This press release from the U.S. National Archives was just received:

National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis Opens Agency Civilian Personnel Records to the Public

The National Archives’ National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) opened more than 6 million individual personnel files of former federal civilian employees from the mid-1800s through 1951. These records will be of special interest to genealogists, family members, researchers, sociologists, and historians.

Among the records are the files of prominent individuals who worked for the federal government, such as Walt Disney, Ansel Adams, Eliot Ness, Calvin Coolidge, J. Edgar Hoover, Gifford Pinchot, Walker Evans, and Albert Einstein.

Ronald L. Hindman, Director of NPRC characterized these records “as a veritable treasure-trove of information for researchers and genealogists.” He continued, “There are records from more than one hundred government agencies now available for discovery. They showcase the careers of government employees who investigated bootleggers; taught at Indian schools; worked in Japanese-American interment camps, in prisons, and on anti-prostitution boards, and created and implemented initiatives in Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal agencies, among others.”

These documents open a window into America’s past. Examples include:

* From the Bureau of Indian Affairs– “The food the children had to eat was not clean. The school was dismissed at irregular hours; sometimes the children would not get home till half past five in the evening.”

* From the War Relocation Authority– a job description: “The qualifications of the registrant: the ability to assume responsibility in the management and operation of a large community and composed entirely of one isolated racial group under war conditions and in the face of adverse public sentiment is a highly essential qualification.”

* From the Department of Justice– a Prohibition Agent in the 1930’s was found guilty of consuming liquor and shooting a bootlegger in the leg as the bootlegger tried to escape in his Model “A” Ford Coupe.

This opening of 6 million files adds to the existing collection of more than 9 million military personnel files that are already available for research and is another step in the creation of the largest archival repository in the United States outside the National Archives in the Washington, DC area. In late 2010, the records will be moved to a state-of-the-art repository on Dunn Road, in suburban St Louis County, Missouri.

To purchase a copy of a particular record, send a written request to NPRC, Civilian Personnel Records, 111 Winnebago Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63118-4199. The request should include the requester’s contact information, the former federal employee’s full name, date of birth, name of employing agency, and period of employment. Copies of the records can be purchased for either $20 or $60, depending upon the size of the record. Most records will fall into the $60 range. Once a request has been submitted, contact us at [email protected] with any questions.

Visitors to NPRC in St. Louis can make an appointment to view these records for free in the Archival Research Room. Visitors interested in doing so should call 314-801-0850 to schedule an appointment.

The places to find snippets or full reproductions of music albums, plays, movies and other entertainment industry history are voluminous. The U.S. Library of Congress is just one of those places. The LOC has announced the recent additions to the National Recording Registry. Click here for the full story and links. I have the original cast recording from West Side Story — the actual album. And now that I have read this story, Etta James singing “At Last” will be in my mind all day.

June 9, 2009

The Sounds of American Life and Legend Are Tapped for the Seventh Annual National Recording Registry

The unforgettable lyrics of a Broadway and movie classic, the historic recital of one of the nation’s greatest contraltos, and the speech that warned of “an iron curtain” descending across the continent have made the list of recordings that have been identified as cultural, artistic and historical treasures to be preserved for future generations. Today, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington named the 25 new additions to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress as part of its efforts to ensure that the nation’s aural history is not lost or forgotten.

Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian, with advice from the Library’s National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), is tasked with selecting 25 recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” and are at least 10 years old. The selections for 2008 bring the total number of recordings in the registry to 275.

“This year’s selections lovingly reflect the diversity and humanity of our sound heritage where astonishing discoveries and a vibrant creative spirit seem to appear around every corner,” said Billington. “Our daily lives and memories are suffused with the joyous notes of recorded sound, making these choices extremely difficult. The Library, in collaboration with others, will now work to ensure that these cultural touchstones are preserved for future generations to hear and experience.”

The list of recordings named to the registry features a diverse selection of spoken and musical recordings that span the years 1908-1966. They cover a broad scope of the American soundscape, encompassing the nation’s rich tapestry of imaginative and disparate voices.

Among the selections are Marian Anderson’s recital at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939; Mary Margaret McBride’s interview with Zora Neale Hurston; the sounds of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the Louisiana swamp forest, the last confirmed aural evidence of what was once the largest woodpecker species in the United States; studio recordings of violinist Jascha Heifetz from 1917-24; the recording credited with launching the American audiobook industry, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”; Etta James’ “At Last” crossover masterpiece; Winston Churchill’s “Sinews of Peace” speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri; and the original cast recording of “West Side Story.”

Additions to the registry also feature notable performances by The Who, Oran “Hot Lips” Page, the Andrew Sisters, Ray Bolger, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks.

82 years ago. This is the anniversary of the day Minnesota’s own Charles A. Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. May 21, 1927 was the date he flew the “Spirit of St. Louis” from New York to Paris. It’s easy to learn more about the man and his flight on a variety of websites. Type in his name or the plane’s name into your favorite search engine and plan on a lot of interesting reading.

His childhood home and a visitors center are a historic site run by the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS). The home has original family furnishings.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the current economic situation may be forcing the Minnesota Historical Society to close the historic site of “Lindy’s” childhood home in Little Falls, Minnesota.

MHS like so many other historical organizations, archives, museums, and libraries is in the midst of humongous funding and budget cutbacks. It’s similar to what is happening with households, businesses, governments, and other organizations today. Staff, public hours, collecting and processing artifacts and manuscripts, cataloging, publishing, and other services are being cut dramatically. The Lindbergh site is on a preliminary list of places MHS maybe forced to close. Legislatures and governors across the U.S. are still in the throes of budget talks and not all value history. Our history both locally, statewide, and nationally is in dire straits.

Our historical memory is threatened at so many levels. Those involved in preserving history are constantly being put out of work, historical society staff trips around a state to pick up records in need of preservation and proper storage are being canceled, families are selling off beloved heirlooms in order to put food on the table, travel to research our family histories has been put on the back shelf, research and museum hours at repositories have been slashed dramatically and some have been closed entirely.

The immediate future is not looking up. Don’t forget to let your legislators at the state and federal level know that history is fading away and if it is not saved, preserved properly, or kept within reach, it may not be retrievable.