FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 23, 2008

Special Programs Highlight National Archives Records in February 2009

Washington, DC. . . In February, the National Archives will feature a series of programs highlighting records from its holdings. All programs are free and open to the public and will be held in the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Please note that some of these programs will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

Visitors to all programs in the National Archives Building Research Center (Room G-24) should use the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance, between 7th and 9th Streets, NW. The National Archives at College Park, MD is located at 8601 Adelphi Road. For directions to both locations, see: http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro.

Tuesday, February 3, at 11 a.m.
Declassifying Secrets: Opening Classified Records for Public Disclosure
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) Archivist Neil Carmichael will discuss the declassification process at the National Archives, past executive orders, present initiatives, and the future of declassification in the executive branch. (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, MD, in the auditorium, on Thursday, February 5, at 11 a.m.).

Wednesday, February 4, at 11 a.m.
Introduction to Genealogy
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) Archives staff will present a lecture on basic genealogical research in Federal records. This lecture occurs on select Saturdays and the first Wednesday of the month. (The next lecture will take place on Wednesday, March 4.)

Tuesday, February 10, at 11 a.m.
Discovering Lincoln in the Records
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) Archivist Trevor Plante will discuss Lincoln records held at the National Archives in the Washington, DC, area. His talk will include an overview of documents in Federal custody written to and from Abraham Lincoln as well as several that bear his signature. Digitized copies of documents that show the President saving soldiers from the death penalty and Lincoln assassination records will also be on view. (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, MD, in the auditorium, on Thursday, February 12 at 11 a.m.).

Tuesday, February 17, at 11 a.m. and noon From the Records Book Group and Lecture Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) Following a related presentation at 11 a.m., the From the Records Book Group will discuss The Pentagon: A History-The Untold Story of the Wartime Race to Build the Pentagon-and to Restore It Sixty years Later by Steve Vogel. Please check the Archives Shop (202-357-5271) for book availability and a special discount for book group participants. The March book selection will be The Harp and the Eagle: Irish-American Volunteers and the Union Army, 1861-1865 by Susannah Bruce.

Wednesday, February 18, at 11 a.m.
Passport Applications, 1795-1925
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) Archives Specialists Rebecca Sharp and Katherine Vollen will discuss how to locate passport applications and how these records can enhance your genealogical research. (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, MD, in the auditorium, on Thursday, February 19, at 11 a.m.).

Saturday, February 21, at 10 a.m.
Introduction to Genealogy
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) Archives staff will present a lecture on basic genealogical research in Federal records. This lecture occurs on select Saturdays and the first Wednesday of the month. (The next weekend lecture will take place on Saturday, March 21.)

Saturday, February 21, noon-4 p.m.
“Help! I’m Stuck”
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) On select Saturday afternoons, an archivist with extensive experience in genealogy and the records of the National Archives will be available to assist with your research questions. Please sign up for a 20-minute appointment at the Research Center. (The next opportunity will be on Saturday, March 21.)

Tuesday, February 24, at 11 a.m.
Records of the New Deal
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue) Archives Genealogy Specialist John Deeben will examine the central files of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (1933-1936) and demonstrate how the records provide personal and family information about individuals within the context of their experiences during the Great Depression. (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, MD, in the auditorium, on Thursday, February 26, at 11 a.m.).

Collection Catagories:

American Milestone Documents (free)
American Colonization Society (free)
Missing Air Crew Reports, WWII ***
Pearl Harbor Muster Rolls ***
Japanese Air Target Analyses (free)
Photos – Franklin D. Roosevelt (free)
Photos – WWII Japanse (free)
Naval Press Clippings (free)
Ratified Ammendments to the U.S. Constitution (free)
WWII Allied Militay Conferences ***
WWII JAG Case Files, Pacific – Army ***
WWII JAG Case Files, Pacific – Navy ***
WWII US Air Force Photos (free)
Naval Press Clippings (free)

You may search these items by name, location, keywords, dates, or just keep browsing through the whole series as you will want to do. This is an enormous collection of original source documentation.

Download Original Historical Documents

*** = requires subscription.
The free Trial gives you full access to all areas.

NARAgenealogy.com is in no way connected with the National Archives. The official website for NARA is www.archives.gov/.

NARA through footnote now displays original historical documents from the pre through post Civil War era (circa 1860 – 1880.)

1860 Federal Census (Unique – Interactive – You are able to claim ancestors and post additional information on the actual census page images, for others to share.)

Note; The 1860 Federal census lists the names of all persons in the household, and it is an era that is just before the big war which caused many families to split up and migrate on. 1860 is a very important census.

Additional Civil War Era documents may be found in:

Admiralty Records, Key West ***
American Milestone Documents (free)
American Colonization Society (free)
Brady Civil War Photographs (free)
Navy Survivor’s Certificates ***
Civil War Pensions Index ***
(Note: a great source for genealogy clues.)
Confederate Papers ***
Confederate Amnesty Papers ***
Confederate Soldier Service Records ***
Custer’s Court martial (free)
Domestic Letters of the Department of State (free)
Lincoln Assassination Papers (free)
London Times (1785-1905) ***
Navy Widow’s Certificates ***
Passport Applications (1795-1905) ***
Pennsylvania Archives (free)
Ratified Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (free)
Southern Claims Commission ***
Utah Territorial Case Files ***

Note: *** = requires subscription.
Start Your Free Trial with Footnote

The collection of digitized original historical documents is approaching 40 million at this time.

NARAgenealogy.com is in no way connected with the National Archives. The official website for NARA is www.archives.gov/.

NARA through footnote now display original historical documents in the following categories:
American Milestone
Documents (free)

Passport Applications (1795-1905) ***

Pennsylvania Archives (free)

Ratified Indian Treaties ***

Revolutionary War Prize Cases –
Captured Vessels ***

Revolutionary War Rolls ***

Revolutionary War Service Records ***

Revolutionary War Pension Records ***

War of 1812 Prize Cases –
Southern District Court, New York ***

*** Notes: though a great many sections of footnote are totally free, the items marked with three stars (***) are subscription based. The bargain rate that footnote charges is a mere pittance of what it used to cost you to send to the National Archives for varying quality photocopies of files. The new digitized online versions of the files are available instantly to be able to be downloaded and saved to your own computer.

Take advantage and: Start Your Free Trial with Footnote

One feature that you will find at Footnote is that you will be able to tag many of the original documents with your own sticky note information. That way when others are working on this same individual they will be able to contact you.At the time of this writing footnote has approximately 39 million records available, and millions more are added each month!

NARAgenealogy.com is in no way connected with the National Archives. The official website for NARA is www.archives.gov.

NARAgenealogy dot com is in no way connected with the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA.) This website is offered to the general public to assist in easy terms how to perform research in NARA genealogy records.

The official website for NARA may be found at www.archives.gov/

To download digital copies of original historical documents from NARA, use the FREE TRIAL at footnote. This company has contracts with the National Archives to bring these long buried documents to the Internet.

To read our pages on specific areas of genealogy research click the following:

Revolutionary war and War of 1812 Eras

U.S. Civil War Era

World War II Era