MetaFilter posts tagged with Documents

Thomas Jefferson Papers

marxchivist — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:33:53 -0800

The Massachusetts Historical Society has a nice collection of Thomas Jefferson's papers online. It includes two catalogs of Jefferson's books, a draft of the Declaration of Independence and his Garden Book. Architectural Drawings too! I kind of like the Garden Book for some reason. Some mundane things like March 21, 1774: "Peas of Mar. 10. are up" and interesting entries like May 22, 1773: "articles for contracts with overseers." Yes, he had slaves. Here is a list of some of them. I always think Jefferson is interesting, plus I think this site is straightforward and easy to navigate, and you can download nice, big images of the manuscript pages.

the tail wagging the dog

sergeant sandwich — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:08:00 -0800

webofdeception.com is a bizarre, timecubesque linkdump maintained and updated by private investigator and domain squatter Joseph Culligan. In addition to sleazy dirt-digging on various celebrities and politicians, Culligan also includes a huge resource list of links to databases and public-record searches. My favorite part was the document archive; highlights of the weird crap he's found include:

Letter from Elvis to Nixon, asking to meet with the President and be appointed a federal agent

White House internal reaction to Elvis' request

Immigration papers of the Sound of Music family

First draft of Roosevelt's "date which will live in infamy" speech

Letter from young RFK to his brother

Enjoy!

Protection from the Atomic Bomb

jonson — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:42:44 -0800

Protection from the Atomic Bomb A 1950 pamphlet provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Pursuing Purloined Papers

amyms — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:27:38 -0800

To Catch A Thief. How a Civil War buff's chance discovery led to a sting, a raid and a victory against traffickers in stolen historical documents. Related article: Pay Dirt in Montana. And photo gallery.

Your Help Needed Reviewing JFK Related Documents

cashman — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:07:00 -0800

"Exclusive: Help us examine the lost JFK files." The Dallas Morning News has put a chunk of documents found in a vault in Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins' office online in PDF form for the public to review for notable information. "Given the volume, we haven't been able to review most of the files. That's why we are calling on you. Here's your chance to review never-seen-before materials related to the JFK assassination." Though I was able to load one of the documents at first, it will likely require registration after a few attempts. [via]. There's also a forum at the dallasnews.com site, with little activity currently (4 topics) besides some bug reports. Indeed the pdfs load sometimes and not others, often crash when you try to rotate images, and sometimes the links just don't work. But when they load it is exciting to participate in examining these items. What can you find, MeFites?

Flushing - home of mediocre baseball and Religious Freedom

ericbop — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:11:05 -0800

"“If any of these said persons come in love unto us, we cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egress and regress unto our town. For we are bound by the law of God and man to do good unto all men and evil to no man.”

Today is the 350th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance - a precursor of the Constitution, and "an iconic record of early Dutch colonial government that proclaimed the necessity of religious freedom of conscience and toleration." As this NYT Op-Ed notes, this document originated (and is currently on display) in "the most diverse neighborhood in the most diverse borough in the most diverse city on the planet."

Buzzword

blue_beetle — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 08:40:53 -0800

Buzzword is a fancy new online word processor by Adobe. (flash based)

The CIA's Family Jewels

MarshallPoe — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:20:46 -0800

In 1973 CIA director James Schlesinger asked "employees to report activities they thought might be inconsistent with the Agency’s charter." You know, illegal stuff, black ops, the works. The resulting top secret documents are called the "Family Jewels." Today they were released. Press release with link to documents.

White House may have published how-to nuke guide

XQUZYPHYR — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 06:47:30 -0800

Last March, the White House put numerous Iraqi government documents online, hoping to "leverage the internet" to find evidence of Saddam's nuclear potential. After questioning from the New York Times this week, the site has now been shut down, as it has been revealed that the Bush administration, by publishing the information, may have publicly published detailed information on how to build atomic weapons. Right-wing bloggers, many of whom have been discussing the documents all year, have seen the sunny side of the news, claiming the real issue of the potential distribution of nuclear plans (which were dated pre-1991) is the "proof Saddam had a nuclear program."

