Renée Carl

I'm not anti-AI. But there is a time and a place. Doing research is not the time or place.

Working with a professional genealogist? Ask them if they generated any part of their research or the report with AI.

Why try to take down a myth by creating new ones?

The Name Change Myth 2016 was the year of Fake News. Let’s make 2017 the year that one of those fake stories finally goes away. Your family’s surname was not changed at Ellis Island.[1] You know the story. It goes some…

I could go on and on regarding the problems with this "article." Let's consider that a lot of people never set foot on Ellis Island. How did their names change? easterneuropeanmutt.com/2017/01/04/t...

The US consular officials were not at the port of embarkation in 1893 checking documents. I could go on and on. The majority of immigrants never interacted with a Board of Special Inquiry.

Passports were not required for travel in 1893, as the author states. Passports for immigrants were not required until 1917.

This article misses so many important facts, the first being that the ship manifests were written by ticket agents at the post of embarkation. No US official wrote a ship manifest.

George Washington, and the History We Keep Fighting Over The latest controversy over how to tell the story of George Washington’s involvement in slavery is the latest iteration of Americans’ centuries-long struggle to understand slavery’s place in Washingto...

For your Presidents Day weekend reading list: harpp.substack.com/p/george-was...

How an unsolved 1971 homicide led to a surprise DNA connection A detective investigating a killing stumbled onto a “case within a case,” as he called it, involving long-lost siblings who hadn’t seen each other for 62 years.

I don't know the fate of this reporter at the Post, but this story will sit with me for a long while. Gift link: wapo.st/4azZseB

fundNARA.com - Congress must fund the National Archives at the current level! The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides core government functions necessary to preserve, protect, and make accessible records from all three branches of the federal government...

Getting to $421 million was an uphill climb, and while NARA needs much more than this, the rejection of the proposed 10% funding cut is a big deal. Watch for an updated fundNARA.com in the coming weeks, because we need to roll up our sleeves for FY 2027.

These instructions are another rejection of the White House effort to decrease funding for Electronic Records initiatives at NARA by 33%.

The bill includes instructions that up to $30 million of the $421 million be used “for expenses necessary to enhance the Federal Government’s ability to electronically preserve, manage, and store Government records.”

While the amount provided for NARA’s operating budget is a 6% cut from FY2025, Congress rejected the White House’s proposal to slash NARA’s funding.

File under boring but important: On February 3, Congress passed H.R. 7148, the consolidated appropriations bill that includes funding for the National Archives and Records Administration. The bill was signed into law, allocating $421 million for NARA’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 operating budget.

Track the plows! citizeninsights.geotab.com#/dcsnowgov

Pick up truck with a plow just now.

This is for FOIAs, not the Genealogy Program. There is no such evidence of this happening with visa files coming from USCIS GP. I've received quite a few visa files recently.

This is going to get lost and people need to know about it. Props to @alcalz.bsky.social for keeping his eyes on Nightingale and what USCIS is up to.

Vintage Disappointed GIF ALT: Vintage Disappointed GIF

Doctor watching medical drama: "That detail is wrong."
Regular viewers: Interesting!

Cop watching crime drama: "That detail is wrong."
Regular viewers: Interesting!

Historian watching history drama: "That detail is wrong."
Regular viewers: It iS NoT A DoCuMeNtArY!

The online portal to the records held at the National Archives, and information about those records.

catalog.archives.gov/id/535 US Office of War Information records

Getting the Message Out The Poster Boys of World War II Summer 2005, Vol. 37, No. 2 By Robert Ellis Enlarge Through such posters as this one by the artist Holcomb, the U.S. Government urged the public to support the war effo...

www.archives.gov/publications...

Powers of Persuasion - Poster Art of World War II Background Guns, tanks, and bombs were the principal weapons of World War II, but there were other, more subtle, forms of warfare as well. Words, posters, and films waged a constant battle for the hea...

A couple more sources: www.archives.gov/education/le... (from 2016)

Propaganda created by who? Library of Congress has many examples from WWII era in its collection.

How is NARA managing with this financial rescission? How is it managing with a 14% cut in employees, while being responsible for more records than ever? Any reporters looking into this?

Now that the final numbers are out from FY 2025, it appears that NARA never received what Congress intended as its appropriation - it received nearly $25 million less.
www.usaspending.gov/agency/national-archives-and-records-administration?fy=2025

At the National Archives, a Deep Dive Into the American Story

The headline is misleading. This is not a story about the National Archives. This is a story about records displayed and interpreted at the National Archives MUSEUM. The big question is, what is happening at the National Archives?

The Quiet Export of American Historical Erasure Earlier this year, visitors to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg, noticed something missing. Two panels honoring Black American soldiers who fought and served in World War ...

American historical markers and memorials should honor all Veterans. substack.com/home/post/p-...

YouTube video by US National Archives Don't Be a Sucker

this should be required viewing in order to access the internet imo. youtu.be/vGAqYNFQdZ4?...

Not one of the 13 National Archives research facilities are open anywhere in the country. The only part of NARA not impacted by the shutdown are the Federal Records Centers.

On Tuesday, the current administration clearly demonstrated what it thinks of historical preservation. This webinar explains how the National Archives is essential to democracy, & steps we can take to ensure NARA funding.

NARA doesn't need saving - it's not a statue - it needs funding to function.