About the National Archives

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever.

Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you. Learn more

[free-text-block title="New to the Archives?" ]

[/free-text-block]

[free-text-block title="Most Requested" ]

[/free-text-block]

[free-text-block title="Prologue: NARA's Quarterly Magazine" ]

[get-content name="publications-prologue-index" include-tag="false" /]

[/free-text-block]

[free-text-block title="Calendar of Events" ]

Join us for an exhibit, film, lecture, or book signing and more.
More events

[/free-text-block]

[get-content name="about-archivist-index" include-tag="false" /]

[image-button label="Doing Business With the National Archives" image="handshake" classes="" link="/contracts/" /]