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From: Walter Hill <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Special issue of Prologue, on African American Historical Research 
 
The summer issue of Prologue, Quarterly of the National Archives, has as 
its theme "The Impact of Federal Records on African American Historical 
Research."  The issue is scheduled for release in mid-June 1997. 
Established in 1934, the National Archives and Records Administration 
(NARA) is the depository for the permanently valuable records of the 
Federal Government.  NARA holdings consist of records that extends from 
colonial times to the present.  While the records are arrange according to 
the filing schemes of the individual government agencies,  they contain 
valuable subject matter histories.  The staff of the National Archives have 
created finding aids and guides to these records.   Five broad categories 
of National Archives contain information on African Americans: civil, 
military, legislative, judicial, and Presidential.  The records are in 
textual(paper) and non-textual (photos, film, video, maps, electronic) 
format.  Researchers visiting the National Archives come from a variety of 
backgrounds, and the largest constituency group are genealogists. 
 
Prologue, Quarterly of the National Archives, is the journal devoted to 
promoting the records of the National Archives.  Writers who are interested 
in historical subjects, and who have used the records of the National 
Archives publish essays in the journal.  Prologue was established in 1969 
to inform the American people, especially those interested in the history 
of the Nation, of the valuable records of the National Archives.   Volume 
29, Number 2, Summer 1997, will be a special issue devoted to African 
American historical research. While past issues have contained over thirty 
full-length essays on African Americans, and numerous references to records 
relative to African Americans, this will be the first issue exclusively 
devoted to discussing Federal records and African Americans. 
 
This issue pursued the theme "The Impact of Federal Records on African 
American Historical Research" for several reasons.  The history of the 
relationship between African American and the Federal government is unique. 
 Federal records contain an enormous amount of documents that are extremely 
important in the researching and writing of African-American history.  They 
have broaden the parameters for historical research, they enhance research 
in non-federal sources.  This special edition of Prologue hopes to: further 
establish the usefulness of Federal records, and why they continue to be an 
important source for history; meet the needs of scholars and other 
researchers by identifying and improving access to records that are useful 
for explorations of Afro-American history; and inform NARA's constituents, 
libraries, universities, archival repositories, and the American public 
that Federal records document the relationship of African Americans and the 
Federal Government from colonial times to modern times.  The issue will 
cover Civil War and Reconstruction, labor issues, Civil Rights, Pictorial 
Histories of African Americans, research aids, and genealogy.  The sixteen 
essays written by NARA archival staff members and scholars all will enhance 
our knowledge of Federal records and Afro-American history. 
 
To find out more information about the issue and to order it, please 
contact: 
 
           http://www.nara.gov./exhall//prologue/prologue.html 
 
Walter B. Hill, Jr. 
Senior Archivist 
Subject Area Specialist in Afro-American History and Federal records 
<[log in to unmask]> 
 
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