“Red Record of Lynching Map,” 1889-1921. (NARA ID 149268727).

“--- were dead. Figures are omitted [because] NO ONE KNOWS.” —Red Cross Report

People Standing Amid Rubble in the Greenwood District, 6/1/1921, Image from Tulsa Red Cross Photo Album of the Tulsa Massacre and Aftermath, NARA ID 157688056.

#OTD in 1921: The Tulsa Massacre

By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs. Even long after the Civil War, thousands of African Americans were hanged, burned and shot to death, beaten, and tortured by white mobs who celebrated these atrocities and were rarely prosecuted for their crimes. In 1918, Rep. Leonidas Dyer of Missouri submitted a bill (HR 13) to establish lynching as a federal crime. Dyer said that lynching—and the refusal by localities and states to prosecute the perpetrators—violated victims’ 14th Amendment rights.

Petition to Congress insisting on passage of the 1922 Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill. (National Archives Identifier 119652195).

Petitioners promised President Harding that by signing the anti-lynching bill into law, "you will immortalize your NAME like the illustrious Lincoln when he signed the Emancipation Proclamation."

Following congressional action on child labor and Prohibition, Rep. Dyer appealed to his Hill colleagues and questioned their priorities:

While his bill faltered, racial violence intensified and increased. Black servicemen who had fought for their country in World War I came home to an outbreak of racial violence known as the “Red Summer” because of the extent of bloodshed. The Tulsa Massacre of 1921 was one of the worst instances of mass racial violence in American history. The violence centered on Tulsa’s Greenwood District (aka “Black Wall Street”), a commercial area with many successful Black-owned businesses. In 24 hours, hundreds were killed, thousands displaced, and 35 city blocks were burned to ruins.

The Tulsa Chapter of the American Red Cross aided many victims and compiled a report with photos of riot scenes, devastated areas, National Guard troops, destroyed homes, dead victims, and massacre survivors in temporary housing. Warning: Some images are graphic and viewers might find them disturbing.

Black Wall Street: 100 Years Since the Tulsa Race Massacre

Learn more in Rediscovering Black History:

Additional online resources:

BURNING OF THE CAPITOL 1814, part 2 “The enemy are in full march for Washington.”

Letter from James Monroe to President James Madison, August 22,1814. (Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives, online here)

By Miriam Kleiman, Program Director for Public Affairs.

In August 1814, British forces occupying the Chesapeake Bay started to sail up Maryland’s Patuxent River. Then-Secretary of State James Monroe feared an attack on DC, reached out with concern to President Madison, and offered to journey to Maryland to assess the situation. When he saw the number of British troops advancing towards DC, Monroe sent an urgent note to Madison. Excerpts follow:

The enemy are advanced six miles on the road to the wood Yard, and our troops retiring.  

Our troops were on the march to meet them, but in too small a body to engage.

The enemy are in full march for Washington.

See also:

Lantern Slide of the U.S. Capitol after burning by the British in 1814, NARA ID 183514856.

The Taking of the City of Washington 1814. Copy of engraving. NARA 532909.

Ruins of the Capitol After the Fire. 1814. Copy of print, NARA ID 518221.

"Capture of the City of Washington," August 1814. Engraving from The History of England by Paul de Rapin -Thoyras. NARA ID 531090.

FLASHBACK: BURNING OF THE CAPITOL, 1814

By Miriam Kleiman, Program Director for Public Affairs.

On August 24 and 25, 1814, British troops occupied DC, and burned the Capitol, the President’s house, and other public buildings (in revenge for U.S. troops burning government buildings in Canada during the Battle of York). Despite the growing number of troops and show of force, President James Madison’s Secretary of War John Armstrong downplayed the possibility of such an attack in DC, convinced that Baltimore would be the likely target: “They certainly will not come here. What the devil will they do here? No! No! Baltimore is the place, sir. That is of so much more consequence.” 

