Today's post was written by Gabrielle Hutchins, Ph.D, an archivist at the National Archives in College Park, MD George Edmund Haynes Dr. George Edmund Haynes is one of many remarkable figures in the history of the African American labor movement. During the 1920s, Dr. Haynes truthfully captured Black laborers' stories as he traveled throughout the … Continue reading Dr. George Edmund Haynes: Social Crusader in Black Economics
Today's post was written by Netisha Currie, archives specialist at the National Archives in College Park, MD. The wonderful thing about the massive amounts of paper that the National Archives has is that there will always be another story to uncover. At the beginning of this year, I came across the article “The First Drag … Continue reading William Dorsey Swann, the Queen of Drag
Today's post was written by Damani Davis, an Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Among the most tangible products validating the work of National Archives' (NARA) reference staff are the books written by the many researchers we’ve assisted over the years. Often, there can be a type of synergistic or mutually beneficial relationship … Continue reading Slaves in the Family and Escape on the Pearl: A Report on Two Books that Used NARA Records
Today's post was written by Daniella Furman, an Archivist in Research Services at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. When I started researching the 1964 Freedom Summer Movement a few weeks ago, I thought it would be an interesting project to expand my knowledge about that important moment in history 56 years ago. Never … Continue reading Freedom Summer, 56 Years Later
Today's post was written by Jennifer Johnson, curator for the National Archives Traveling Exhibits Service at the National Archives in Kansas City. This blog previously appeared on Pieces of History. Willa Beatrice Brown is featured in the nationwide traveling exhibit One Half of the People: Advancing Equality for Women. Perhaps one of the less recognizable names, but … Continue reading The Maker of Pilots: Aviator and Civil Rights Activist Willa Beatrice Brown
Today's post is written by Edward J.K. Gitre, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of History at Virginia Tech and Director of The American Soldier in World War II Project. "Colored soldiers is not treated worth a dam [sic] in Louisiana. They don't have no rights and no say-so!... One of us colored soldiers got on the city … Continue reading An Uncensored Digital History of the Black GI in World War II
Today's post is written by Dr. Dennis Patrick Halpin, an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech whose research examines how race, class, and gender shaped the 19th and 20th century urban experience in the United States. He's been conducting research at the National Archives at Philadelphia, focused primarily on the records of the United States District Court … Continue reading Early Civil Rights Protest and the Steamer Sue Case
November 18, 2018 marked 40 years since the passing of 918 people in the jungles of Guyana. While debate still exists as to whether or not the event was one of mass suicide or mass murder, the event was a tragedy resulting in the greatest single loss of American civilian life until the events of … Continue reading Remembering Jonestown 40 Years Later
Today's post was written by Greg Foster, a second year graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, who is a summer intern in the Textual Processing Division at the National Archives at College Park. When I began my summer internship at the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park, Maryland, my first assignment was to … Continue reading Tears of America: The Riots of 1968
Today's post was written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver The stark, black and white Denver Post photograph one finds online is startling; in it two firemen are sweeping broken glass from a window shattered by a pipe bomb while Wilfred Keyes and his wife, just shadows in the dark of … Continue reading Keyes v. School District Number One, Denver, Colorado; Eliminating the “Root and Branch” of School Segregation
