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75th Anniversary of the First Veterans Day Celebration and Free Access to Fold3® on Veterans Day Weekend

Following WWI, the United States commemorated November 11th as Armistice Day. The date was significant since WWI fighting ended on November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour, 11th month, 11th day). However, in 1947, a WWII veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, was the driving force in his community to organize this country’s first Veterans Day celebration. Raymond…

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Reconstructing the Past: The National Personnel Record Center Fire of 1973

This month we welcome a special guest contributor to the Fold3 blog. Michael Strauss is an Accredited Genealogist and works at Ancestry ProGenealogists®. On July 12, 1973, a catastrophic fire broke out in the National Personnel Record Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri. This facility housed the United States military personnel files. The fire broke…

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World War I Hello Girls

During WWI, the United States War Department hired female switchboard operators to accompany the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe. These women had to be fluent in French and English and preferably have previous switchboard experience. Their job was to connect important calls, translate information, and communicate command orders. They were known as “Hello Girls” and…

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