History, Natural History & the Arts
At the National Archives there are nearly 3,000 reports containing information on escape and evasion activities and training of U.S. soldiers serving in the European theater during the Second World War.
These records contain dramatic and gripping firsthand accounts of survival, including these three: [Read more…] about World War II Escape and Evasion Firsthand Accounts
During the U.S. Civil War, the Confederate Army required enslavers to loan the people they held enslaved to the military. Throughout the Confederacy from Florida to Virginia, these enslaved people served as cooks and laundresses, labored in deadly conditions to mine potassium nitrate to create gunpowder, worked in ordnance factories, and dug the extensive defensive trench networks that defended cities such as Petersburg, Virginia.
To track this extensive network of thousands of enslaved people and the pay their enslavers received for their lease, the Confederate Quartermaster Department created the record series now called the “Confederate Slave Payrolls.” [Read more…] about The Civil War Confederate Army’s Forced Labor Slave Records
The National Archives safeguards billions of documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States government.
In addition to these federal records, the National Archives holds collections of donated historical materials, many of which pertain to and illustrate historical activities of the United States, or document a significant program or activity of the U.S. government. [Read more…] about National Archives Adds Donated Collection Explorer
The first U.S. federal population census was taken in 1790, and has been repeated every ten years since. The first censuses were often quite incomplete.
A complete list of all white people was not even a goal until the 1850 Census and ever since many have been missed in the count, especially women, the poor, those without homes, immigrants, people of color, slaves, free blacks, and indigenous people.
Still, decennial censuses can be enormously valuable reach tools – especially when it comes to genealogy and local history. [Read more…] about Upcoming 1950 Census Release Will Offer New Details About Life In The U.S., Abroad
Geraldine Ferraro, born in Newburgh and later of the South Bronx, would make history as the first female Vice Presidential nominee for a major party. In 1984, Democratic Presidential nominee Walter Mondale announced that Congresswoman of New York would be his running mate. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Geraldine Ferraro
Mae Carol Jemison became the first African American woman accepted into NASA’s space training program on June 4th, 1987. Five years later, on September 12th, 1992, she became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Mae Jemison
After helping to secure women the right to vote in Montana in 1914, Jeanette Rankin was the first woman to be sworn into Congress in April 1917. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Jeannette Rankin
In 1922, Amelia Earhart set a record for reaching the highest altitude for a woman pilot, flying to 14,000 feet. Six years later, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
In the following 10 years, Earhart continued to set aviation records for speed and distance. She also helped create a women’s aviation club, the Ninety-Nines, and was elected the first president. The organization still exists today and works to promote female pilots. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Amelia Earhart
In 1969, Shirley Chisholm became the first African American woman to serve in Congress, representing New York’s 12th Congressional District. She was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 and the Congressional Women’s Caucus in 1977. Chisholm was also the first woman and the first African American to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1972. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Shirley Chisholm
As a presidential advisor of African American Affairs during the Roosevelt administration, Mary McLeod Bethune formed the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, which would become known as the Black Cabinet. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Mary McLeod Bethune