National Archives NARA I Orientation with Bernice Bennett

Bernice Bennett, host of the Research at the National Archives and Beyond radio show on BlogTalkRadio.com, joined me on The Forget-Me-Not Hour last week. She gave a great introduction to NARA I, also known as Archives I,  in Washington DC, telling us what to expect when you arrive, what items to bring with you (and what not to bring with you), and how to prepare for research there. As a volunteer working with Civil War pension records at the National Archives and Records Administration, Bernice has some insider information for us.

NARA I houses federal documents prior to 1900 and is an amazing place. I had never been to the research part of the building and went there in December. Bernice a gave me a personal guided tour and orientation. We spent the morning together as she showed me the ropes. I ordered my gg grandfather’s Civil War pension file, found documents that my other Civil War veteran gg grandfather wrote as a provost marshal in Missouri, saw another ancestor’s federal land BLM records as a pension for his service in the War of 1812, and looked at microfilmed documents that showed Bernice’s ancestor in the Freedman’s Bureau records.

Listen to Bernice Bennett and her wonderful National Archives orientation right here.