The box given to Brand contained records from the Dutch East India Company.

Cool Finds

Stolen Historic Documents Surface in Attic—Ten Years After an Employee Used Them as Collateral to Borrow Money

The thief likely took the trove when he worked for the Dutch National Archives in 2015. Recently, someone found them in storage and contacted art detective Arthur Brand

The National Archives Museum is undergoing a $40 million renovation.

America's 250th Anniversary

The National Archives Museum Is Using A.I. to Take Visitors on an Immersive Journey Through American History

Called “The American Story,” the new permanent exhibition will guide museumgoers through two million historic documents and artifacts

Tony Schwartz recording audio outdoors

When Midcentury New York Spoke, This Sound Archivist Listened—and Recorded Every Word

Armed with a tape recorder and open ears, Tony Schwartz turned everyday noise into lasting art. Now, his recordings live on at Smithsonian Folkways, where they continue to inspire new ways of listening to, remembering and understanding the world

Sarah Grandmother’s Knife, Apsáalooke (Crow), age 10, wearing an elk-tooth dress and sticking out her tongue playfully in Montana, 1910

See the Stunning Archival Photographs That Tell the Stories of Everyday Native Life and Communities

The Archive Center at the National Museum of the American Indian presents a new exhibition that can help “interrupt the romanticized, stereotypical images often shared of Native peoples throughout history”

Historian David Carpenter examines the digitized document.

Cool Finds

Harvard Bought This Stained Copy of the Magna Carta for $27.50. It Turned Out to Be an Original

Issued by Edward I in 1300, this version of the historic text is one of only seven known surviving copies. It’s been hiding in plain sight in Harvard Law School’s library since 1946

Roughly 230 film reels have been found in storage.

Cool Finds

London Zoo Discovers Hundreds of Old Film Reels Featuring ‘Zoo Oddities’ and Animal Celebrities

Zoo officials are looking for experts to help preserve and digitize the decaying film canisters, which date to between the 1960s and 1990s

Robert Caro, seen here in 1990, worked on a novel based on his time as a newspaperman.

We Rediscovered Robert Caro’s Abandoned Novel About an Intrepid Journalist Buried in His Archives

A deep dive into the legendary biographer’s papers leads to the surprising revelation of a work he has all but forgotten

Portrait of a Gentleman, His Daughter and a Servant at the Musée de la Chartreuse in Douai, France

Cool Finds

Expert Rediscovers Painting by Renaissance Master Lavinia Fontana, One of the First Professional Female Artists

The artwork had been hiding in plain sight in the archives of a provincial museum in France, where it will eventually go on permanent display

In the film, Lincoln agonizes over signing an execution warrant for a deserter.

Cool Finds

Intern Finds Only Known Surviving Copy of ‘The Heart of Lincoln,’ a Silent Film Thought to Be Lost to History

Released in 1915, the film was directed by Francis Ford, the brother of famed filmmaker John Ford. It had been listed in a record of 7,200 silent films classified as “lost”

Caro and Ina at home in New York. The couple shares a passion for the past. Ina studied French history and wrote two books on the subject. 

Rifling Through the Archives With Legendary Historian Robert Caro

Reams of papers, revealing how the scholar came to write his iconic biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson, are preserved forever in New York. But his work is far from over

A Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant application submitted by James Lambert

Can You Read This Cursive Handwriting? The National Archives Wants Your Help

Anyone with an internet connection can volunteer to transcribe historical documents and help make the archives’ digital catalog more accessible

The Eaton Fire has devastated the community of Altadena.

Music History and Contemporary Art Destroyed in the Deadly Los Angeles Wildfires

An archive of scores by composer Arnold Schoenberg and the collections of countless contemporary artists have been lost in the blaze

People suspected of collaborating with the Nazis were rounded up after American troops liberated the Dutch town of Nijmegen at the end of World War II.

The Netherlands Has Published a List of 425,000 Suspected Nazi Collaborators

In the past, the names could only be viewed in person. But due to expiring access restrictions, they’re now available to anyone with an internet connection

A collection of Nokia mobile handsets, including unseen prototypes

If You’re Nostalgic for Nokia, See the Devices That Defined ’90s Cellphone Design in a New Online Archive

The iconic brand’s mobile phones were pop culture mainstays. Soon, a new online archive will bring together thousands of documents, early models and design concepts

Experts have found that the manuscript's paper and ink are consistent with the materials Chopin was using at the time.

Cool Finds

You Can Listen to a Lost Chopin Waltz That Hasn’t Been Heard for Nearly Two Centuries

The one-minute composition, which dates to the 1830s, was found on a piece of paper about the size of an index card at a museum in New York City

Brian Cleary poses with a newly published copy of Bram Stoker's "Gibbet Hill," illustrated by Irish artist Paul McKinley.

Cool Finds

Amateur Historian Discovers Lost Story by ‘Dracula’ Author Bram Stoker Hiding in Plain Sight at a Dublin Library

History forgot about “Gibbet Hill” for more than a century—until a fan of the Gothic horror writer stumbled upon the haunting tale at the National Library of Ireland

Born in 1881 in Spain, Pablo Picasso spent most of his life in Paris, where he helped develop Cubism with French painter Georges Braque.

You Can Now See Thousands of Pablo Picasso’s Works in a New Online Archive

The Picasso Museum in Paris has released a digital portal featuring the Spanish painter and sculptor’s art

The original publication of "Tee-Oodle-Um-Bum-Bo," a song from La, La, Lucille

Cool Finds

A Lost Gershwin Musical Has Been Found Nearly 100 Years After It Was Last Performed

A researcher found a box containing 800 pages from the composer’s first musical, “La, La, Lucille”

Abraham Lincoln pardoned Moses J. Robinette on September 1, 1864.

Abraham Lincoln Pardoned Joe Biden’s Great-Great-Grandfather, 160-Year-Old Records Reveal

Historian David J. Gerleman discovered the link between the two presidents while reviewing historic documents at the National Archives

Battle of Cable Street (1976–1983) by Desmond Rochfort, Dave Binnington, Paul Butler and Ray Walker in St. George's Park in London

A New Digital Archive Will Preserve Stunning Murals and Street Art in the U.K.

Art U.K. is aiming to digitize and compile images of an ephemeral form of art

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