What’s New at National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)

The National Archives, Washington, DC https://www.archives.gov/files/dc/national-archives-museum-20160630-01-039-crop-low.jpg

You’re probably like me and tend to do your research at tried-and-true sites and while we know there are other resources, we often don’t take the time to use them. NARA is one of those lesser used sites that contains a wealth of information. Let’s look.

You can view items that are interesting to genealogists here: Resources for Genealogists and Family Historians | National Archives.  I’ve usually looked at this page, skimming to see if there is anything interesting, occasionally doing a quick search to see if there are records of interest. What I haven’t noticed before was that there is a “What’s New” section.
 
Let’s look at a few of these.
Maps at NARA of interest to Genealogists.
Census Enumeration Records
Enumeration District and Related Maps, 1880-1990
This is a partial list but I was glad to see a few counties in North Dakota.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/821491
This is what a record looks like: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/22346831
 
Pictures and Photos at NARA of interest to Genealogists
https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/pictures
Here’s an example of the records available under this section:
Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes, 1921-1940
This entire series is available online. Be sure to scroll down the page to find the individual photos to view.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/524418
Here is a photo of Abraham Lincoln. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/528389
 
There are other added items like genealogy activities for kids. https://www.archives.gov/education/family-history They have some fun family charts as well as maps to track the family immigration and travel. This might be a great way to get the younger members of your family involved in family history. Who knows…maybe one of them will be bitten by the genealogy bug!
 
Just for fun I search “Walsh County North Dakota” on the main page of NARA. An interesting document related to the Walsh County Courthouse popped up. This document was submitted in an effort to note this building as historically significant. You can view it here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75326290.
 
When searching for more North Dakota records, this random record popped up. It is for the Nurse Corp and has the names of individual nurses. Record Group 90: Records of the Public Health Service Series: Cadet Nurse Corps Files
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/108626309 After exploring these records more, it is noted that these records were scanned in collaboration with Ancestry. Interesting. I haven’t searched in Ancestry for them.
 
While you might not find your ancestor’s service records online, you might find information about the places or events that were significant in his life. Take some time to explore NARA records to see what you can find. Happy Exploring!