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2020 in Review

2020 was a year like no other. Without a doubt, this is a year that will be covered in the history books of the future.

Despite this unprecedented year, a bright spot was working with our Citizen Archivists and Catalog community members. Together we accomplished a great deal! Looking back on this unique and historic time, we’d like to share some of the highlights from the year.

As always, thank you for your contributions to help unlock history. We wish you a wonderful, restful holiday season, and look forward to working with you in 2021.

We introduced new research tools and shared search strategies
Screenshot of Bureau of Indian Affairs Photograph Finding Aid, showing map of regions

Bureau of Indian Affairs Photographs Finding Aid

Search and explore more than 18,000 digitized historical photographs from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) records with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Photographs Finding Aid.

Learn more.

Image of Native American treaty, showing signature page

Treaties Explorer

Hundreds of Native American treaties have been scanned and are freely available online, for the first time, through the National Archives Catalog. Also, in partnership with The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC), these treaties and extensive additional historical and contextual information are available through Treaties Explorer.

Learn more.

Black and white photograph of two women in work clothes pointing in the distance.

Tips for Successful Catalog Searches

Have you tried your search in the National Archives Catalog? The Catalog is our online portal to the records held at the National Archives and information about those records. With nearly 110 million digitized pages of records available (and thousands more added each week!), you are likely to find something new every time you search.

See the search strategies.

Screen shot of Presidential Library Explorer showing the page of Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library records

Presidential Library Explorer

We are pleased to share our second next-generation finding aid: the Presidential Library Explorer! This tool is a new path into the digitized holdings of NARA’s Presidential Libraries, providing a browseable experience that complements the deep dive that search in the National Archives Catalog provides. Learn more.

We celebrated Citizen Archivist contributions
Animated GIF of a crowd of people looking in the distance and cheering. One woman jumps up and down.

Celebrating 1 million pages enhanced

We reached a BIG milestone earlier this year, celebrating 1 million pages of records enhanced. Update! Thanks to your continued work throughout the year, we now have more than 1.4 million pages of records enhanced by citizen archivist contributions to the National Archives Catalog. Read more about this milestone

Black and white image of a man holding a film card in front of a market window

Searchable Stock Shots

Now available in the Catalog: Motion Picture Library Stock Shots (306-LSS), a series of gorgeous black and white reels of stock footage compiled by the United States Information Agency (USIA). Staff from the Motion Picture Preservation Lab enhanced these records with tags and transcriptions to help make them more findable and useful to researchers. Learn more

We hosted special (virtual) events
Image of the 19th Amendment with Centennial Commemoration graphics

19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration

This year, we commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Constitutional amendment that guaranteed that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Learn more.

Black and white photograph of Franklin Roosevelt shaking hands with Norman Davis while on a boat

Presidential Library Road Trip

Beginning February 6, 2020, we posted a series of citizen archivist transcription missions featuring records from each of our 14 Presidential Libraries. We want to thank the 151 Citizen Archivists who participated. Together during the Road Trip they transcribed 3,536 pages and tagged 699 photos! Learn more about the mission.

Photograph of President Nixon and Pat Nixon sitting on yellow couches in a living room with matching yellow curtains

Archives at Home

While our research rooms, museums, and Presidential Libraries remain closed due to the ongoing health crisis, you can always turn to the National Archives for a wide selection of online content and to conduct research in our Catalog. Learn more about our online resources and programs.

Mission History

Are you nostalgic for the Citizen Archivist Missions you’ve worked on? Curious about the kinds of missions we’ve done in the last few years? Check out our Missions History page. On this page we list our previous missions so that you can review the records from previous projects. In a few cases, we still need some help completing the transcription or tags, so review the list and help us out. Did you have a favorite Mission this year? Let us know!

Black and white photograph of Astronaut Gordon Cooper at console in blockhouse during simulated Mercury Redstone rocket flight

Photograph of Gordon Cooper during Simulated Mercury Redstone Rocket Flight. National Archives Identifier 17409778

Top 50 Contributors of 2020

This year a large number of new Citizen Archivists joined our program. No matter how many pages you contributed transcriptions, tags, or comments to - every contribution makes our records more accessible. THANK YOU! And and extra shout-out to our top contributors for 2020:

Aapiaom

Ackman

Alebue

Andersont

Ashoop

Awalker

Ceili

CharlesMiller

Cmcutrona

Dar4cubs

Ddoerner

Divine

GFULLER

GoreckiC

Gypsi

Henritze

Irakirsh

Jammon49

Janh

Jasonbrandon94

Jcent54

Kdawkins

Lcahalan

Lnashorn

Medcrest

MM2

Mmaster

Mtarabulski

Mvargas

N0AH

NEllenL

ONEILL

OzarksNative

Rbass

Rcooper36

RCrawford

Robertkett

RonnaB

SAO

Scludwig

Smithal

Soonerfactor2

SPietro

Stquick

Takeahike5

Tmccolle

Trumanvol

Tschmidt

Twilcox

WWEBER

Animated GIF of a young man hanging from a lamppost and waving in Times Square New York City. A crowd of people is behind him.

Happy New Year from all of us at the National Archives. Wishing you all the best in 2021!

History Hub
Have a question? Find your answer on History Hub! 

History Hub is our support community for researchers, genealogists, history enthusiasts, and citizen archivists. Ask questions, share information, work together, and find help based on experience and interests. Researchers can ask—or answer—questions on History Hub, or search to see if a question has been asked before.
Image of man and woman looking at large ledger book

Citizen Archivists, there's a group just for you! You can share tips and strategies, find new challenges, and get support for your work.  

Once you’ve signed up, check out our poll:
        What kinds of records do you like to transcribe?

COVID-19 Update

The National Archives is committed to the health and safety of our visitors and staff. We are closely monitoring the situation regarding COVID-19, and we are working with public health officials and our counterpart agencies to monitor and respond to the evolving conditions and following CDC guidelines. 

For more information, visit https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus

Questions or comments? Email us at catalog@nara.gov.
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