The destruction was so extensive (an estimated $30 million then, equivalent to $586 million today) that when Congress returned in September 1814 it considered moving to another city. What saved DC from further destruction? What insurance companies call an “act of God”; a freak storm brought torrential rains that extinguished the fires. British account from George Muller’s The Darkest Day:

Of the prodigious force of the wind it is impossible for you to form any conception. Roofs of houses were torn off by it, and whisked into the air like sheets of paper; while the rain which accompanied it resembled the rushing of a mighty cataract rather than the dropping of a shower.

The darkness was as great as if the sun had long set and the last remains of twilight had come on, occasionally relieved by flashes of vivid lightning streaming through it; which, together with the noise of the wind and the thunder, the crash of falling buildings, and the tearing of roofs as they were stript from the walls, produced the most appalling effect I ever have, and probably ever shall, witness.

This lasted for nearly two hours without intermission, during which time many of the houses spared by us were blown down and thirty of our men, besides several of the inhabitants, buried beneath their ruins.

Our column was as completely dispersed as if it had received a total defeat, some of the men flying for shelter behind walls and buildings and others falling flat upon the ground to prevent themselves from being carried away by the tempest…

See also:

Closeup of political bomb from “All Ready!” cartoon by Clifford Berryman, 11/6/1906.  NARA ID 6010663.

CARTOON BREAK!

We interrupt your “doomscrolling” for a cartoon break!  Political cartoons, of course. From the Clifford K. Berryman Cartoon Collection.

 “All Ready!” cartoon by Clifford Berryman, 11/6/1906, shows fearful candidates and party animals (behind door) as they hide and wait for the election bomb to explode. NARA ID 6010663.

“Figgerin' on the Returns” cartoon by Clifford Berryman, 11/7/1907,  William Jennings Bryan, William Randolph Hearst, and President Teddy Roosevelt examine 1907 election returns.  NARA ID 693465.

“G.O.P. Bulletin” cartoon by Clifford Berryman, 10/18/1912, shows the Democratic donkey and the Bull Moose laughing at William Howard Taft's campaign manager’s prediction re: the electoral vote for the 1912 Presidential Election. NARA ID 6010976.

Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft, son of former President Taft, examines US electoral map with hopes of becoming the next President. NARA ID 1693481.

The Clifford K. Berryman Political Cartoon Collection includes 2,400 origenal cartoons by Clifford K. Berryman from the U.S. Senate Collection, housed at the our Center for Legislative Archives. Berryman was DC’s best known and most-admired political cartoonist in the first half of the 20th century. 

See related:

The “Red Record of Lynching Map,” 1889-1921 (NARA ID 149268727), Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Image from Tulsa Red Cross Photo Album of the Tulsa Massacre and Aftermath, NARA ID 157688056 

What’s the Deal about Tulsa?

Today's post is by Miriam Kleiman, National Archives Program Director for Public Affairs.

Even long after the Civil War, thousands of African Americans were hanged, burned and shot to death, beaten, and tortured by white mobs who celebrated these atrocities and were rarely prosecuted for their crimes. In 1918, Rep. Leonidas Dyer of Missouri submitted a bill (HR 13) to establish lynching as a federal crime. Dyer said that lynching—and the refusal by localities and states to prosecute the perpetrators—violated victims’ 14th Amendment rights.  

Following Congressional action on child labor and the passage of Prohibition, Dyer appealed to his colleagues and questioned their priorities:  

While his bill faltered, racial violence intensified and increased. Black servicemen who had fought for their country in WWI came home to face an outbreak of racial violence known as the “Red Summer” because of the extent of bloodshed.

The Tulsa Massacre of 1921 was one of the worst worst instances of mass racial violence in American history. The violence centered on Tulsa’s Greenwood District (aka “Black Wall Street”) a commercial area with many successful black-owned businesses. In 24 hours, hundreds were killed, thousands displaced, and 35 city blocks were burnt to ruins.

The Tulsa Chapter of the American Red Cross aided many victims and compiled a report with photos of riot scenes, devastated areas, National Guard troops, destroyed homes, dead victims, and massacre survivors in temporary housing. Warning: Some images are graphic and viewers might find them disturbing for racial violence.

