NARA at ASALH’s Centennial

On September 25, 2015, archivists and archives specialists from the National Archives at College Park, Maryland and at Washington, D. C. participated in the 100th meeting of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). In the past, NARA employees shared information on records relating to the black experience that are … Continue reading NARA at ASALH’s Centennial

Amelia Boynton Robinson, Leader in the Voting Rights Movement

Today’s Tribute was written by Dr. Tina L. Ligon, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland “It’s important that young people know about the struggles we faced to get to the point we are today. Only then will they appreciate the hard-won freedom of blacks in this country.” ~ Amelia Boynton Robinson On … Continue reading Amelia Boynton Robinson, Leader in the Voting Rights Movement

60th Anniversary of the Death of Emmett Louis Till

Today’s blog was written by Dr. Tina Ligon, archivist at the National Archives at College Park and Mary Kate Eckles, summer intern at NARA and senior at St. John’s College Sixty years ago, Emmett Louis Till was kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi for violating southern customs. His death was one of the sparks that led … Continue reading 60th Anniversary of the Death of Emmett Louis Till

10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Today’s Record of the Week was contributed by Dr. Tina L. Ligon, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland Hurricane Katrina formed on August 23, 2005, over the Bahamas in the Caribbean. It was the 11th tropical depression and the 5th named hurricane of the season. Within five days of formation, this tropical … Continue reading 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Julian Bond, A Soldier for Civil Rights

Today’s Tribute was written by Dr. Tina Ligon, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland   “I do think that some of us began to realize that this was going to be a long struggle that was going to go on for decades, and you'd have to knuckle down. A lot of people … Continue reading Julian Bond, A Soldier for Civil Rights

DOJ Litigation Case File on the Watts Riot (August 11-17, 1965)

Today’s blog was written by Dr. Tina L. Ligon, Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland During the World War II years, thousands of southern African Americans relocated to the West Coast in search of employment in the defense industries and to escape the Jim Crow South. Many of the migrants made the … Continue reading DOJ Litigation Case File on the Watts Riot (August 11-17, 1965)

50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

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

Ambrose Caliver, A Leader in 20th Century Black Education

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

USS Mason, USS PC-1264, and the African-American Crews during World War II

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

W. E. B. Du Bois, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Study of Black Life

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