The U.S. National Archives: The Nation’s Attic
Speaker: Paula Stuart-Warren, Certified Genealogist®, FMGS, FUGA
Abstract: Sooner or later genealogical research leads to the treasures held in governmental archives. For federal government records in the United States that leads to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Researchers often use federal census, military and pension records, and passenger arrival records but these are only a fraction of the genealogically useful records in the custody of NARA. The records of the nation's civil, military and diplomatic activities are held by NARA. In Washington alone these records total more than 13 billion pieces of paper and a growing number of digitized pages. This session and the handout focus on the Washington, DC, area facilities, commonly called Archives I and II. Records, finding aids, website, catalog, access options, research tips, and some discussion on the regional locations are covered.