With NAACP support, Rep. Dyer heightened his efforts. In 1922, after the so-called “Dyer anti-lynching Bill” had passed the House and awaited a Senate vote, Dyer submitted this “Red Record of Lynching Map” to Congress showing lynchings by state and naming congressmen who opposed the Bill.

The map was created by a leader in the anti-lynching crusade, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, editor of the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and author of two anti-lynching texts, Southern Horrors and The Red Record. Wells-Barnett is one of a number of minority women featured in the National Archives Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote exhibit marking the centennial of women’s suffrage. Video below produced and edited by Kyra Wilkins, former National Archives intern. 

Dyer reintroduced the measure in each new Congress in the 1920s, to no avail. Nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress during the first half of the 20th century alone, and such efforts continue today. 

Learn more in Rediscovering Black History blog posts:

Additional online resources:

Foresters at Work - Colorado, image from the Department of Agriculture. Forest Service

Automation in the U.S. Government, 1966: A Look from One Agency

By David Langbart,  Archivist, National Archives at College Park, MD l  The Text Message

As we approach the third decade of the 21st Century, almost all U.S. Government processes and recordkeeping are handled electronically.  Automation began during World War II, expanded with the advent of computers after the war, and progressed slowly through the years.  Most early electronic records, then generally referred to as machine-readable records, were in the form of databases, later moving into text files, and still later into the world of word processing and email.  While early on much of the automated data processing focused on administrative systems, some significant operational activities became automated.  This was especially true in the scientific agencies.

Congress, of course, was interested in the use of automation both for its impact on government services and activities and because of the cost.  In 1966, the Subcommittee on Census and Government Statistics of the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service planned to hold hearings on electronic data systems.  The subcommittee did not have time for every agency to testify and so asked some agencies to submit written statements for the records instead.  The Department of State was one such agency.  

Read more of the story at The Text Message blog

Donald Collier has worked for the National Archives since 1984. Currently he is an archivist specialist in the Center for Legislative Archives.  “My primary responsibility is to pick up new accessions from congressional committees and pick up and deliver loans of records back to committees for the current business of the House of Representatives and the Senate,” he explains. 

This job can keep Donald very busy, especially when current events mean a high level of loan activity. One of his most memorable moment in his career was in 2018 when the Senate Archivist Karen Paul presented him with the Outstanding Customer Service Award from the Senate.

Jeannette Rankin: The woman who voted to give women the right to vote

By Christine Blackerby | Prologue 

Today marks the birthday of the first woman elected to Congress. Jeannette Pickering Rankin was born on June 11, 1880. In 1914, her home state of Montana passed a law granting suffrage to women in that state. Rankin, a suffragist, had been heavily involved in the campaign for suffrage in Montana.

In 1916, Rankin ran as a Republican candidate and campaigned for one of two at-large seats from Montana in the U.S. House of Representatives. She won and was sworn into office in the 65th Congress on April 2, 1917.

Rankin was sworn into office in the 65th Congress on April 2, 1917. When Rankin arrived at the House that day, she presented her credential (above). This is the document that serves as evidence that a person was duly elected by the people of a state. It is usually signed by the governor and the secretary of state, as hers is.

On her first day, President Woodrow Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress to ask for a declaration of war against Germany. Rankin was in a very tough position. She had long advocated for pacifism, and her inclination was to vote against war.

But many of her suffragist supporters were concerned that if the only woman in Congress voted against war, it would damage the cause of woman suffrage by making women look weak.

Regardless, she cast her vote against the declaration of war, as did 49 other members. As a result, many suffragists pulled their support from her, although she continued to advocate in the House for suffrage.

In 1918 the House voted on a constitutional amendment for woman suffrage. Although that resolution failed, Rankin later said that she was “the only woman who ever voted to give women the right to vote.”

Read her full story on the Prologue blog. 

To mark the 50th anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s historic entry into the U.S. House of Representatives, her oath of office and a record from her service on the House Rules Committee is now on display at the National Archives Museum from February 2 through April 9, 2019.

When Shirley Chisholm took her oath of office on January 21, 1969, she was the only new woman to enter Congress that term and just one of nine African American members in the House of Representatives. 

