Need advice for 1st trip to Nat Archives

[mladair]

Happy Holidays everyone!

I'm looking to get some advice for making a trip out to the National Archives sometime in the coming months. Among the sutff I'm hoping to find is information on the equipment, etc. of Battery D, 1st Michigan Light Artillery.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[dusty27]

Matt,

Contact the Archives ahead of time. You will need to have a researcher's card to access records and this may take some time. If you only have one day, this may not work.

Also, check with them about where you need to go first to get your card and to look up in the indexes the type of information you are looking for. Once you request records, it also takes some time to pull them. You may check to see if they have an online request system set up to get your records pulled ahead of time.

My advice is to get as much info as you can ahead of time from them at www.nara.gov (http://www.nara.gov) and ask for help. They are very helpful.

FYI, the research entrance is on Pennsylvania Ave side. Also, no pens allowed and bring change for copies. I think they are $.10 each.

Have fun and wave when you go in. I work across the street........

[James Brenner]

That's good advice. Also, while on the NA website, click on the Prologue link (that's their magazine) and type in "The Little Regiment" on the search engine. That's a 1995 article by Mike Musick, an archivist there, on how to research regimental histories. It will give you a good starting point. If you only have a little bit of time at the NA, I'd recommend you request the unit's muster rolls and the order books. If they're still existent, they'll keep you occupied for quite a while. Finally, if you have access to a digital camera, bring that with you - assuming it takes good images in low light settings. You'll go broke xeroxing documents otherwise.

Good luck.

[Eric Burke]

Regarding the research card, it only took me about 45 minutes to get my card, and I was in a line with about four or five other people. Perhaps the line is longer on weekdays?

[ThehosGendar]

They let you use a nice little locker to put your stuff in, too.

If you can, bring those cotton conservation gloves. I couldn't believe that I was handling original documents concerning the Medal of Honor signed by Brigadier Generals and such, and had I known I would certainly have had them.

I haven't been there in two years, but I still believe that you get a copy card to use the photocopy machine. You get to keep it as a souvenir!

Regards,
Jason Wickersty

[markj]

Hi,

Having been to NARA twice (with another trip planned for early 2004), my biggest piece of advice is STAY FOCUSED. You will likely feel like a kid in a candy store, and even a bit overwhelmed, once you realize how much is available for perusal at NARA. By the way, here's the link to the Musick article:

http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/summer_1995_the_little_regiment_appendix_b.html

If you have time, you might also want to check the bookshelves in the main reading room. Among other things I discovered some useful info in their copies of the Broadfoot Press "Supplement to the Official Records."

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[wildflower]

As a local, I have more practical suggestions...

First, take the Metro in! There are almost no parking garages nearby (typically full and costing a fortune), but the subway is very handy--you'll end up wasting less time and spending more time researching.

Second, pack a lunch...there aren't any good places to eat nearby and it is really easy to get dizzy when you get overwhelmed by all those nifty documents! You will not be allowed to eat inside (yes, they inspect bags), but it's perfectly acceptable to carry a well-packed lunch to eat outside.

Finally, come prepared! Don't waste your time doing catalog searches that you can do online. Figure out if the documents you want are actually stored at the Washington site (not everything is there). Check your local state, regional libraries and Mormon family history centers if they have copies of the microfilms you want. Use your time effectively to search for the things that are only available there.

While you are in town, you may also want to check out the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) library. It's genealogy oriented (with a rather unique cataloging system), but has some really neat, unique records. It's open to everyone for a small fee (@$5)--you don't have to be either well-descended or a woman to use it!

Good luck!

Mary Dotson

[W. K. Osman]

As a veteran of a dozen week long treasure hunts in the Archives, I can suggest a couple of things:

Contact the old army records office to see if they have any regimental books from your unit. While strictly hit or miss, these regimental and company books have been the source of individual weapon serial numbers for some units and loads of other great info on unit administration. The office has a hand written list of the number of books available for each unit of each state. Unfortunately only a portion of the books ever made it to Washington, so be sure to check your state and county repositories also.

Check the microfilm copies of the quarterly ordnance returns for your unit. These might be available by inter library loan, and I think copies are in the microfilm room at the Archives. The documents, submitted each three months, listed the arms and equipment in the hands of each battery. Record Group 156, entry 109 (Quarterly Summary Statements of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores in the Hands of Regular Army and Volunteer Artillery Regiments) is where the original records are located.

Be at the Archives door 5 minutes before opening, and make a bee line to get your researcher card. The process is fast - so long as you are there first. Then, card in hand, head to the "branch" (the old military records office) to make requests for your original documents. While you are waiting the 1 to 2 hours for these to be pulled and delivered to the central reading room, do your microfilm work. While you are in the microfilm room, you can also pull the pension record citations for any members of the unit, and place requests for their files which will also be delivered to the central reading room. On weekends you might have to wait for a reader to be available, so again, be there early!

And for food, I always packed snacks in my locker and had a bite on the way to and back from the latrine, microfilm room, etc. Not officially allowed, but certainly saves time. You'll need a quarter for the locker, but it is returned.

Happy hunting!
Stephen Osman
Historic Fort Snelling

[James A. Page]

1.) Make an outline: know exactly what you're looking for and stay on task. Its very easy to get off subject as you stumble into other subjects that might interest you.
2.) get a researchers card and buy a prepaid copier card--this is easy and can be done in a few minutes.
3.) Arrive early: winter week days are better as the crowd is smaller.
4.) Sign up for a copier early. This is a very highly souhgt after resources and you'll find people camped out to get one. When they do, they stay on it forever!
5.) Know the "pull" times. The make runs to pull records for researchers at specific intervals through the day. Know when these are and submit your requests in advance.
6.) Plan to visit a couple of days. The system takes some getting used to and you'll screw it up on the first day. Once you get the hang of it, you'll get more comfortable.
7.) Contact the staff early and develop a rapport with them. This will help you out. believe me!
8.) Have fun!

James, please set up an auto-signature in your profile to sign all your posts - Mike Chapman