National Archives

Colleen Shogan is the first woman appointed to be Archivist of the United States.

Arts

For the record: We visit Colleen Shogan, the first woman appointed U.S. Archivist

4:10pm July 04, 2023

by Tilda Wilson

Colleen Shogan loves being surrounded by documents — and that's probably for the best. The former political science professor is now in charge of the 13.5 billion records in the National Archives.

President Biden pictured at his home office in his private residence in Wilmington, Del., in 2021. This week, the Department of Justice announced that improperly stored classified documents had been discovered at the president's Wilmington home.

Politics & Government

Here's what we know about the classified documents found at Biden's home and office

2:21pm January 14, 2023

The fast-moving revelations have placed the president under the investigation of a special counsel and ignited Republican criticism. The White House said on Saturday that more documents were found.

The entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach, Fla. estate is shown on Aug. 8, 2022, the day of the FBI's search there.

Politics & Government

Trump asks for a 'special master' to review Mar-a-Lago evidence

6:51pm August 22, 2022

by Ryan Lucas

Former President Donald Trump is also seeking to prevent the government from further reviewing the documents that were taken until a special master is appointed.

People conceal parts of their faces with forms for the 2010 count in Puerto Rico in a U.S. Census Bureau poster about how it keeps information confidential. Records for the once-a-decade tally cannot be released until 72 years after a count's Census Day.

National

The U.S. census's 72-year confidentiality rule has a strange history

1:59pm February 04, 2022

Under federal law, the U.S. government must restrict access to people's records for the once-a-decade tally until 72 years after a count's Census Day. The exact origins of that time span are murky.

President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy ride in the car in a motorcade in Dallas.

The Archives has released nearly 1,500 new documents on JFK's assassination

4:55pm December 15, 2021

by Brian Naylor

They contain memos from meetings with informants, mostly of interest to historians and researchers. No evidence is expected that would put in doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman.

An image of Ow Luen from his file, originally held at the USCIS, now available at the National Archives.

Tracing Your Family's Roots May Soon Get A Lot More Expensive

12:51pm December 29, 2019

by David Greene

Access to some genealogical records kept by the U.S. government may get a lot more expensive, especially for those seeking family records for immigrants from the late 1800s to mid-1900s.

Queue Listen Now

Lee Harvey Oswald is pictured on November 22, 1963, after being arrested for the murder of President John F. Kennedy.

National

New Kennedy Documents Say FBI Was Tipped Off Oswald Was In Danger After Arrest

11:28pm October 26, 2017

by Jessica Taylor

In one memo written just after President Kennedy's suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered by Jack Ruby, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called it "inexcusable" he wasn't protected.

President Trump holds a rally for Alabama Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange on Sept. 22 in Huntsville, Ala. After Strange lost the primary race, Trump's tweets promoting him were deleted.

Trump Deleting Tweets After Luther Strange's Loss Raises Legal Questions

7:40pm September 28, 2017

by Brian Naylor

After Roy Moore defeated the president's chosen candidate, Trump acted to remove evidence of his support. Transparency advocates argue the move is part of a larger pattern of poor record keeping.

A closer look at a recently unearthed photo shows a short-haired figure who could be aviator Amelia Earhart.

Does A Newly Discovered Photo Show Amelia Earhart Survived A Crash Landing?

8:38pm July 06, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

If the photo does show the missing pilot and her navigator, it would lend support to the theory that they went down in the Marshall Islands and were imprisoned. But the evidence isn't crystal clear.

The Frederick Douglass Statue in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol in 2013. On July 3, the National Archives hosted a reading of Douglass' essay about the Fourth of July.

'What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?' Frederick Douglass, Revisited

3:23pm July 05, 2017

by Abigail Censky

Two readings, 165 years apart, addressed to a nation at a precarious political moment. Why Frederick Douglass' famous 1852 anti-slavery speech is still read — and still resonates — in 2017.