The National Archives was established in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt, but its major holdings date back to 1775. They capture the sweep of the past: slave ship manifests and the Emancipation Proclamation; captured German records and the Japanese surrender documents from World War II; journals of polar expeditions and photographs of Dust Bowl farmers; Indian treaties making transitory promises; and a richly bound document bearing the bold signature "Bonaparte"—the Louisiana Purchase Treaty that doubled the territory of the young republic.
NARA keeps only those Federal records that are judged to have continuing value—about 2 to 5 percent of those generated in any given year. By now, they add up to a formidable number, diverse in form as well as in content. There are approximately 10 billion pages of textual records; 12 million maps, charts, and architectural and engineering drawings; 25 million still photographs and graphics; 24 million aerial photographs; 300,000 reels of motion picture film; 400,000 video and sound recordings; and 133 terabytes of electronic data. All of these materials are preserved because they are important to the workings of Government, have long-term research worth, or provide information of value to citizens. Find out more: https://www.archives.gov/publications/general-info-leaflets/1-about-archives.html
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture, 1790-1920
Criminal Case Files of the U.S. Circuit Court
Files of the Department of Justice: Judge Isaac C. Parker
Letters Received by the Department of Justice from the Territory of Dakota
Gale World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean
Despatches From U.S. Consuls in Havana, Cuba, 1783–1906
Despatches From U.S. Ministers to Cuba, 1902–1906
Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs of Argentina, 1940–1944
Records of the Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs of Mexico, 1930–1939
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Affairs, U.S. and Bolivia, 1945–1959
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Brazil, 1945–1959
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Central America, 1911–1929
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Central America, 1911–1929 and Between Central America and Other States, 1910–1929
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Cuba, 1910–1929
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Guatemala, 1945–1959
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Haiti, 1910–1929
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Haiti, 1945–1959
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Other American States (Monroe Doctrine), 1910–1949
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and Panama, 1910–1929
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, 1945–1959
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the United States and Nicaragua, 1910–1929
Records of the Department of State Relating to the First Panama Congress, 1825–1827
Records of the Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Central America, 1930–1949
Records of the Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Guatemala, 1950–1963
Records of the Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of the Dominican Republic, 1960–1963
Indigenous Peoples of North America
Census of Creek Indians Taken by Parsons and Abbott in 1832
Census Roll of the Cherokee Indians East of the Mississippi and Index to the Roll, 1835
Chemawa Indian School: Register of Students Admitted, 1880-1928; Descriptive Statements of Students, 1890-1914; and Graduating Class Rolls, 1885-1921
Citizenship Case Files of the U.S. Court in Indian Territory, 1896-1897
Correspondence of the Eastern Division Pertaining to Cherokee Removal, April-December 1838
Correspondence of the Secretary of the Treasury Relating to the Administration of Trust Funds for the Chickasaw and Other Indian Tribes ("S" Series), 1834-1872
Documents Relating to the Negotiation of Ratified and Unratified Treaties With Various Indian Tribes, 1801-1869
Historical Album of Bureau of Education-Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools in Alaska, ca. 1925-35
Letter Book of the Creek Trading House, 1795-1816
Letters Received by the Office of Education, Alaska Division, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1878-1916
Letters Sent by the Indian Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, 1849-1903
Letters Sent by the Office of Education, Alaska Division, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1877-1908
Letters Sent by the Superintendent of Indian Trade, 1807-1823
Miscellaneous Indian Removal Muster Rolls, 1832-1846
Ratified Indian Treaties, 1722-1869
Records of the Alaska Division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Concerning Metlakatla, 1887-1933
Records of the Choctaw Trading House, 1803-1824
Records of the Creek Factory of the Office of Indian Trade of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1795-1821
Register of Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880
Report Books of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1838-1885
Reports and Correspondence Relating to the Army Investigations of the Battle of Wounded Knee and to the Sioux Campaign of 1890-1891
Schedules of a Special Census of Indians, 1880
Statistical Records and Reports of the Alaska Division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1912-1941
The Indian School Journal (Chilocco Indian School)
Making of Modern Law: Landmark Records and Briefs of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1950-1980
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Asia and the West
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Amoy, China, 1844-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Bangkok, Siam, 1856-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Batavia, Java, Netherlands East Indies, 1818-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Canton, China, 1790-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chefoo, China, 1863-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chinkiang, China, 1864-1902