Stuff About Dead People: or, History

marxchivist — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:29:12 -0800

The Public Archives of Nova Scotia has some cool online exhibits. The original list of dead bodies recovered from the Titanic sinking caught my eye, they also have original log book pages from privateers, lighthouses, slavery and abolition, boats, boats, and more boats. [via]

Military History Online

marxchivist — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 20:01:27 -0800

Attention history geeks. The US Army Military History Institute has tons of documents online [almost all following links are .pdf]. There are lots of "staff rides" from the 1980's and 1990's, but some digging will unearth some primary documents, such as Pershing's Report on the Mexican Punitive Expedition (Oct. 1916), Sheridan's Engagements with Hostile Indians, 1868 - 1892. [mi]

"La Pistola Fumante"

kirkaracha — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 15:42:14 -0800

The Great Italian Yellowcake Scam. Three- part translation of a three- article series in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that "attempted to reconstruct the who, where and why of the manufacture and transfer to British and American intelligence of the dodgy dossier for war." [more inside]

it was rove

specialk420 — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 10:29:20 -0800

it was rove
"MSNBC Analyst Says Cooper Documents Reveal Karl Rove as Source in Plame Case"

Milestone Documents of U.S. History

marxchivist — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 15:16:41 -0800

100 Milestone Documents. High-quality viewable and downloadable documents of American History, from 1776 to 1965. Of course the usual suspects are available, but you can also see items like the Patent for the Cotton Gin (1794) and the Check for the Purchase of Alaska (1868). Also downloadable PDFs, transcripts, and background information on each document. (Warning: flash)

Uncle Sam Wants You!

furtive — Tue, 03 May 2005 15:08:13 -0800

"Recruiting has always been a difficult job, and some say the scandals that have periodically surfaced are inevitable. But the temptation to cut corners is particularly strong today..."

This little light of mine...

baltimore — Sun, 13 Mar 2005 08:10:59 -0800

So it's Sunshine Week. That's not a weather forecast, but a creation of the press to focus attention on the need for more open government. Some sites have posted How-To Guides on filing a FOIA request, a skill without which sites like this wouldn't be able to publish entertaining mugshots and court documents. My local paper has a package of articles on Sunshine Week. Anything happening in your town?

if it's on the interweb it must be true

tsarfan — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 10:58:05 -0800

The Smoking Gun is leaked the 1,903 Michael Jackson grand jury testimony. Because they're our friends, they have summarized the sealed information into three different webpages: witnesses, search. and destroy?, and topless photos (not as sexy as you might hope). And of course there are the individual transcripts broken up by witness. Isn't this leak grounds for a mistrial? And what does a lightskinned brotha have to do to get a fair trial any more?

National Security Archive

plep — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 05:11:24 -0800

George Washington University's National Security Archive carries a collection of declassified US documents and articles on Saddam Hussein; Mexico, Cuba and other Latin American countries; Nixon's meeting with Elvis; the CIA and Nazi war criminals; etc.

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest

jeffmshaw — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 13:41:25 -0800

"For 500 generations they flourished until newcomers came... much was lost; much was devalued, but much was also hidden away in the hearts of the dispossessed." Much that is now available in image and in writing at the University of Washington's "American Indians of the Pacific Northwest" Collection.

Bush's National Guard File Missing Records

Postroad — Sun, 05 Sep 2004 14:07:14 -0800

Bush's National Guard File Missing Records Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush (news - web sites)'s Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts. For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills. No such records have been made public...

Lewis and Clark Diaries?

rev- — Fri, 21 May 2004 06:13:52 -0800

Diaries of the Lewis and Clark Journey. American Journeys has a collection or primary source documents about the Lewis and Clark Journey across America, including the diary of Sergeant Charles Floyd (the only member of the expedition to die en route), Jefferson's letter to Clark where he suggests the expedition, and 63 engravings of Places and People. If you're into history, you might also want to vote on Wisconsin Turning Points, a ballot to determine the most interesting topics in Wisconsin History.

Next step, X-ray specs!

nomis — Thu, 13 May 2004 00:35:40 -0800

Opacity no match for technology! A CS grad student comes up with a technique for restoring words that have been blacked out in classified documents.

Eurodocs

hama7 — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 07:44:19 -0800

Eurodocs: Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe.

100 Documents that Shaped America

PrinceValium — Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:41:44 -0800

100 Documents that Shaped America. (Via Fark, of all places.)

Staffordshire

plep — Mon, 25 Aug 2003 12:36:56 -0800

Staffordshire Past Track. History and images of an English Midlands county : old photographs and online exhibitions on historic churches, celebrations, birth, death, serial killers and mining (and the 1984-85 strike).
Related sites :- the Museums of the Potteries, the area around Stoke-on-Trent which played a major role in the Industrial Revolution; thepotteries.org, including postcards and photographs; In Search of Agenoria, black and white photographs of the post-industrial Black Country landscape; A Miner's Son- more mining history in the Midlands (with more on the 1984-85 strike, possibly the most divisive political event in recent British history); save Bethesda Chapel, a historic Methodist chapel in Stoke; panoramic views and history of Lichfield Cathedral and other Staffordshire places.