April 2008
Washington, DC, Area Events
Program Highlights
A scene from Trial Marriages (Biograph, 1907), courtesy of AMPAS. On April 10, see a selection of early 20th-century films.
- Early 20th-Century Cinema
Join us for “A Century Ago: The Films of 1907,” a special program featuring a selection of rare turn-of-the-20th-century international films. (April 10) - Preservation
The head of preservation for the National Archives explores how we protect the millions of documents in our holdings. (April 9) - Presidents
Authors discuss books on Presidential speechwriters and Lincoln monuments. (April 16, 17) - Running for Office Film Series
A screening of All the King’s Men complements our new exhibit “Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman.” (April 19) - Know Your Records Programs
A variety of programs explore records held by the National Archives. Don’t miss the fourth annual Genealogy Fair! (April 8, 15, 23, 29)
Exhibit Highlights
- Special Exhibit
“Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman” highlights political cartoons from the first half of the 20th century. - Special Featured Document Display
The original District of Columbia Emancipation Act is on display in April. - Permanent Exhibits
The Charters of Freedom, A New World Is at Hand, The Public Vaults, Magna Carta - Special Exhibit in College Park, MD
The Long View
Locations, Hours, and Contact Information
All events listed in the calendar are free unless noted; reservations are not required unless noted. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue.
Early 20th-Century Cinema
Thursday, April 10, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater
A Century Ago: The Films of 1907
Featuring live musical accompaniment by award-winning musician and composer
Michael Mortilla
Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in partnership
with The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation
for the National Archives, “A Century Ago: The Films of 1907” presents
a selection of rare turn-of-the-20th-century international films, including
trick films, “actualities” (films showing real things or events),
primitive dramas, and gag films, all produced during this year of creative
expansion and transition. Compiled and hosted by Randy Haberkamp, Director
of Educational and Special Projects for the Academy Foundation of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the program will be highlighted by the
pixilation (stop-action animation) sensation The Haunted Hotel, by
J. Stuart Blackton of Vitagraph; the first film version of Ben-Hur, from
the Kalem Company, which led to a precedent-setting copyright infringement
case; a hand-tinted version of Les Kiriki, Acrobates Japonais, from
Pathé Studios in France; and such crowd pleasers as The Teddy Bears, from
Edison Studios, and The Dancing Pig, from Pathé. Most prints
are in 35mm and are drawn from the collections of the Academy Film Archive,
the Library of Congress, and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. (120 minutes)
Preservation
Wednesday, April 9, at noon
William G. McGowan Theater
Preserving America’s History at the National Archives
Doris Hamburg, the National Archives’ Director of Preservation Programs,
explores how the National Archives preserves and protects the more than 12 million
permanently valuable Federal documents and artifacts it holds. Co-sponsored by
the National Archives Assembly.
Presidents
Wednesday, April 16, at noon
Jefferson Room
White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters
Writer Robert Schlesinger, son of famed historian and JFK speechwriter Arthur
Schlesinger, Jr., discusses White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters, the
first book to offer intimate comparative portraits of all our modern Presidents
and the men and women who helped shape their public record. Drawing on interviews
with current and former speechwriters and on archival research, Schlesinger
reveals how the crucial relationships between Presidents and their speechwriters
can make or break a Presidency. A book signing will follow the program.
Thursday, April 17, at noon
Jefferson Room
Summers with Lincoln: Looking for the Man in the Monuments
Local author and educator James A. Percoco examines many of the nearly 200 memorials
erected in memory of Abraham Lincoln—part of a quest to learn what these
monuments meant when they were unveiled and what they mean today. His book is
the first to explore Lincoln sculpture in the context of post–civil rights
America. Summers with Lincoln gives a tantalizing new look at Abraham
Lincoln, encouraging the reader to question assumptions about Lincoln, civic
commemoration, American civil religion, collective memory, and mythology. A book
signing will follow the program.
Running for Office
The Center for the National Archives Experience is pleased to present programs in celebration of our new exhibit, “Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman,” which runs through August 17 in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery. The Running for Office film series is generously supported by Chevy Chase Bank.
Saturday, April 19, at noon
William G. McGowan Theater
Running for Office Film Series—All the King’s Men
All the King’s Men (1949) is the adaptation of Robert
Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel about the rise and fall
of a senator (based on Louisiana politician Huey Long), portrayed by Broderick
Crawford in an Oscar®-winning performance. The film also won the Oscar for
Best Picture. (109 minutes)
View the Running for Office Online Exhibit
Know Your Records Programs: April
Tuesday, April 8, at 11 a.m.
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue)
Passport Applications
Passport applications can be a rich source of genealogical information, especially
for immigrant ancestors. Patty Shawker, CG, will discuss the passport applications
that are in the custody of the National Archives and those that still remain
with the U.S. Department of State. (This lecture will be repeated at the
National Archives at College Park, MD, in Lecture Room B, on Thursday,
April 10, at 11 a.m.)
Tuesday, April 15, at 11 a.m. and noon
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue)
From the Records Book Group and Lecture
Following a panel discussion on the Peace Corps at 11 a.m., the From the
Records Book Group will discuss All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps
and the Spirit of the 1960s, by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman. Please check
the Archives Shop (202-357-5271) for book availability and a special discount
for participants. NOTE: The book group will not meet again until September.
The September book selection is Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts
of the War for Independence, by John C. Dann (editor).
Tuesday, April 29, at 11 a.m.
