The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Welcome

Photos of Larryblakeley
http://www.royblakeley.name/larry_blakeley/larryblakeley_photos_jpeg.htm

(Contact Info: larry at larryblakeley dot com)

Important Note: You will need to click this icon to download the free needed to view most of the images on this Web site - just a couple of clicks and you're "good to go."

I manage this Web site and the following Web sites: Leslie (Blakeley) Adkins - my oldest daughter

Lori Ann Blakeley (June 20, 1985 - May 4, 2005) - my middle daughter

Evan Blakeley- my youngest child

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) http://www.archives.gov

http://www.larryblakeley.com/NARA/copyright_notice_NARA.htm

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent Federal agency that preserves our nation's history and defines us as a people by overseeing the management of all Federal records.

Enshrined for posterity in the original building in Washington, DC, are the cornerstone documents of our government:

the Charters of Freedom http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/charters_of_freedom.html;

the Declaration of Independence http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/declaration/declaration.html;

the Constitution of the United States http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/constitution/constitution.html; and

the Bill of Rights http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/bill_of_rights/bill_of_rights.html.

But the National Archives and Records Administration is more than famous documents. NARA is a public trust upon which our democracy depends. NARA enables people to inspect for themselves the record of what government has done. NARA enables officials and agencies to review their actions and helps citizens hold them accountable for those actions. And NARA ensures continuing access to essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of Federal officials, and the national experience.

The National Archives of the United States reflect and record more than 200 years of American development; they are great in number, diverse in character, and rich in information.

The National Archives and Records Administration's 34 facilities hold about 2.9 million cubic feet of original textual materials—that's more than 8 billion pieces of paper from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Federal Government. The National Archives multimedia collections include more than 93,000 motion picture films; more than 5 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings; more than 207,000 sound and video recordings; 18 million aerial photographs; nearly 35 million still pictures and posters; and electronic records comprising about 4 billion logical data records.

Every year the Federal Government creates a new avalanche of records. Determining what evidence is essential documentation is one of NARA's major responsibilities. Less than 3 percent of the government's records have enough enduring historical or legal significance to become part of National Archives indefinitely.

Records in the National Archives document the government's policies, define how those policies are carried out, and offer insights into the experiences of individual Americans. They show the nation's expansion westward, the settlement of the land, the emergence of industrial America, the challenges of agrarian commerce, the story of American ingenuity, the fight for democracy, and the struggle for equality. They help to guarantee the accountability of the government to the American people and enable citizens to protect individual rights and liberties. Presidents and politicians, diplomats and soldiers, the famous, the infamous, and the ordinary citizen all have a place here.

Sample NARA Holdings

Click here http://www.larryblakeley.com/NARA/NARA_samples.htm to see select textual documents and images from our holdings.

Before the establishment of the National Archives http://www.archives.gov/about_us/what_is_nara/before_nara.html in 1934, millions of documents were lost due to fires and poor storage conditions. Now extraordinary care is taken to preserve essential records. For the most part, they are stored in specially designed acid-free boxes in fireproof, locked stack areas where temperature, humidity and light levels are carefully monitored. Conservators may work for hours to clean a document, repair a tear, or rebind a leather-bound volume.

NARA and the Public In addition to preserving the records, NARA works to make them readily available to a wide spectrum of citizens such as historians seeking to understand the past, lawyers preparing briefs, journalists researching today's stories, agency officials exploring the origins of a policy, veterans pursuing their legal rights, people tracing their family roots, and students preparing papers.

Thousands of people call, write, and visit NARA to get information from and about our records. Nearly 250,000 people annually make research visits to archival facilities, and staff respond to more than 1 million oral and written requests for records and information. In addition, our Web site attracts about 30 million visits a year.

NARA also serves as a national cultural institution by involving millions of people in public programs at all of our facilities. Programs include exhibitions, behind-the-scenes tours, commemorative celebrations, educational lectures, film series, genealogical workshops, and volunteer programs.

NARA publishes the government's daily newspaper of rules and regulations, the "Federal Register" http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/, as well as the "Code of Federal Regulations" http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/, the "Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents" http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/, the "Public Papers of the Presidents" http://www.gpoaccess.gov/pubpapers/, "The United States Government Manual" http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/, and the "U.S. Statutes at Large" http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html. Federal Register publications http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/index.html form an important link between the Federal Government and those affected by its regulations and actions.

Related Resources on the NARA Website

- Public programs http://www.archives.gov/about_us/calendar_of_events/index.html offered at NARA's facilities nationwide

- Digital Classroom and resources for educators http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html

- Federal Register http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/index.html and search the Federal Register online http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html

NARA establishes standards for the adequate documentation of government agencies and activities. Archivists work with agencies to determine the length of time their records should be retained before being destroyed or transferred to the National Archives of the United States, and archivists maintain schedules of records currently in agencies' custody.

Semiactive records still in agency custody become part of computer-controlled records center holdings stored at regional records services facilities http://www.archives.gov/facilities/index.html throughout the United States. The facilities provide reduced storage costs for agency records that would otherwise overcrowd government offices. If you have ever filed an income tax form, served in the military, had a Social Security number or a passport, your records may have been stored in a regional records services facility. Each year, these facilities respond to more than 13 million agency requests for records and information and about 2 million from the public.

NARA also maintains the Presidential records, personal papers, audiovisual collections, and gifts and artifacts of former Presidents from Herbert Hoover http://www.archives.gov/presidential_libraries/addresses/addresses.html to Bill Clinton http://clinton.archives.gov at 13 Presidential libraries, projects, and museums http://www.archives.gov/presidential_libraries/addresses/addresses.html. As well as being excellent historical research facilities, the libraries and museums are designed to give the general public a better understanding of the life and times of individual Presidents, the institution of the Presidency, and the American political system as a whole.

Through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission http://www.archives.gov/nhprc_and_other_grants/index.html, the National Archives and Records Administration awards competitive grants to preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources that constitute importannt roles, but its physical presence at more than 30 sites throughout the country. The National Archives Building in Washington, DC, is located midway between the White House and the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue. The National Archives at College Park is a state-of-the-art facility in Maryland. In addition, regional records services facilities http://www.archives.gov/facilities/index.html from Atlanta, GA, to Anchorage, AK, store, preserve, and make available to the public and Federal agencies, records center and archival holdings, including records of Federal courts and field offices of Federal agencies.

By identifying, protecting, and helping people to use the invaluable records of America's past, the National Archives and Records Administration plays a unique and central role in preserving our national heritage and democratic traditions for all Americans now and in the future.