This blog post was written by Dr. Tina L. Ligon, Supervisory Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act. This act helped disenfranchised African Americans to register to vote and gave the federal government power to oversee … Continue reading 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Today’s blog was written by Kate Palm, summer intern at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland and graduate student at the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science Dr. Ambrose Caliver (1894-1962) was a national leader in the twentieth-century field of black education who spent over thirty years in the U. S. Office … Continue reading Ambrose Caliver, A Leader in 20th Century Black Education
Today's blog was written by Dr. Tina L. Ligon, Archivist and Kevin Bradley, Archives Technician at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland In 1941, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt demanding that African Americans be used in roles other than messmen in … Continue reading USS Mason, USS PC-1264, and the African-American Crews during World War II
Today’s blog was written by Mary Kate Eckles, summer intern at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland and a liberal arts student at St. John’s College W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was one of the leading academics on black life in the United States. He was a historian, sociologist, educator and the first … Continue reading W. E. B. Du Bois, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Study of Black Life
In Celebration of LGBT Pride Month The post was written by Dr. Tina Ligon, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland Bayard Rustin was a believer in non-violence, a socialist, a civil rights organizer, and an openly gay black man. He was born on March 17, 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania and raised … Continue reading Record of the Week: Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights and Gay Rights Activist
Today’s blog was written by genealogist Renée K. Carl As a genealogist with a background in cultural anthropology, I relish the research project that allows me to put information about a family into the context of the times. When a genealogist in Canada put out a call for assistance on a project regarding his ancestor’s … Continue reading Sold for the Benefit of the Captors
Written by Patrice Brown, Archivist (Special Assistant) in the Evaluation and Special Projects Division, National Declassification Center at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland This is the second in a series of blogs that relates to Panama Canal records. This blog focuses on death records and how the records can be used to perform … Continue reading Accidents, Injuries and Deaths in the Canal Zone, 1884–1999
This post was submitted by Ray Bottorff, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park. Ray is also a comic books enthusiast, so we present this record of the week in celebration of Awesome Con, happening this weekend in Washington, DC. From the series General Records, 1942–July 1943 (NAID 12126610) in RG 44 George J. … Continue reading Record of the Week: African-American Comics During World War II
Today’s blog was written by Emanuel Riley, graduating senior at the University of Maryland and Student Intern at the National Archives at College Park On October 17, 1963, William J. vanden Heuvel, then special assistant to President John F. Kennedy, delivered a speech to the students and faculty of Hampden-Sidney College in Prince Edward County, … Continue reading The Prince Edward County Free School Association
Today's tribute was written by Dr. Tina Ligon, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” ~ B. B. King B. B. King, blues legend and one of the greatest guitarists in music history, transitioned last week. With hits such … Continue reading “I’m a Blues Man, but I’m a Good Man”: B. B. King and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
