I recently made my first visit to the National Archives and
Record Administration (NARA). This is one in a series of
articles inspired by that visit to help you make your first
visit to the National Archives. National Archives staff have
prepared over 160 pages of finding guides to assist researchers
with their most common records. These guides are printed on
various hues of colored paper. They can be found on a rack in
the lobby once you arrive at the Archives. While the National
Archives has decided not to put these guides online,
fortunately, the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society has decided
to fill this void. The Mount Vernon Genealogical Society is
located in the Washington, DC suburbs where society members are
lucky enough to make frequent visits to the National Archives.
Some members work there. Harold McClendon, publicity chair for
the society, says, To make these sheets available to everyone,
the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society is placing all of the
guides on its web site in PDF format. The guides