On July 29, 2024, Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan marked the anniversary of the signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on July 29, 1958. “This landmark document made it possible for the United States to pioneer space exploration!” she said on her X account. Image courtesy @AOTUS11_Shogan on X.
On July 30, Dr. Shogan posted this photograph of a World War II U.S. assembly plant with female workers working on the publicly lauded, half-mile long assembly line at a bomber plant in Detroit, Michigan. You can find more such images in our Catalog.
On July 31, Dr. Shogan posted that on this day, in 1777, 19-year-old Marquis de Lafayette was commissioned as major general in the Continental Army. 2024 marks the bicentennial of his Farewell Tour, when Lafayette visited the United States in 1824 as the last surviving major general of the American Revolutionary War. You can find out more about the Revolutionary War through primary documents in our new Road to Revolution exhibition series. Check it out today! You can also volunteer as a Citizen Archivist to help transcribe and tag the Revolutionary War pension files of our earliest veterans.
On August 1, 2024, Dr. Shogan shared the Gerald Ford Presidential Library’s new digital artifact collection display on her X account. “This is a great example how @USNatArchives is working to improve both in-person and online experiences for our visitors and users!” she said. Image is a screenshot of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Artifact Collection website.
Also on August 1, Dr. Shogan posted this photograph of Ida Wilson Lewis who was a civil servant and a lighthouse keeper who achieved international acclaim for her bravery.
On August 2, Dr. Shogan commemorated a century since the first aerial circumnavigation of the world by the U.S. Army Air Service, the precursor to the Air Force. You can read more about our aviation and military records here.
Follow Dr. Shogan on her official platform accounts: