Did you know that February is National Pet Dental Health Month? Make sure to take Fido to get his teeth checked!
To help you to remember this important designation for the month of February, we give you Rounder the dolphin. Rounder is pictured here with a veterinarian—Rounder needed a partial dental plate! The images were taken between 1965 and 1967.
These pictures are held in a series of Historical Photograph Files of the Records of Naval Districts and Shore Establishments at the Eleventh Naval District. Pacific Missile Test Center, Point Mugu, CA.
Happy Birthday Marlene!
On this day in 1901 Marlene Dietrich was born in Germany.
Here is her Declaration of Intention to become a U.S. citizen, held in a series of Naturalization Records at the National Archives at Riverside.
Happy Halloween!
It’s Different!
It’s Fun!
It’s New!
This poster advertises a “Hallowe’en Fiesta and Masquerade Dance. We have to wonder what costume won the contest, and what exactly Aspirine Pilgrone “The Wooden-Headed Boy” did to entertain?
The poster is part of a series of Central Classified Files for the Mission Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, dated in the early forties.
From the landmark civil rights case, Mendez v. Westminster, which desegregated California schools:
The equal protection of the laws’ pertaining to the public school system in California is not provided by furnishing in separate schools the same technical facilities, text books and courses of instruction to children of Mexican ancestry that are available to the other public school children regardless of their ancestry. A paramount requisite in the American system of public education is social equality. It must be open to all children by unified school association regardless of lineage.
From the decision of Judge Paul J. McCormick, from Mendez v. Westminster School District of Orange County, 1946.
The entire case is available online through the National Archives website. Go to http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ enter ARC Identifier 294939. Read full transcripts from the case.
¡Celebración de la Herencia Hispana!
To pay tribute to the many generations of Hispanic Americans that have enriched our nation’s history, the National Archives at Riverside will be highlighting some of our holdings relating to Hispanic American history in our region (Southern California, Arizona, and Clark County, NV), including records relating to Private Land Claims, Immigration and Naturalization, military service and many more.
For more information about Hispanic Heritage Month, see http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov/
The correspondence files where we had originally found Loyd also included some letters that mentioned his military service. This was a clue for us to go back to St. Louis and look into finding his Military Personnel File.
Notice the burned edges on these documents? That was due to an unfortunate fire in 1973 at the Records Center. Thankfully, portions of Loyd’s records survived and I was able to piece together Loyd’s military service:
- February 8th, 1918: physical exam in Las Vegas (he was in good shape);
- July 5th, 1918: mustered in at Camp Lewis, American Lake in Washington state;
- December 1918: became corporal;
- October 1, 1919: officially discharged with “excellent” character.
He also served with Company M of the 12th Infantry Division and spent a couple of nights in the hospital along the way for various stomach ailments.
As part of our ongoing efforts to help the public conduct successful research, we at the National Archives at Riverside occasionally share the research methodologies of our staff, researchers, and citizen archivists. This post is part of a series of posts related to the research of one of our former archivists, Monique, into the life of a man named Loyd Sechrist. Sechrist conducted surveys of Arizona immediately after statehood for the Bureau of Land Management, and records related to his life (and death) caught Monique’s curiosity. Follow the story of Monique’s research into the history of this man here on Tumblr with the tag #Loyd Sechrist, and on our archives’ Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivesriverside.
How about a picture?
Sometimes you can do tons of research on an individual, but never know what that person looked like. If photographs of that person were ever taken, and survived, where might one go to find them?
In the case of our guy, Loyd Sechrist, one of the first places that our archivist looked was at GenWeb. This site has all kinds of information and resources related to genealogy and family history research.
Because of information she had found in his Civilian Personnel File, our archivist knew where he went to high school. This was useful because of that thing so many of us keep hidden away in an attic or closet….the high school yearbook.
**Note Loyd’s captioning information. Such a witty fellow, that Loyd.
As part of our ongoing efforts to help the public conduct successful research, we at the National Archives at Riverside occasionally share the research methodologies of our staff, researchers, and citizen archivists. This post is part of a series of posts related to the research of one of our former archivists, Monique, into the life of a man named Loyd Sechrist. Sechrist conducted surveys of Arizona immediately after statehood for the Bureau of Land Management, and records related to his life (and death) caught Monique’s curiosity. Follow the story of Monique’s research into the history of this man here on Tumblr with the tag #Loyd Sechrist, and on our archives’ Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivesriverside.
Finding a Civilian Personnel File
In her hunt for details relating to Loyd’s short life, our archivist knew to look for a Civilian Personnel File, since Loyd was a federal employee. She contacted the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis (NPRC), and they were able to locate his records. This gave her much more information about his life.
Loyd was hired by the General Land Office on 4/18/1916. This application form confirmed my findings about his graduation from Yuma County High School. It also told me that he went to the University of Colorado at Boulder after high school.
As part of our ongoing efforts to help the public conduct successful research, we at the National Archives at Riverside occasionally share the research methodologies of our staff, researchers, and citizen archivists. This post is part of a series of posts related to the research of one of our former archivists, Monique, into the life of a man named Loyd Sechrist. Sechrist conducted surveys of Arizona immediately after statehood for the Bureau of Land Management, and records related to his life (and death) caught Monique’s curiosity. Follow the story of Monique’s research into the history of this man here on Tumblr with the tag #Loyd Sechrist, and on our archives’ Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivesriverside.
Preservation Haiku Round-Up!
We asked, you delivered. For your reading pleasure, haiku* reflections on preservation and archives:
Photos of the past
maps, memories, page
held in time for all
Records saved through time
Histories’ secrets unwind
Memories to find
Stacks cold as new snow
Negatives belong here but
I need three sweaters
Ancient dust and mold
Hands covered in copper stain
but I save not kill
We preserved your heart
sugar and a cool dry place
really did the trick
Find hidden treasures
Open the dusty boxes
There lies history
*We looked this up, and apparently the plural of “haiku” is either “haiku” or “haikus.” Just FYI.
Where does one go if she wants to find a grave? Well, a good place to start might be the website Find A Grave.
Doing research on individuals often involves trying to find out information about a person’s death and burial. In the case of Loyd Sechrist, our archivist knew that he had fallen off of a cliff, but she had no idea where he was buried. Records in correspondence files related to his work as a surveyor showed that his body was to be transported, but the letters and telegrams did not indicate where the body would go.
Luckily, researchers and genealogists have a great tool—Find a Grave. Through this tool, we were able to find Loyd’s grave. He is buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, just outside Los Angeles.
As part of our ongoing efforts to help the public conduct successful research, we at the National Archives at Riverside occasionally share the research methodologies of our staff, researchers, and citizen archivists. This post is part of a series of posts related to the research of one of our former archivists, Monique, into the life of a man named Loyd Sechrist. Sechrist conducted surveys of Arizona immediately after statehood for the Bureau of Land Management, and records related to his life (and death) caught Monique’s curiosity. Follow the story of Monique’s research into the history of this man here on Tumblr with the tag #Loyd Sechrist, and on our archives’ Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivesriverside.
Can somebody please write us a preservation haiku?
Ok guys, it’s preservation awareness week. Preservation at the National Archives has people writing haiku about preservation. The National Archives at Riverside has to represent here. We want someone to come up with a good one. Here’s our (lowly) attempt:
Rolled, curled, messy maps
need humidification
flat stuff is safer
Help us out. Please! Give it a try?
