Pieces of History

In celebration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, we’re focusing on key events in the history of independence. Today’s post looks at the early months of the Second Continental Congress. Before the First Continental Congress adjourned in October 1774, its members agreed to reconvene in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. By the time Congress met again, the Battles of Lexington and C…

In celebration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, the National Archives is highlighting key events in our nation’s journey to independence. This edition explores the first battles of the American Revolutionary War: Lexington and Concord. Today’s post comes from Tracy Baker, an intern in the National Archives Office of the Executive Secretariat. Boston, Massachusetts, the larg…

Today’s post is from Tammy K. Williams, archivist & social media manager at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Presidential transitions happen on a regular schedule after an election, but they can happen suddenly as well. The first unexpected Presidential transition happened when William Henry Harrison died on April 4, 1841, after being President just 31 days. The transition to …

On April 1, 2025, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) turns 40. Visit the National Archives History Office website for more information on the history of our agency. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation establishing the National Archives on June 19, 1934. For its first 15 years, the National Archives operated as an independent agency with the Archivist of the Uni…

In celebration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we’re focusing on key events in the history of our nation’s independence. This edition provides deeper insight into Patrick Henry and his famous proclamation: “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” Today’s post comes from Tracy Baker, an intern in the National Archives Office of the Executive Secretariat. Following …

Today’s post comes from Matthew Green, an archivist at the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library in College Park, Maryland. The Library’s records are closed to researchers until January 2026 but today we are previewing some of the records in the Library’s collection. Established in 2021, the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library currently administers records from his first term. It is the 15th Pres…

As we look ahead to the nation’s 250th birthday, we’re looking back on the events celebrating our 200th. Today’s post, for Women’s History Month, looks back on a major exhibit at the National Archives during the bicentennial era. To coincide with International Women’s Year and the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, the National Archives created a special exhibit, Her Infinite Variet…

For Black History Month we’re taking a closer look at mathematician, statistician, astronomer, surveyor, and farmer Benjamin Banneker. Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Baltimore County, Maryland. He lived on his family’s 100-acre farm near present-day Ellicott City his entire life. While many mythologies have developed surrounding Banneker and his accomplishments since his death…

To commemorate Black History Month, a special featured document display on Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records will be in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, from February 4–March 3, 2025. As the Civil War neared its end, Congress established the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands inside the War Department. Popularly known as the Freedmen’s …

On February 17, 2025, we’ll be celebrating “Washington’s Birthday,” which is the official title of the federally recognized holiday. Visit the National Archives website to learn more about our records related to George Washington—and other U.S. Presidents. This post was originally published in 2015. George Washington led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, presided over the Constit…

Join us for our next #ArchivesHashtagParty, #ArchivesLandscape, taking place on Friday, February 7, 2025, on Instagram and X. Today we’re sharing an update to Vincent Bartholomew’s 2019 post on perhaps one of the greatest landscape photographers of all time: Ansel Adams. A keen landscape photographer, Ansel Adams is best known for his black-and-white photographs of … Continue reading #ArchivesLan…

Today’s post comes from Andrew Salyer, an archives technician at the National Archives at Philadelphia. The holdings of the National Archives tell stories. And not just stories about the United States, but also about the greater world stage. Case files created during the period of the Chinese Exclusion Act testify to this global scale. The … Continue reading Romance of the Two Calendars: A Note o…

If you visited the National Archives Exhibition Hall—now known as the Rotunda—between the years 1942 and 1955, you would have likely seen one of the National Archives’ most dedicated and enthusiastic guards, George Bloomquist. Bloomquist was standing guard in the Rotunda even before the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were placed on exhibit following their … Continue reading Historic…

As we prepare for next week’s inaugural activities, we are looking back on our nation’s very first Presidential inauguration back in 1789. After the U.S. Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, the Confederation Congress passed a resolution providing that the states should choose Presidential electors on the first Wednesday in January of 1789. Congress … Continue reading The First Presidentia…

Today’s post comes from Laurel Gray, an archives technician in the Research Rooms Branch at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is the third of a four-part series on the archival ramifications of the Watergate scandal. When Richard Nixon took office in 1969, he got straight to work on his Presidential Library. He established … Continue reading More Than Watergate: The Perfect Place for a …

January 2 is National Science Fiction Day. Today’s post comes from Thomas Richardson, a former archives technician at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri. It examines one of the leading science fiction authors who drew much of his inspiration from his time in the U.S. Navy: Robert Anson Heinlein. Science fiction … Continue reading A Space Cadet in the U.S. Navy: Ro…

If you visited the National Archives Building in late 1974, you could purchase a specially designed holiday card with this design:  The card showed Santa Claus and one of his reindeers looking at the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights on display in the National Archives Exhibition Hall. The design reflects what the … Continue reading Happy Holidays from the National Arc…

Today’s post on the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act (PRMPA) comes from Laurel Gray, a processing intern with the Textual Division at the National Archives in Washington, DC. It is the second of a four-part series on the archival ramifications of the Watergate scandal. When President Richard Nixon resigned in August 1974, he signed an agreement … Continue reading More Than W…

December 15 is Bill of Rights Day, which commemorates the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Today we’re looking at the man who cared for the original Bill of Rights—and 126 other documents—during the 16-month Freedom Train trip across the country.  The Freedom Train was a seven-car train that traveled across … Continue reading The Guardian of the Freedom Train’s Ca…

Long before the President of the United States pardoned a turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving, the President of Congress issued proclamations encouraging its celebration. We at the National Archives have written a lot about the history of Thanksgiving as a federal holiday, often focusing on Thanksgiving proclamations under the U.S. Constitution or the aforementioned Presidential turkey … Continue re…