Room G-24, Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue)
Nineteenth-Century Non-Population Census Schedules
Archives specialists Rebecca Sharp and Katherine Vollen will discuss how to
use these often-overlooked Federal records to enhance your genealogical and
historical research. (This lecture will be repeated at the National Archives at College Park, MD, in Lecture Room B, on Thursday, May 1, at 11 a.m.)
Fourth Annual Genealogy Fair
Wednesday, April 23, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Research Center (Enter on Pennsylvania Avenue)
The National Archives presents its fourth annual genealogy fair! This year’s program will include three tracks: general genealogy, World War I, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Speakers will encourage family historians to research their families using the records held by the National Archives. This event is free and open to the public. No reservations are required.
See the full schedule and further details.
Session topics will include:
Introduction to genealogy
Access to Archival Databases (AAD)
Land records
Civil War pension files
Finding place of birth in Federal records
World War I Gold Star Mothers
Maritime records
Passport applications, 1795–1925
Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
Immigration and naturalization records of World War I soldiers
World War I draft registration records
Civilian Conservation Corps records
Federal Emergency Relief Act records
The Basics of DNA testing
WPA state guides
Freedmen’s Bureau marriage records
Publications on the WPA
Virginia Slave Births Index
Demonstrations and ongoing exhibits will include:
Beginning genealogy tutorial
How to use a digital camera in research
Preserving your important papers and photographs
Demonstrations of databases, including the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) and
Access to Archival Databases (AAD)
Help! I’m Stuck: Getting Started
NARA Library
Footnote.com
Information on genealogical institutions
Special book discussion at 11:30 a.m. in Room 500
Author Raff Ellis discusses his book Kisses from a Distance: An Immigrant
Family Experience and describes the techniques he used to research it. The
book chronicles a Lebanese immigrant experience based on a cache of more than
200 letters discovered after the death of the author’s mother. Kisses
from a Distance has something for everyone whose personal or family history
includes immigration.
See the full schedule and further details.
Boeing Learning Center
An exciting space designed to provide parents and educators of all levels with methods and materials for teaching with primary source documents. Open Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Exhibits
Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom:The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are on permanent display in the Rotunda. "A New World Is at Hand" surrounds the Rotunda's centerpiece cases. Presenting a selection of milestone documents, the exhibit chronicles the creation of the Charters of Freedom in the 18th century and their impact on the course of history in the United States and around the world.
The Public Vaults: This interactive exhibit invites visitors into the stacks and vaults of the National Archives to explore the raw material from which history is made. From Washington's letters, Lincoln's telegrams, and FDR's fireside chats to UFO reports and declassified secrets of World War II, these documents chronicle both great national events and the lives of individual Americans.
Magna Carta: This foundation document of English common law was confirmed by Edward I in 1297. Only four originals of the 1297 Magna Carta remain, and only one permanently resides in the United States. Purchased by David M. Rubenstein in 2007, it is on loan to the National Archives. West Rotunda Gallery.
Clifford Berryman self-portrait, 1904
Special Exhibit
Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman
Just in time for the Presidential campaign, political cartoons from the first
half of the 20th century provide relevant commentary and fascinating insight
into the campaigns and elections of today. In the Lawrence F. O’Brien
Gallery, through August 17.
View the Running for Office Online Exhibit
Special Featured Document Display in Washington, DC
The original District of Columbia Emancipation Act, signed by President Lincoln on April 16, 1862, will be on display to mark the anniversary of the end of slavery in the District of Columbia. East Rotunda Gallery, March 31–April 30.
Special Exhibit in College Park, Maryland
Auditorium Lobby at the National Archives Research Center:
"The Long View" features digitally produced facsimiles of historic panoramic photographs from the Still Picture holdings.
Motorcycle Corps, Army Motor Service - Under Command of J. S. Berryman. US Capitol. Wash., DC. Jan. 26, 1919, By R. S. Clements. Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs (165-PP-60-47)
The exhibit not only showcases the wide variety of panoramic techniques, but also includes National Archives records such as cartographic maps and patent drawings that relate to the photographs. Thirty-four panoramas and other records are on display and span the period from 1864 to 1997.
See more panoramas online.
Traveling Exhibits
The traveling exhibit program makes it possible for people across the country to experience selected historical documents and artifacts that reflect our national experience.
Eyewitness:
American Originals from the National Archives
Drawing on rarely displayed documents, audio recordings, and film footage culled
from the extensive holdings of the National Archives and its Presidential libraries,
"Eyewitness" features first-person accounts of watershed moments in
history.
Online exhibit
Tour itinerary:
February–April 2008 |
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, TX |
October–December 2008 |
Durham Western Heritage Museum, Omaha, NE |
Online Exhibits
Dozens of exhibits can be experienced online. Visit Now!
Locations, Hours, and Contact Information
The National Archives Experience
Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC
For details, see the Visitor's Map or visit the National Archives Experience.
- Daily, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
- Last admission is 30 minutes prior to closing.
Open every day except Thanksgiving and December 25.
Admission free.
All events listed in the calendar are free unless noted; reservations are not required unless noted. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue.
For details, see the Visitor's Map or visit the National Archives Experience.
For reservations or to be placed on the mailing list, call 202-357-5000 or e-mail public.program@nara.gov.
The National Archives Research Center
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC and 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD.
Research Hours have recently changed.
Check the Washington, DC and College
Park location information for details.
Call 202-357-5450 for a docent-led guided tour.
TDD: 301-837-0482. The National Archives is fully accessible. To request an accommodation (such as a sign language interpreter) for a public program, please call 202-357-5000 or e-mail public.program@nara.gov at least two weeks prior to the event.
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