming from the mouths of speakers: academicians, celebrities, inventors, authors, artists, business people, and political leaders. Sometimes commencement speeches become historic. President John F. Kennedy announced talks for a test-ban treaty in his commencement speech at American University in 1963, and a [...]
Posted by Hilary on May 31, 2011, under - Cold War, - Presidents, - The 1960s.
Tags: "Great Society", American University, commencement, communism, Harvard University, MArshall Plan, Notre Dame University, nuclear testing ban, University of Michigan
Comments: none
Facial Hair Friday: Our very own beard!
If you visited the National Archives in Washington, DC, last year and waited in line on the Constitution Avenue side of the building on your way to see our Charters of Freedom, you may have seen a red cart with a big red umbrella and a sign that says “Ask the Question.” And now, you [...]
Posted by Hilary on May 27, 2011, under Facial Hair Fridays.
Tags: beards, Civil War reenactor, Foundation for the NAtional Archives, The Cart, the Shop, tourists, Washington DC
Comments: 2
Thursday Photo Caption Contest
It was a tough choice between human-trails and anti-tree safety devices, but our team of judges finally had to go with Penny M, whose caption succinctly captures the importance of safety! We’ll email you a code to use for 15% a puchase in our eStore. Although these do appear to be colorful elongated airbags, they [...]
Posted by Hilary on May 26, 2011, under Photo Caption Contest.
Comments: 29
What’s Cooking Wednesdays: Eat your peas in NYC
To celebrate our new exhibit “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” we are featuring a food-related blog post every Wednesday. Today’s post comes from Christopher Zarr at the National Archives in New York City. The National Archives maintains the primary source documents of the U.S. Food Administration (USFA). Thousands of documents illustrate the local sacrifices and quality [...]
Posted by Hilary on May 25, 2011, under - World War I, What's Cooking Wednesdays.
Tags: Christopher Zarr, federal government, immigrants, pamphlets, potato, rations, recipes, USFA, wheat, world war i
Comments: none
A record of valor
If you have watched the movie Glory, you saw a recreation of the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, by the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. But a real-life hero from that battle was Sgt. William Harvey Carney, who was awarded the Medal of Honor on May 23, 1900—37 years after the assault on Fort Wagner. The Medal of Honor is [...]
Posted by Hilary on May 24, 2011, under - Civil War, Myth or History, Unusual documents.
Tags: 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, Fort Wagner, Glory, Medal of Honor, Sgt. William Harvey Carney
Comments: none