There’s still 5.7 years to go until the release of the 1950 Census on 1 April 2022, but the National Archives and Records Administration has been working for some time to get ready for that event.
Enumeration District maps involve no privacy restrictions so they can be made available to the public at any time. In “Snapshot USA: 1950 Census Enumeration District Maps,” staff member Ellen Mulligan describes the maps and the behind-the-scenes work needed to get them online.
There are now some 30 million entries in the National Archives Catalog at catalog.archives.gov, according to my best understanding of it. Those entries can be descriptions of governmental entities, record series, files from within those record entries, individual items, and digital images of actual records. The following information comes from the NARA’s Digital Public Access Branch, which manages the Catalog.
This posting takes a peek behind the curtain at the number of offices and people at the National Archives it takes to add descriptions and digitized records to our Catalog.
April 2016 was a fairly ordinary month for the number of descriptions at the National Archives, but when you look at the numbers in this context it is quite extraordinary.
You may have some questions about the graphic above, for example:
What is an archival unit?
Think of an archival unit like an office that specializes in certain kinds of records. We have units based on the kinds of records they hold (e.g. Textual Records or Still Pictures); based on their regional location (e.g. the National Archives at Atlanta, or the National Archives at Fort Worth); and the Presidential Libraries (e.g. the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library or the John F. Kennedy Library).
What is an archival description?
An archival description describes the records we hold in the National Archives. Series descriptions describe records that were accumulated and used together during a distinct period of time. The records in a series are usually arranged in a particular order. A file unit usually describes the equivalent of a folder. A file unit could have a single record in it or many. An item describes a single record – it could be a letter, a report, a photograph, a film, or even a memorandum. The 200,479 descriptions written in April include series, file units and items.
What are the three levels of review?
A staff member writes a description in their archival unit. Then a description reviewer in that office reviews the description and sends it to the Digital Public Access Branch. In Digital Public Access the description is reviewed and edits are sometimes suggested or made to meet the National Archives’ description standards. Then once corrections are made (if needed) it is reviewed once more before it is uploaded to the Catalog.
What does “adding a digital object” mean?
Archival descriptions are written descriptions of records and when possible we also add images, sound or video to the descriptions. In this process we marry a digital file (e.g. jpg, pdf, mp3, mp4) to the written description. Most of the time this can be done in an automatic process after the data is formatted correctly, but sometimes it is a manual process to add the data into the description for every single page.
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: Staff Documents, 2009-2011
Incoming and outgoing correspondence, administrative files, witness lists, records supporting hearings, chronologies of the financial crisis, risk model data, press releases and other records relating to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) interaction with the media.
Branch of Alaskan Geology: Project Chariot Files, 1958-1963
Geologic, geophysical, and geochemical studies and other records created by personnel connected with Project Chariot. Project Chariot was one of several projects planned under the auspices of Operation Plowshare which was developed to explore the use of nuclear explosions for peacetime construction. Project Chariot was a plan to use nuclear blasts to create a harbor at Cape Thompson, Alaska.
Pacific Command, Military Personnel and Services Division: General Records Relating to Bob Hope Christmas Shows, 1970-1972
Correspondence, memoranda, messages, and an after action report pertaining to the planning and preparation for the Bob Hope Christmas programs in Vietnam. Included is an after action report for Operation Holly; diagrams of stage constructions and seating arrangements; records relating to transportation arrangements; and itineraries for the visits.
Barbara Vines Little, editor of the Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, introduces the current issue (Vol. 53, No. 4, November 2015) with her message, “On the Trail of the Obscure.” She says that “Readers will find this issue replete with the types of records best suited to following the tracks of people who often leave little trace of their presence in a given area.” For researchers seeking hard-to-locate individuals from the late 1700s, the various rent rolls, store ledgers, personal property tax lists, and military clothing accounts published therein may indeed provide vital clues and links.
Obscurity works both ways. Not only do the records contain obscure individuals, the records themselves are obscure–records that the average genealogist with Virginia roots is unlikely to know about. The Virginia Genealogical Society serves the genealogical community well in making unusual records more accessible through its publications.
“Not well known” is one of several definitions of “obscure.” A related word is “obscurant.” As a noun, it’s a person who strives to prevent the increase and spread of knowledge, or, a person who obscures. As an adjective, it means tending to make obscure.
There are so many obscure records in the National Archives that are worthy of greater attention by researchers. Thus, I am launching a periodic series of Anti-Obscurant posts to shed light on some of the many obscure Federal records held by the National Archives and Records Administration. It should be educational for us all.
You could be. It might be the voice of an ancestor speaking to you directly about his or her life. Don’t worry, you’re not losing your mind. That voice may be speaking to you from testimony in a court case file, claims file, military pension file, investigative file, or immigration case file. Finding it may take a bit of work–and luck–but it might exist. “In Their Own Words: Family Stories in the National Archives.” Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2015): 34-35, 37 takes a brief look at a few types of “case file” records in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration that contain ancestral voices.