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Chunking, China, 1896-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Foochow, China, 1849-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hakodate, Japan, 1856-1878
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hangchow, China, 1904-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hankow, China, 1861-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Hong Kong, 1844-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Iloilo, Philippine Islands, 1876-1886
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Kanagawa, Japan, 1861-1897
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Macao, China, 1849-1869
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Manila, Philippine Islands, 1817-1899
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Mukden, Manchuria, China, 1904-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Nagasaki, Japan, 1860-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Nanking, China, 1902-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Newchwang, Manchuria, China, 1865-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Ningpo, China, 1853-1896
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Osaka and Hiogo (Kobe), Japan, 1868-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Padang, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies, 1853-1898
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Saigon, Vietnam, 1889-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Seoul, Korea, 1886-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Shanghai, China, 1847-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Singapore, Straits Settlements, 1833-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Swatow, China, 1860-1881
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Tientsin, China, 1868-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Yokohama, Japan, 1897-1906
Despatches from U.S. Ministers to China, 1843-1906
Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Japan, 1855-1906
Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Korea, 1883-1905
Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Siam, 1882-1906
Despatches from US Consuls in Antung, Manchuria, China, 1904-1906
History of the Philippine Insurrection against the United States, 1899-1903, and Documents Relating to the War Department Project for Publishing of History, 1899-1903
Minutes of Treaty Conferences between U.S. and Japanese Representatives, and Treaty Drafts, 1872
Notes from the Chinese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1868-1906.
Notes from the Japanese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1858-1906
Notes from the Korean Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1883-1906
Notes from the Siamese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1876-1906
Records Relating to the United States Surveying Expedition to the North Pacific Ocean, 1852-1863.
Selected Records of the U.S. Consulate in Bangkok, Siam, 1856-1912
Selected Records of the U.S. Legation in China, 1849-1931
Selected Records of the U.S. Legation in Japan, 1855-1912
Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Europe and Africa
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Bathurst, Gambia, British Africa, 1857-1889
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Boma, Congo, 1888-1895
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Cape Town, Cape Colony, 1800-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Gaboon, 1856-1888
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Goree Dakar, French Africa, 1883-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Grand Bassa, Liberia, 1868-1882
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Lourenco Marques, Mozambique, Portuguese Africa, 1854-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Pretoria, The Transvaal, 1898-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Santiago, Cape Verde Islands, 1818-1898
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Sierra Leone, British Africa, 1858-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in St. Helena, British West Africa, 1831-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in St. Paul de Loanda, Portuguese Africa, 1854-1893
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Tamatave, Madagascar, 1853-1906
Despatches from U.S. Consuls in Zanzibar, British Africa, 1836-1906
Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Maps and Travel Literature
Pacific Railway Surveys, 1853–1855: Reports of Explorations and Surveys to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean
Public Health Archives: Public Health in Modern America, 1890-1970
Records of the Children's Bureau, 1912-1969
Refugees, Relief, and Resettlement: Forced Migration
Record of the Department of State Relating to the Problems of Relief and Refugees in Europe Arising from World War II and Its Aftermath, 1938-1949
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: Debates Over Slavery and Abolition
Habeas Corpus Case Records, 1820-1863, of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia
Records of the Clerk of the Court, 1746-1932, and of the U.S. Commissioners, 1837-1860, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior Relating to the Suppression of the African Slave Trade and Negro Colonization, 1854-72
Records of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Relating to Slaves, 1851-1863
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: Slave Trade in the Atlantic World
Appellate Case File No. 2161, United States v. The Amistad, 40 U.S. 518
Records of the U.S. District and Circuit Courts for the District of Connecticut: Documents Relating to the Various Cases Involving the Spanish Schooner Amistad
U.S. Customs Service Records: Port of New Orleans, Louisiana Inward Slave Manifests, 1807-1860
U.S. Customs Service Records: Port of New Orleans, Louisiana Outward Slave Manifests, 1812-1860
Slavery and Anti-Slavery: Institution of Slavery