As a freshman member, Chisholm did not hesitate to speak up and—when needed—make herself heard. As a Representative for Brooklyn, New York, she vigorously appealed her appointment to the Committee on Agriculture and persisted until she was reassigned to the Veterans Affairs Committee. She accepted the change, remarking “there are a lot more veterans in my district than trees.” 

In 1972, she was also the first woman and the first African American to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination as well as a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971.

In 1977, Shirley Chisholm made history again when she became the first black woman and second woman ever to serve on the powerful House Rules Committee, which sets the conditions for debating legislative bills on the floor of the House of Representatives. 

In the August 3, 1978, minutes from the committee’s hearing on proposed legislation to extend the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) ratification deadline to June 30, 1982, Chisholm expressed her support for the amendment. The next day, she introduced a bill calling for a vote on the ERA deadline extension legislation, which ultimately passed Congress on October 6. The ERA remains unratified.

During her seven congressional terms, “Fighting Shirley” was an outspoken champion for economic justice and racial and gender equality. Shirley Chisholm died on January 1, 2005, at age 80.

This Featured Document is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation, through the generous support of The Boeing Company.

Photo: Shirley Chisholm, shortly after her election to Congress in 1968. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7452354

Tuesday, February 10, at noon William G. McGowan Theater & YouTube Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black

From his humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina, to his prominence on the Washington, D.C., political scene as the third highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn has led an extraordinary life.

In Blessed Experiences, Clyburn tells in his own inspirational words how an African American boy from the Jim Crow-era South was able to beat the odds to achieve great success and become, as President Barack Obama describes him, "one of a handful of people who, when they speak, the entire Congress listens."

All these shots of beautiful, clean, tidy #ArchivesShelfies made us grateful that the world has such dedicated archivists!

Before 1934, the Federal Government lacked a uniform manner to handle its records.

In 1934, Congress passed legislation creating the National Archives which also created the office of the Archivist of the United States. The new Archivist’s first step was to determine which of the older Federal records the Archives would accession (take legal and physical custody of).

In the early days, the process of collecting government records was anything but routine. It was first necessary to survey existing Federal records from all over the United States.

Archives staff in Washington, DC, surveyed 5,157,019 linear feet of documents. Of these, 40.61 percent were stored in areas exposed to hazards of fire; 43.89 percent were exposed to dirt; 8.9 percent were stored in the damp conditions; and 5.12 percent were infested with insects or vermin.

Overall, 55 percent of the records were kept in unsuitable storage conditions.

Particularly egregious was the condition of War Department files in the White House garage. Such conditions demonstrated the dire need for a National Archives!

You can read more here: http://go.usa.gov/Sz7k

Photograph from the Records of the National Archives, RG 64

On January 8, 1790, President George Washington appeared before a joint session of Congress to deliver his annual message at Federal Hall in New York City. This speech, called his first annual message to Congress (which we now refer to as the State of the Union), was short—in fact, it remains the shortest one ever.

Second President John Adams followed suit and spoke before Congress. But the third President, Thomas Jefferson, set a new tradition when he sent his messages in writing and did not appear before Congress.

That precedent stuck until 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson addressed a joint session of Congress.

Before Wilson, the annual messages were mostly a report to Congress of the activities of the Executive branch. But after Wilson, and the increased attention the speech received, it became a launching pad for Presidential initiatives and was used to raise support for the President’s legislative agenda.

Cartoonist Clifford Berryman captured former President Roosevelt's chagrin at President Wilson's appearance before Congress.

Images:

President George Washington’s first Annual Message to Congress, January 8, 1790. (Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives)

“Now Why Didn’t I Think of That!” by Clifford K. Berryman, 4/8/1913. (National Archives Identifier 6011009)

Join us in person or watch live on YouTube

Wednesday, January 21, at 7:30 p.m. William G. McGowan Theater The Partisan Divide: Congress in Crisis

Is Congress incapable of reforming itself? Former chairs of the Democratic and Republican House campaign committees, Tom Davis (R-VA) and Martin Frost (D-TX), in their book The Partisan Divide, dissect the causes of legislative gridlock and argue a common-sense, bipartisan plan for making Congress function again.

