How are you celebrating Sunshine Week?
This week is “Sunshine Week,” a weeklong celebration of government openness! If you’re scratching your head thinking about how you can celebrate, we’ve got a couple of great suggestions:
- Participate in the Open Government Idea Forum to let the National Archives know what we should do better. We need your votes, comments, and ideas!
- Check out what Open Government means at the National Archives
- Read the Archivist, David Ferriero’s blog post on Sunshine Week
- Take a moment today to search for records in the National Archives Catalog
Elvis is in the Archives!
via NARAtions » Tag It Tuesday! Elvis Edition
Tag It Tuesday’s all shook up! Today’s Document and our pals over at the Our Presidents tumbler are celebrating “Elvis in the Archives” week and we thought we’d join the fun. Sure, the King is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but you can also find him in the National Archives. Included in the Archives’ holdings are the famous image of the Oval Office meeting between President Richard Nixon and Elvis; Elvis’ Official Military Personnel File (OMPF); and a case file regarding copyright infringement and Elvis’ song “Too Much”. We also have a large number of images of Graceland on the occasion of its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 2006.
Don’t be cruel! Get tagging! Tag Elvis-related records » and tag our digital images of Graceland »
Our followers count is moving up — Today’s Document has reached 10,000 followers on Tumblr!
The Today’s Document team here at the National Archives would just like to send out a big thank you to all our fans, followers and the Tumblr staff for all the likes, reblogs and follows!
(And if you like the poster, you can find the unadulterated version of “We’re Moving Up!” in our Online Public Access catalog.)
Dated November 2, 1934, this photograph shows progress on the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Construction on the building was started in September 1931.
Tag It Tuesday! The Weather Report
On this day 141 years ago, the forerunner of today’s National Weather Service – the Signal Service Corps’ Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce – made its first meteorological observations and reports and the weather hasn’t been the same since.
“Weather” you like singing in the rain, chasing storms, or checking the daily barometric pressure, the National Archives has weather records for you. This Tag It Tuesday we invite you to join us for a flurry of tagging our weather related records in honor of those first weather reporters.
We forecast that you’ll have a great time tagging our weather related records. Here are a few images from our holdings to get you started!
Document Your Environment: Student Multimedia Contest
It’s no secret that the DOCUMERICA project is one of our favorite sources for Today’s Document. And now the National Archives and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invite students ages 13 and up to seek inspiration from one of these photos and start creating the next generation of Documerica records for the Document Your Environment multimedia contest.
Contest Rules and complete details are at Documerica.challenge.gov
September 20, 1918 - Shattered church serves as temporary shelter for wounded
Original caption:
This shattered church in the ruins of Neuvilly furnished a temporary shelter for American wounded being treated by 110th Sanitary Train, 4th Ambulance Corps. France, September 20, 1918.
September 19, 1917 - Clearly not “downhearted.”
The original caption:
“Are We Downhearted?” You don’t have to hear their answer to know these men on their way to Camp Upton are not. These men from New York are radiating their joy at getting into the nation’s service. Underwood and Underwood., 09/19/1917
September 19 - There be pirates in t’ National Archives
It’s “Talk Like a Pirate Day” and don’t fear, we’ve got pirates in the National Archives! Here’s a caricature of “Paul Jones the Pirate.” This copy of an circa 1779 engraving found within the Records of the Office of War Information.
September 18 - Happy Birthday, Greta Garbo!
Greta Garbo’s Declaration of Intention for U.S. Citizenship, 09/09/1948
September 15, 1943 - Eleanor Roosevelt, General Harmon, and Admiral Halsey in New Caledonia.
September 15, 1950 - Amphibious Invasion of Inchon
U.S. Marines storm ashore during the amphibious invasion of the port city of Inchon during the Korean War.
“Nurse wearing a mask as protection against influenza. September 13, 1918.”
The influenza epidemic of 1918 first emerged without warning in late spring of 1918, and was known as the “three-day fever.” Few deaths were reported and victims recovered after a few days. When the disease surfaced again that fall, it was far more severe. One fifth of the world’s population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.
September 11, 2003 - Temporary memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania honoring the passengers and crew of Flight 93, hijacked on September 11, 2001.