Archival research requires the researcher to develop critical thinking skills–strategies for determining which records may be relevant, based on subject matter, geographical coverage, and time frame. And, of course, how did the person or subject of interest interact with the record-keeper.
The National Archives Catalog is NARA’s version of a modern finding aid, providing a means to search for record groups, record series, files, and even items.
It’s the archival version of an online library catalog, which lists all the books in a particular library. But NARA is not a library, and NARA is not full of books. NARA has records, and records are much different than books. And there’s a lot of stuff: 10 billion pages of textual records; 12 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering drawings; 25 million still photographs and graphics; 24 million aerial photographs; 300,000 reels of motion picture film; 400,000 video and sound recordings; and 133 terabytes of electronic data. These are the permanently valuable records of the United States Federal Government.
The good thing about the the online National Archives Catalog is that it can, over time, be updated to include
Every working day, archivists are adding more and more information to the Catalog. It is growing by leaps and bounds. Just understand that it will not, repeat not, be an “every name in every record” database in our lifetime.
The bad thing about the Catalog is that it doesn’t behave like an old fashioned finding aid, such as a Preliminary Inventory, which described records of a particular record group (Federal agency) in a logical hierarchical way. As a printed product, a Preliminary Inventory was something you could sit down and study at your leisure. The relationships between record series were easier to understand. The bad thing about printed products is that they can’t be updated very often, and the larger they are, the more expensive they are to produce.
Despite their limitations, the old NARA finding aids that were published decades ago can still be useful. The researcher just needs to remember that NARA has more record series for most record groups than were listed in the old finding aids, and that more up-to-date information is in the National Archives Catalog.
The Allen County Public Library has placed online searchable PDFs of over 50 NARA Preliminary Inventories as well as five Special Lists. They’ve also placed online descriptive pamphlets (DPs) for some NARA microfilm publications, most of which are also available on the NARA website for free through the “Order Online” system (click on microfilm tab). Updated 19 November 2015.
My former colleague, retired NARA African-American Genealogy Specialist Reginald Washington, was recently recognized by the National Genealogical Society for his contributions to the field of genealogy. Congratulations, Reggie! The honor is well deserved. Read on for more details from the NGS press release:
Arlington, VA, 19 May 2015—The National Genealogical Society (NGS) held its annual banquet on Friday evening, 15 May, at the NGS 2015 Family History Conference in Saint Charles, Missouri, to present awards that acknowledge and honor genealogical scholarship and service. Each year, these awards are presented to organizations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to NGS programs or have performed outstanding work in the field of genealogy, history, biography, or heraldry. This year, twelve awards were presented.
NGS Award of Merit
The Award of Merit is presented to an individual or non-profit genealogical or historical organization in recognition of exceptional contributions to the field of genealogy that have significantly aided research or increased interest in genealogy over a period of five or more years. The 2015 Award of Merit was presented to Reginald Washington of Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Washington’s contributions to the study and preservation of African-American records is truly exceptional. For three decades, he has introduced researchers to many little-known, but incredibly rich, record collections that are now staples for genealogical research. His labors have given researchers online access to a half-million documents from the files of the Southern Claims Commission and more than a million from the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Freedman’s Savings & Trust Company. Washington has taught at the National Institute for Genealogical Research and has been a popular draw at NGS conferences for two decades. He has published articles in the NGS Quarterly, in Prologue (the scholarly journal of the National Archives), and in popular magazines such as Ancestry. He authored the National Archives’ guide, Black Family Research … At the National Archives; created instructional videos for occasions such as the 150th Anniversary celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation; and was a featured expert in the BYU television series Ancestors.
This site lists historical and genealogical publications by Claire Prechtel Kluskens, a senior reference and projects archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, DC.
Claire served as Registrar (1996-98) and as a Director (1998-2000) on the National Genealogical Society Board of Directors. She attended the National Institute on Genealogical Research in 1994 and has spoken at NIGR, NGS, FGS, and elsewhere.
Why name this site The Twelve Key? In the days of yore, the National Archives issued each archivist a metal key with the number 12 engraved upon it. This key provided access to all the unclassified stacks where records were held. Obviously this key has long since been replaced by other security devices. (And no, I have no idea what keys 1 through 11 were used for).
The articles on this site provide intellectual knowledge that enable the reader to access archival records. Thus it seemed fittingly symbolic to choose “12 key” for its name.
And the green color for this site? It’s a few shades lighter than the olive drab green originally painted on stack doors, shelves, and so forth, that is still seen in many locations throughout the National Archives Building.
The Twelve Key 