Apellate Case File No. 3230, Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 393 (19 Howard 393), Decided March 6, 1857 and Related Records
Records of the Senate Select Committee that Investigated John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia
Slavery and Anti-Slavery Part: Age of Emancipation
Correspondence of the Office of Civil Affairs of the District of Texas, the 5th Military District, and the Department of Texas, 1867-1870
Indexes to Deposit Ledgers in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1874
Office of the Adjutant General, Office of the Freedmen’s Branch
Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands: Field Offices
Records of the Education Division of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1871
Registers and Letters Received by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872
Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1874
Selected Series of Records Issued by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872
Archives Unbound
Afghanistan and the U.S., 1945-1963: Records of the U.S. State Department Central Classified Files
Albania: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1963
Argentina: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
Bolivia: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
Brazil: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
British Mandate in Palestine, Arab-Jewish Relations, and the U.S. Consulate at Jerusalem, 1920-1944
Bulgaria: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1945-1949
Bulgaria: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1950-1954
Cambodia: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
Chile: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1963
China: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1939: Part 1
China: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1939: Part 2
China: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1940-1944
China: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1949
Chinese Civil War and U.S.-China Relations: Records of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Chinese Affairs, 1945-1955
Civil War Service Reports of Union Army Generals
Colombia: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
Commercial and Trade Relations Between Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and the U.S., 1910-1963
Country Intelligence Reports on China
Country Intelligence Reports on Japan
Country Intelligence Reports on Korea
Country Intelligence Reports on Russia
Crisis in the Dominican Republic: Records of the U.S. State Department Central Files, February 1963-1966
Cyprus Crisis in 1967
Czechoslovakia from Liberation to Communist State, 1945-63: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files
Democracy in Turkey, 1950-1959: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files
East Germany from Stalinization to the New Economic Policy, 1950-1963
Economic Cooperation Administration’s Relief Mission in Post-War China, 1946-1948
Ecuador: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
Egypt: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1853-1962
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Colonialism and Nationalism in the Dutch East Indies, 1910-1930
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: French Colonialism in Africa: From Algeria to Madagascar, 1910-1930
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies in Asia and the Pacific: From Colonialism to Japanese Mandates, 1910-1929
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies to League of Nations Mandates in Africa 1910-1929
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Italian Colonies in North Africa and Aggression in East Africa, 1930-1939
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Political and Economic Consolidation of Portuguese Colonies in Africa, 1910-1929
Final Accountability Rosters of Japanese-American Relocation Centers, 1944-1946
Finland: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1945-1949
Finland: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1950-1954
Finland: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1955-1959
Finland: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1960-Jan. 1963
Foreign Relations between Latin America and the Caribbean States, 1930-1944
Foreign Relations Between the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean States, 1930-1944
French Mandate in The Lebanon, Christian-Muslim Relations, and the U.S. Consulate at Beirut, 1919-1935
General George C. Marshall's Mission to China, 1945-1947
German Foreign Relations and Military Activities in China, 1919-1935
Greece: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1950-1963
Hindu Conspiracy Cases: Activities of the Indian Independence Movement in the U.S., 1908-1933
Holocaust and the Concentration Camp Trials: Prosecution of Nazi War Crimes
Hungary: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1963
India from Crown Rule to Republic, 1945-1949: Records of the U.S. State Department
India-Pakistan Conflict: Records of the U.S. State Department, February 1963-1966
Indochina, France, and the Viet Minh War, 1945-1954: Records of the U.S. State Department, Part 1: 1945-1949
Integration of Alabama Schools and the U.S. Military, 1963
Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees: The West's Response to Jewish Emigration
International Climatic Changes and Global Warming
Iran (Persia): Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1883-1959
Iraq: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1888-1944
Japan and Korea: Summation of Nonmilitary Activities, 1945-1948
Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949: U.S. State Department Records on the Internal Affairs of Japan
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Commercial Relations, 1910-1949
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Commercial Relations, 1950-1963
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1950-1954
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1955-1959
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Political Relations, 1930-1939
