Football in 1907
On January 15, 1967, the NFL champion Green Bay Packers played the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs in what would later be known as Super Bowl I. Sixty years earlier, American football looked much...
View ArticleFly Ball!
On April 1, the 2013 Major League Baseball season begins. The National Air and Space Museum’s hometown Washington Nationals begin their season at home. My beloved Baltimore Orioles, however, begin...
View ArticleBring Me the Head of Alan Shepard: A Halloween Story
While processing a National Air and Space Museum Archives photo collection, I came across this image—two men holding the wax head of astronaut Alan Shepard! Earl W. Dorfman, managing director of the...
View ArticleA Very Wellman Christmas
If any snow falls in Washington, DC, locals scramble for their milk and toilet paper, turn up the heat, and hide under their blankets. Imagine celebrating the Christmas holiday inside a hut 600 miles...
View ArticleLove is in the Air
Aerial weddings may now be considered quite commonplace. Just a quick online search turns up a number of places that provide skydiving services. But in the nineteenth century, the idea of flying at...
View ArticleIn the Batter’s Box
After a long, cold winter on the East Coast, spring is finally here and a new baseball season is about to start! Many teams have military nights, in which they invite active duty men and women to the...
View ArticleVirtual Vacation
As people start making their summer vacation plans, I often daydream about traveling around the world. Then I realize that I don’t even need to leave the office to see far off places. The National...
View ArticleMonumental Views
Every Fourth of July, visitors and locals alike crowd the National Mall to watch the fireworks show with the Washington Monument as one of its focal points. The monument reopened to the public in May...
View Article#TBT Historical Research Center
What better way to celebrate the final days of Archives Month than with the social media stalwart Throwback Thursday? Elizabeth Borja shares Polaroids of the National Air and Space Museum Historical...
View ArticleLook Out for Black Cats on Halloween!
What do you get when you combine triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13), melanophobia (fear of the color black), and ailurophobia (fear of cats)? The fearless 1920s aerial stunt team “13 Black...
View ArticleThe Art of the Wooden Scrapbook
Although many photos and memories are going digital, scrapbooking is still a big pastime in America. You can go to any craft store and find an aisle devoted to paper, stickers, and pre-made...
View ArticleDo You Want to Build a Snowman?
Washington, DC, always awaits its first real snow day with anticipation and trepidation. I was curious what the National Air and Space Museum collections had in the way of snow activities. I learned...
View ArticleScoffing at Superstition
Friday the Thirteenth always puts me in the mood to listen to Stevie Wonder’s hit, “Superstition.” Although I’m not particularly superstitious, I’m probably not going to take chances like a group of...
View ArticleOn Base in Malir
It’s that time of year again! The crack of the bat, the smack of the glove, the roar of the crowd—baseball has returned to our nation’s capital!!! Wherever they have served, American soldiers and...
View ArticleCherry Blossoms at the National Air and Space Museum
When the vernal equinox in Washington, DC, is accompanied by a cold, wet day, it’s hard to imagine that spring is actually here. But over the last few weeks the nation’s capital, has been celebrating...
View ArticleHappy Mother’s Day
On Sunday, May 10, the United States and many other countries will be celebrating Mother’s Day. Several National Air and Space Museum Archives collections contain photographs of aviators and their...
View ArticleSwimming with the WASPs
As summer heats up in Washington, DC, swimming pool attendance skyrockets. For Women Air Service Pilots (WASPs) training to fly military aircraft during World War II at Avenger Field in Sweetwater,...
View ArticleCelebrating Labor Day with the Thompson Trophy
Labor Day became a national holiday in the United States in 1894, codifying what had become an American tradition of celebrating the work of labor unions with parades, picnics, and other festivities....
View Article#AskAnArchivist on Twitter Kicks Off American Archives Month
In a way, every day is Ask An Archivist Day. The National Air and Space Museum Archives receives queries from our online request form at every hour of the day from all over the world. But October 1...
View ArticleIn the Archives: The Good Old Hockey Game
This summer, I took myself out to the ball game, spending hours at Camden Yards and Nationals Park, with quick side trips to Fenway Park and U.S. Cellular Field (part of me will always believe the...
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