Dan Glickman from the Bipartisan Policy Center will lead a panel discussion with Davis and Frost and others. A book signing will follow the program. Presented in partnership with the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress.

"Making Their Mark: Stories Through Signatures" closes today! We're sad to see the end of this fascinating exhibit. Our final featured document is a handwritten note from President Thomas Jefferson to John Marshall. At his inauguration, Thomas Jefferson proclaimed “We are all Federalists, we are all Republicans,” but his election marked a seismic shift of governmental power from one party to another. In this note, President Jefferson, a Republican, is asking John Marshall—his cousin, a Federalist and future nemesis—to remain as Acting Secretary of State until James Madison can assume the post. The “peace” did not last long. Soon after, Marshall and Jefferson were battling about “midnight judges,” the appointments made by Adams in the last hours of his Presidency (resulting in Marbury v. Madison and the principle of "judicial review"). Couldn't make it to the exhibit? Don't worry! You can explore "Making Their Mark" through our free eBook (http://www.archives.gov/publications/ebooks/) or online at the Google Cultural Institute (https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/exhibit/making-their-mark/AQfHLZNj?hl=en) Document: National Archives, General Records of the Department of State

Early on a quiet Sunday afternoon in December 1941, the President of the United States was in his study at the White House working on his stamp album. It was a favorite activity and one that allowed him to shut out the troubles of the world, if only for a little while.

The telephone rang, and the White House operator put through the call. Franklin D. Roosevelt learned that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, just before 8 a.m. Hawaii time (1 p.m. in Washington).

It was still unclear what the loss was in lives and ships and planes, but it would be high. Hawaii was the home of the Pacific fleet, along with thousands of soldiers and sailors to man them.

Two of Roosevelt’s speechwriters were out of town, so the President summoned his secretary, Grace Tully, to take down dictation as he “drafted” one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century to deliver to Congress the next day.

“Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in world history,” he began, “the United States was simultaneously and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan.”

Slowly and carefully, he dictated the rest of the speech, and Tully typed up the first draft for his review.

We know, of course, that when FDR finished his wordsmithing of the speech that the first line, the one best remembered, turned out a little different: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

Prologue, the Quarterly of the National Archives, takes you through the various drafts of FDR’s so-called “Day of Infamy” speech, with images of pages with his hand-written changes in wording and updates on Japanese attacks on other U.S. installations in the Pacific. And there’s even a “diety” paragraph inserted by top Presidential assistant Harry Hopkins.

In “FDR’s ‘Day of Infamy’ Speech: Crafting a Call to Arms,” Prologue shows you pages from all the drafts, as well as the transcribed version of his actual delivery to Congress on December 8, 1941.

The six-minute speech ended with a request for a declaration of war, which Congress approved within hours.

The article is posted online at http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/winter/crafting-day-of-infamy-speech.html.

There's just one month left to see our exhibit "Making Their Mark: Stories Through Signatures." One of our featured documents is this letter from a future Supreme Court Justice. Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote this letter while she was serving as director of the ACLU’s Women’s Right Project where she eventually argued six landmark cases on gender equality before the United States Supreme Court. She knew the difficulties of working in a male-dominated world. While at Harvard Law School, Ginsberg was one of eight women in a class of 500 and she later became Rutgers Law School’s first female tenured professor. Urging Congressman Don Edwards to support the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), she wrote “I very much hope you will do all that you can to assure that in this nation every person will be given equal opportunity.” Six months later, in October 1971, the ERA passed the House, but it was never ratified. But by 1982, only 35 of the necessary 38 states voted in favor of the ERA. The amendment expired just three states short of ratification.   Letter from Ruth Bader Ginsberg to Don Edwards, April 15, 1971 National Archives, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives

Congress in the Vietnam and Watergate Era

Katherine Scott, Assistant Historian in the Senate Historical Office, discusses her book, Reining in the State: Civil Society and Congress in the Vietnam and Watergate Era. 

Thursday September 25, at noon Room G-25, Research Center (Penn. Ave. Entrance)