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Political Relations, 1940-1944
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Political Relations, 1945-1949
Japan: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1950-1959
Japan: U.S. Naval Technical Mission, 1945-1946
Japan-U.S. Economic Relations Group Records, 1979-1981
King and People in Morocco, 1950-1959: U.S. State Department Records on the Internal Affairs of Morocco
Korea: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1963
Laos: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1963-1966
Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Trans-Jordan: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1836-1944
Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1864-1918
Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1918-1935
Libya: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1796-1885
Lincoln at the Bar: Extant Case Files from the U.S. District and Circuit Courts, Southern District of Illinois 1855-1861
Military Leaders of World War I: Official and Private Papers of Generaloberst Hans von Seeckt
Morocco: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1797-1929
Nazi Bank and Financial Institutions: U.S. Military Government Investigation Reports and Interrogations of Nazi Financiers, 1945-1949
Nazism in Poland: The Diary of Governor-General Hans Frank
Nicaragua: Political Instability and U.S. Intervention, 1910-1933
Nicaragua: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
Nuremberg Laws and Nazi Annulment of German Jewish Nationality
Occupation and Independence: The Austrian Second Republic, 1945-1963
Origins of the Cold War
Pakistan from Crown Rule to Republic: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1949
Palestine and Israel: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1959
Panama: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1950-1963
Persian Gulf States and Yemen, 1950-1959
Personal Justice Denied: Public Hearings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment, 1981
Peru: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
Poland: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1963
Policing the Shanghai International Settlement, 1894-1945
Political Relations and Conflict between Republican China and Imperial Japan, 1930-1939: Records of the U.S. State Department
Political Relations Between China, the U.S. and Other Countries, 1910-1929
Political, Economic, and Military Conditions in China: Reports and Correspondence of the U.S. Military Intelligence Division, 1918-1941
Press Conferences of the U.S. Secretaries of State, 1922-1974
Public Housing, Racial Policies, and Civil Rights: The Intergroup Relations Branch of the Federal Public Housing Administration, 1936-1963
Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Enforcement of Federal Law in the South, 1871-1884
Records of the Deutsche Ausland-Institut, Stuttgart: Records on Resettlement
Records of the Far Eastern Commission, 1945–1952
Records of the Office of the Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of Germandom
Records of US State Department's Division of Chinese Affairs
Revolution in Honduras and American Business: The Quintessential "Banana Republic"
Revolution in Mexico, the 1917 Constitution, and Its Aftermath: Records of the U.S. State Department
Rise and Fall of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy
Romania: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1945-1963
Russian Civil War and American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia, 1918-20
SAFEHAVEN Reports on Nazi Looting of Occupied Countries and Assets in Neutral Countries
Saudi Arabia: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1959
Socialism and National Unity in Yugoslavia, 1945-63: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files
South Vietnam: Records of the Office of the Defense Attaché, 1973-1975
Subject Files of US State Department's Office of the Republic of China Affairs (1951-1978)
Sukarno and the Army-PKI Rivalry in the Years of Living Dangerously, 1960-1963
Thailand: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1945-1954
Thailand: Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, 1955-1963
The Global Financial and Economic Crisis
The Global War on Terrorism
The International War on Drugs
The Jewish Question: Records from the Berlin Document Center
The Scopes Case
The War on Poverty and the Office of Economic Opportunity: Administration of Antipoverty Programs and Civil Rights, 1964-1967
Turkey, Greece, and the Balkan States: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1930-1944
Turkey: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1802-1949
U.S. and Iraqi Relations: U.S. Technical Aid, 1950-1958
U.S. Civilian Advisory Effort in Vietnam: U.S. Operations Mission, 1950-1954
U.S. Civilian Advisory Effort in Vietnam: U.S. Operations Mission, 1954-1957 – Classified & Subject Files of the Executive Office
U.S. Military Activities and Civil Rights: Integration of the University of Mississippi and the Use of Military Force, 1961-1963
U.S. Military Activities and Civil Rights: The Little Rock Integration Crisis, 1957-1958
U.S. Military Activities and Civil Rights: The Military Response to the March on Washington, 1963
U.S. Military Advisory Effort in Vietnam: Military Assistance Advisory Group, Vietnam, 1950-1964
U.S. Operations Mission in Iran, 1950-1961
U.S. Operations Mission to Saudi Arabia, 1950–1955: Correspondence and Subject Files of the Office of the Director
U.S. Relations and Policies in Southeast Asia, 1944-1958: Records of the Office of Southeast Asian Affairs
U.S. Relations with the Vatican and the Holocaust, 1940-1950
Venezuela: Records of the U.S. Department of State, 1960-1963
War Department and Indian Affairs, 1800-1824
War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas
War on Poverty: Office of Civil Rights, 1965-1968
Weapons of Mass Destruction and Nonproliferation
World War II, Occupation, and the Civil War in Greece, 1940-1949: Records of the U.S. State Department Classified Files
