Today's Document

May 31 – "Portrait of Walt Whitman"

Darren Cole — Tue, 31 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

"Walt Whitman, ca. 1860 - ca. 1865" Brady National Photographic Art Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Photographer (ARC ID 525875); War Department. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (08/01/1866 - 09/18/1947); Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1982; Record Group 111; National Archives.

American poet and writer Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819. Deeply touched by a visit to a wartime hospital, Whitman spent much of the Civil War as a hospital volunteer, carefully documenting his experiences caring for the wounded.

More Images of the Civil War

See Today’s Document on Archives.gov

May 30 – Kansas-Nebraska Act

Darren Cole — Mon, 30 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, Page 1 of 3" />Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, Page 1 of 3
Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, Page 2 of 3" />Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, Page 2 of 3
Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, Page 3 of 3" />Kansas Nebraska Act of 1854, Page 3 of 3

An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, 1854 (ARC ID 1501722); Records of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and Its Predecessors, 1805-1988; Record Group 11; General Records of the United States Government; National Archives.

Officially titled "An Act to Organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas," this act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had outlawed slavery above the 36° 30’ latitude in the Louisiana territories and reopened the national struggle over slavery in the western territories.

May 29 – Virginia Plan

Darren Cole — Sun, 29 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Message of President Andrew Jackson nominating his cabinet, 03/06/1829 (page 2 of 2)" />Message of President Andrew Jackson nominating his cabinet, 03/06/1829 (page 2 of 2)

Virginia (Randolph) Plan as Amended (National Archives Microfilm Publication M866, 1 roll); The Official Records of the Constitutional Convention; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789, Record Group 360; National Archives.

Drafted by James Madison, and presented by Edmund Randolph to the Constitutional Convention on May 29, 1787, the Virginia Plan proposed the foundation of what would become the U.S. Constitution: a strong central government composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

May 28 – A Moment of Silence for Fallen Comrades

Darren Cole — Sat, 28 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

A Coast Guardsman stands in silent reverence beside the resting place of a comrade., 1944

"Silhouetted in the golden glory of a Pacific sunrise, crosses mark the graves of American boys who gave their lives to win a small atoll on the road to the Philippines. A Coast Guardsman stands in silent reverence beside the resting place of a comrade.", 1944, (ARC ID 513217); Series: Activities, Facilities, and Personalities, 1886 - 1967; Records of the U.S. Coast Guard, 1785 - 1992; Record Group 26; National Archives.

Traditionally observed on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day was officially established by John A. "Black Jack" Logan, a charismatic Civil War general, Congressman, Senator, and commander of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1868, for "the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country…" In this photo a Coast Guardsman observes a moment of silence before the graves of his fallen comrades on an unnamed atoll in the Pacific.

More World War II Photos…

See Today’s Document on Archives.gov

Today’s Document is now on Tumblr!

Darren Cole — Fri, 27 May 2011 22:05:16 +0000

We’ve retooled Today’s Document and have moved over to a new Tumblr microblog. Posts here will discontinue at the end of May, but we’ll be featuring the same interesting documents as before, and more of them on Tumblr.

Today's Document in the Tumblr Spotlight

Read our new Tumblr-specific policies or learn more about Tumblr.

Thanks for continuing to follow Today’s Document

May 27 – At the campfire during the Mexican Punitive Expedition

Darren Cole — Fri, 27 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Around the camp-fire, men of Company A, 16th Infantry, San Geronimo, Mexico, May 27th, 1916. This photo was obtained by flashlight powder., 1922 - 1922

"Around the camp-fire, men of Company A, 16th Infantry, San Geronimo, Mexico, May 27th, 1916. This photo was obtained by flashlight powder." Tucker C. Beckett, Photographer (ARC ID 533143); C. Tucker Beckett's Photographs of "The Mexican Expedition, U.S. Army, 1916, 1914 - 1917; Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, 1860 - 1952; Record Group 165; National Archives.

The Mexican Punitive Expedition began in March of 1916, when General John J. Pershing led several thousand U.S. troops across the border into Mexico, following attacks on American citizens and property by the followers of Francisco (Pancho) Villa. Pershing’s orders from the War Department were to pursue and disperse Villa and his band or bands. Taken on May 27, 1916 by Tucker Beckett, this night-time photo shows members of the 16th Infantry around a campfire.

