Today’s post is by Rachael Salyer, Subject Matter Expert for Modern Military Records at the National Archives in College Park, MD. Photograph of WAC Officers Inspecting the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion - NAID 531249 In early 1945, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion became the only Women’s Army Corps (WAC) unit comprised of women … Continue reading The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) in World War II
Today’s post is by Rachael Salyer, Archivist in the Textual Reference Branch at the National Archives in College Park, MD. “I have travled this country over [...] and want to get home” - C.L. Daniel, World War I Veteran and Victim of the Tulsa Race Massacre Detail of Photograph of Soldiers Reading, 1918 (NAID 17343141)* … Continue reading Honoring C.L. Daniel, World War I Veteran and Victim of the Tulsa Race Massacre
Today's post was written by Kaitlin Rogers, archives technician at the National Archives in College Park. “I know those challenges that come up from time to time in life are our little learning tools, our little stepping stones. If we didn't have those things in our life, how would we learn anything? We would just … Continue reading Happy Birthday Gladys Knight!
Today's post was written by Christina Violeta Jones, Archivist with the Special Access and FOIA Program at the National Archives at College Park, MD "For those of us who write, it is necessary to scrutinize not only the truth of what we speak, but the truth of that language, by which we speak it." -Audre … Continue reading The FBI’s Brief Investigation on Audre Lorde
Today's post was written by M. Marie Maxwell, archivist in the Special Access and FOIA Program at the National Archives in College Park. It's February, which means it is Black History Month. Do you know why we have a Black History Month? Because it started out as Negro History Week. And who started that? Dr. … Continue reading Carter G. Woodson The Father of Black History and Black History Month
Content Warning: This post contains disturbing images and descriptions of anti-Black violence. Have you ever wondered about the origins of recreation facilities, public roads, school systems, utilities, and housing in your hometown? In all likelihood, your small town—or even big city—was shaped by comprehensive planning under the Housing Act of 1954, signed by President Eisenhower. … Continue reading “Envision the Razing of All These Structures”: Evidence of Forced Displacement and Dispossession
Cover photo: A Great Day in Hip Hop, Harlem, New York, by Gordon Parks, 1998 This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip Hop. Rap, a genre of popular music rooted in funk, disco, and soul that encompasses the cultures of Black and Brown people is one part of Hip Hop … Continue reading “To the Hip Hop and You don’t Stop”: A Tribute for the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop
Free Frank McWorter was an American frontiersman who found fortune, became the first African American to register a town, and spent his life liberating his family. He was born enslaved in 1777 in South Carolina. His mother, Juda had been kidnapped from West Africa and his father is thought to be her enslaver[1]. Frank moved … Continue reading Free Frank McWorter – Father of Freedom
Today’s post was written by Nathanial Patch, Subject Matter Expert for Navy Records and Reference Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. From Carrier to the Thick of the Fight Corsair Airplanes Aboard the USS Leyte (CV-32) in Korean Waters (NAID 178141084) On a cold and bleak day in December 1950 off the coast … Continue reading Blue Star Turned to Gold: The Loss of Ens. Jesse L. Brown
This June, the National Archives Say it Loud! African American Employee Affinity Group, Houston Public Library's African American Library at the Gregory School, and the Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC) teamed up to create an online exhibit celebrating one of the most eloquent and preeminent women to come out of the great state of Texas, … Continue reading The Keynote Speaker – Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
