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Tap, Ball Tap, Hop, Shuffle, Tap!
National Tap Dance Day is celebrated every year on May 25th, which is the birthday of American Tap Dancer and actor, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
Poston, Arizona. A young evacuee of Japanese ancestry entertains her fellow evacuees with a demonstration of her tap dancing ability. This was one number in an outdoor musical show.
Francis Stewart, photographer. From the Central Photographic File of the War Relocation Authority
Princess Grace and Prince Rainier at the White House
Arrival of guests for luncheon in honor of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco (actress Grace Kelly).5/24/61
White House Photographer Abbie Rowe stands in back (left of Prince Rainier). North Portico, White House, Washington, D.C.
(Note: corrected typo in Prince Rainier’s name; 5/25/2012)
(via ourpresidents)
Plan of One Tower for the East River Bridge, 1867
When it opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Designed and built by German-born John A. Roebling and his son, Washington A. Roebling, the bridge connected New York and Brooklyn. The remarkable design used Roebling’s patented system of steel wire cable construction. Its graceful limestone and granite towers, pictured here, took 5 years to build.
(Source: research.archives.gov)
On May 24, 1830, Sarah Josepha Hale published the poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
Young girl holding onto a sheep, ca. 1940
From the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Cheyenne River Agency
Jazz legend Duke Ellington died on this day, May 24, 1974
On April 24, 1969, Ellington celebrated his 70th birthday at the White House where he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The medal was presented by President Richard Nixon, who himself had played the piano since childhood. From the President’s remarks:
“When we think of freedom, we think of many things. But Duke Ellington is one who has carried the message of freedom to all the nations of the world through music, through understanding, understanding that reaches over all national boundaries and over all boundaries of prejudice and over all boundaries of language..
In the royalty of American music, no man swings more or stands higher than the Duke.”
Afterwards, the President played “Happy Birthday” on the piano for the Duke while guests at the White House sang along.
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington
April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974
Women munition workers urge President to support suffrage bill. Six women war workers, representing thousands of others, were delegated to see President Wilson and urge him to support the motion for an immediate passage of the federal suffrage amendment. These women were employed at Bethlehem Steel Company’s plant at Newcastle, Pennsylvania. They supplemented their argument with the statement that the women are serving the government in war industries and feel the urgent need of federal enfranchisement. From left to right: Miss Mary Gonzon, Mrs. Florence B. Hilles, Miss Lulu Patterson, Mrs. Marie McKensie, Miss Aida Walling and Mrs. Catherine Boyle. 05/24/1918
Can you translate Chinese? Would you like to try your hand with a few items from the holdings of the National Archives at Philadelphia?
This album contains miscellaneous documents from our Chinese Case files, part of Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85.
You can send your translations to philadelphia.events@nara.gov and selected entries will be featured on our Facebook page throughout the summer.
This is an identification certificate, issued by the Imperial Chinese government via the Consulate General in San Fransisco, dated in 1891. The certificate was one way in which Chinese-American immigrants could vouch for their identity and their eligibility to work and reside in the US. Proof of identity and residency was necessary (and very important) under the laws enacted with the Chinese Exclusion Act.
This document is part of a series of general case files for the US District Court in Los Angeles. The records are held at the National Archives at Riverside.
Observing Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month
To pay tribute to the many generations of Asian-Pacific Americans that have enriched our nation’s history, the National Archives at Riverside will be highlighting some of our holdings relating to Asian American history in our region (Southern California, Arizona, and Clark County, NV), including records relating to enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act, records relating to Japanese internment and relocation, and many more.
For more information about Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, see http://asianpacificheritage.gov/
“All the documents of “homesteaders” stealing land from Native Americans is bumming me out.” —
We got a range of reactions to our recent series on the Homestead Act’s 150th anniversary - from angry to enthusiastic to, well, bummed out.
The Homestead Act is a difficult document. When we think of homesteaders, most of us probably think of “Little House on the Prairie” and not the Trail of Tears*. In many cases those recent immigrants who may have been disenfranchised at home and eager for opportunities of their own were now participating in the dispossession of another culture. It’s hard not to be conflicted.
But as the National Archives, we are supposed to present the records in our safekeeping. Our job is not interpret them beyond explaining the context of the time, although we exist for researchers, historians, and the public to use our records to research, understand, and interpret the past. However, we don’t always have the records from both sides—a challenge faced by many researchers and historians. As it was we could only allude to the impact on Native Americans with the digitized items that we found on short notice (thanks to some amazing colleagues who came through in a pinch), so this is a reminder to us to delve more deeply into our holdings to give a fuller idea of the documents that we hold, even if this part of history is difficult one to acknowledge.
Yes, history can get us down too: it’s full of stolen land, genocide, child labor, war, disasters and murder. But we’re obligated to present the records of U.S. history—the good, bad & ugly. If you’re not bummed out sometimes by our posts, then we’re probably not doing our job.
Of course we hope that’s not always the case—and we appreciate everyone that took time to comment, reblog or retweet with their own opinions on these posts.
(* Admittedly the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and Trail of Tears predate the Homestead Act but the effects are similar.)
World Turtle Day is celebrated every May 23 to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.
CHILDREN EXAMINE A BOX TURTLE AT STILLWATER, NEW YORK, NEAR ADIRONDACK FOREST PRESERVE, 07/1973
Anne LaBastille, photographer. From the EPA’s DOCUMERICA series
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Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson in Japan, May 22, 1953
(Fourteen years after then-First Lady Roosevelt’s historic resignation letter in support of Anderson.)
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