May 26 – "…Children in a democracy…"

Darren Cole — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

On Arizona Highway 87, south of Chandler. Maricopa County, Arizona. Children in a democracy., 11/1940

"On Arizona Highway 87, south of Chandler. Maricopa County, Arizona. Children in a democracy. A migratory family living in a trailer in an open field. No sanitation, no water. They came from Amarillo, Texas. Pulled bolls near Amarillo, picked cotton near Roswell, New Mexico, and in Arizona. Plan to return to Amarillo at close of cotton picking season for work on WPA." 11/1940, Lange, Dorothea, Photographer. (ARC ID 522204) ; Photographic Prints Documenting Programs and Activities of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and Predecessor Agencies, ca. 1922 - ca. 1947; Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 1876 - 1959; Record Group 83; National Archives.

Dorothea Lange, whose photographs of the unemployed and migratory farm workers became synonymous with the Great Depression, was born on May 26, 1895. The caption of this photo reads "On Arizona Highway 87, south of Chandler. Maricopa County, Arizona. Children in a democracy. A migratory family living in a trailer in an open field. No sanitation, no water. They came from Amarillo, Texas. Pulled bolls near Amarillo, picked cotton near Roswell, New Mexico, and in Arizona. Plan to return to Amarillo at close of cotton picking season for work on WPA."

The photo is one of a series taken for an agricultural "Community Stability and Instability" study by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. Taken by Dorothea Lange and Irving Rusinow, the photographs are a record of pre-World War II rural life and social institutions. Of particular interests are images of African Americans in Alabama and Georgia and migrant laborers hired to work in cotton fields in Arizona and California.

More Dorothea Lange Photos in Picturing the Century

See Today’s Document on Archives.gov

May 25 – Buried Nazi Treasure

Darren Cole — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Message of President Andrew Jackson nominating his cabinet, 03/06/1829 (page 2 of 2)" />Message of President Andrew Jackson nominating his cabinet, 03/06/1829 (page 2 of 2)

"SS Major Kurt Baron Haller Von Hallerstein admitted that he had buried nearly a million dollars worth of securities and jewelry... May 25, 1945" (NARA-111-SC-380425); Signal Corps Photographs of American Military Activity, 1754 - 1954; Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1982; Record Group 111; National Archives.

Dated May 25, 1945, the caption of this photo reads: "SS Major Kurt Baron Haller Von Hallerstein admitted that he had buried nearly a million dollars worth of securities and jewelry near Garmisch, Germany. Hallerstein (center) watches with Tec 4 Frederick Wolinsky, New York, NY, as his brother Helmuth Baron Haller Von Hallerstein, digs."

May 24 – Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge Towers

Darren Cole — Tue, 24 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Plan of One Tower for the East River Bridge, 1867

, By John A. Roebling, 1867, Ink on tracing linen (ARC ID 594709); Civil Works Map File, 1800 – 1947; Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, 1789 – 1988; Record Group 77; National Archives.”]

German-born John A. Roebling and his son, Washington A. Roebling, designed and built the famous Brooklyn Bridge connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn. The remarkable design used Roebling’s patented system of steel wire cable construction. When it opened on May 24, 1883, the 1,595-foot main span was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Its graceful limestone and granite towers took 5 years to build and were designed with two large openings for the roadway.

May 23 – "Instructing nurses on the use of respirator…"

Darren Cole — Mon, 23 May 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Message of President Andrew Jackson nominating his cabinet, 03/06/1829 (page 2 of 2)" />Message of President Andrew Jackson nominating his cabinet, 03/06/1829 (page 2 of 2)

"Instructing nurses on the use of respirator for a polio patient" By an unknown photographer, location unknown, May 23, 1958; General Records of the Department of Labor; Record Group 174; National Archives.

Dated May 23, 1958, the caption of this photo reads "Instructing nurses on the use of respirator for a polio patient."

This photo was part of the exhibit The Way We Worked, on display at the National Archives in Washington DC in 2006.
More photos from The Way We Worked…

See Today’s Document on Archives.gov