National Archives Road Trip
The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience brought ten students on a road trip to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Students took part in an all-day workshop on how to conduct research in federal records, taught by Archives staff and professional historians. Students and faculty from the University of Maryland, George Washington University, American University, and other institutions also participated in the event, which was organized by the Society for History in the Federal Government.
The day concluded with a private tour of the National Archives’ “treasure vault,” where students got up-close looks at some incredible documents that are not usually on display … including George Washington’s handwritten nomination of his first cabinet, James Madison’s draft of the Bill of Rights, Abraham Lincoln’s letter appointing Ulysses S. Grant to command the Union armies, FDR’s “day that will live in infamy” speech, and the original briefcase from the Watergate burglary.
The day concluded with a private tour of the National Archives’ “treasure vault,” where students got up-close looks at some incredible documents that are not usually on display … including George Washington’s handwritten nomination of his first cabinet, James Madison’s draft of the Bill of Rights, Abraham Lincoln’s letter appointing Ulysses S. Grant to command the Union armies, FDR’s “day that will live in infamy” speech, and the original briefcase from the Watergate burglary.
National Archives: Federal Records Workshop

The trip to DC was delayed for a couple of hours due to several inches of snow – but the intrepid historians were not deterred.
