In the Stacks: The National Archives

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the repository for the documents and materials of the federal government. They only retain about 1-3% of all the material produced by the government but as you can imagine there is some amazing stuff within those walls and, as is the case with all past libraries / collections / archives featured on In The Stacks, one visit is never enough.

Poster:  "In a War-Torn World, Let Good Books Help You", 1941 - 1945

Last week the National Archives announced that they have  teamed with five other national archives and five national and international research organizations to launch a new international online research portal for records related to Nazi-era cultural property.

Here are a couple of related images, just in time for tomorrow's 78th anniversary of the infamous Nazi book burnings.

 

Thousands of books smoulder in a huge bonfire as Germans give the Nazi salute during the wave of book-burnings that spread throughout Germany. International News Photos., 1933

In the cellar of the Race Institute in Frankfurt, Germany, Chaplain Samuel Blinder examines one of hundreds of "Saphor Torahs" (Sacred Scrolls), among the books stolen from every occupied country in Europe, 1945.

and on a lighter note:

Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Just Read!

Enlisted men reading on edge of elevator aboard USS Lexington, 1943

 

Taos County, New Mexico. Children line up for books when Taos County project bookmobile visits school, 1941

Previously on In the Stacks:

Columbia University, From Homer to Howl

Private Libraries at the Museum of the City of New York

Los Angeles Public Library

Boston Public Library

All images and descriptions courtesy of The National Archives.