The research room at the National Archives at College Park, MD, is open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Research appointments are highly encouraged, but you may also conduct research as a walk-in. Research appointments can be scheduled via Eventbrite on the National Archives DC-area Research Appointments page.

Researchers may contact Textual Consultation at [email protected] for advance consultation and Researcher Registration at [email protected] for researcher registration or research room appointment questions.

Researchers may contact the Special Media addresses listed below for advance consultation and appointment questions:

Cartographic: [email protected]

Still Pictures: [email protected]

Moving Image and Sound: [email protected]

Please see these frequently asked questions for further information about conducting in-person research at the National Archives.

Historical Research

World War I Soldiers Training

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Lee Harvey Oswald

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What's New?

Effective July 8th, 2022, select series from Record Group 241, Records of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, will be temporarily closed to prepare for relocation to the National Archives at Kansas City. Similar records are already located in the Kansas City area. The relocation will facilitate more efficient archival research and public access to these records. Learn more
U.S. Navy deck logs related to the Vietnam Era will be closed for research due to a digitization agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The following records at A2 will close on December 20th:

RG 24, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1976-78

RG 24, Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1956-75 remain closed as of the date of the issuance of this notice.

Individual deck logs will be made available for research as soon as possible after they are digitized. NARA expects the digitization to be complete in early 2020. The digitization is necessary to support the processing of claims by veterans and will also support greater public access.

If you have any questions, please contact a member of the Finding Aids Room staff.
ScanSnap is now available in Textual Research for individual use! Learn more

In the event of inclement weather:

Check our operating status, Facebook, and Twitter. Keep informed about our Washington, DC, area operating status through the OPM website, or call our status line at 301-837-0700, for an announcement indicating if we are closed, opening late, or closing early.