As athletes and spectators across the world prepare for the 2022 Winter Olympic games in Beijing, we are weaving our way through the National Archives Catalog to bring you records related to historic Olympic Games and participants.
Join us as we celebrate athletes skiing, skating, and sledding their way to victory throughout history. Let the games begin!
Members of the 1980 US Gold Medal Olympic hockey team stand below the Olympic flame after lighting it, at Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium, during the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, 2/8/2002. National Archives Identifier 6527810
First Olympic torchbearer Sandy Norris, after her relay, stands at attention at the flame arrival ceremony. The flame, first ignited in Olympia, Greece, is carried in a series of 52 torchbearers in a 1,000-mile relay run from the base to Lake Placid, New York, to open the XIII Winter Olympics, 1/31/1980. National Archives Identifier 6344691
Major (MAJ) Lyle Nelson, Vermont Army National Guard, takes part in the biathlon competition, part of the 1988 Winter Olympics, 2/20/1988. National Archives Identifier 6437918
Vonetta Flowers, left, and World Class Athlete Specialist Jill Bakken, USA, during the medal ceremony in Salt Lake City, after winning the gold medal in women's two-man bobsled for the United States in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The team was not favored going in but ended up breaking a 46 year drought for the United States, winning the Gold and setting a track record in the process, 2/20/2002. National Archives Identifier 6527762
Captain (CPT) William White, 3245th Security Police Squadron, US Air Force, and a member of the US Bobsled Team, takes a break prior to participating in a bobsled race, part of the bobsledding competition during the 1988 Winter Olympics, 2/13/1988. National Archives Identifier 6437928
Competing in the Biathlon event, World class athlete Sergeant Kristina Sabasteanski, USA, strides her way up the opening hill, with her .22 caliber, bolt-action rifle slung on her back, during her anchor leg of the women's 4 X 7.5km Relay competition in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, 2/18/2002. National Archives Identifier 6527746
President Ronald Reagan Hitting a Hockey Puck During a White House Event for The United States Olympic Hockey Team and Washington Capitals Hockey Team in The Rose Garden, 9/29/1983. National Archives Identifier 75853011
Driver Brian Shimer and brakeman Darrin Steele of USA-2 hurtle their way down the track at the Utah Olympic Park during the Men's two-man bobsled at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, 2/16/2002. National Archives Identifier 6527733
Winter Olympics GIFs on GIPHY
Explore animated history from the holdings of the U.S. National Archives on our official Giphy channel! You can find a variety of vintage archival GIFs featuring Olympic athletes, including several from the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games.
Join us as a Citizen Archivist and help make records more searchable and findable in the Catalog!
In celebration of African American History Month, we invite you to help transcribe the fully digitized pension application file for Laura A. Douglass, Widow of Sergeant Charles R. Douglass, Company F, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and Company I, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment. Charles R. Douglass was the third son of abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman Frederick Douglass. This Civil War pension file includes records for disability pension in the decades after the war and his second wife's application for a widow's pension.
Approved Pension File for Laura A. Douglass, Widow of Sergeant Charles R. Douglass, Company F, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and Company I, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment (WC-898477). National Archives Identifier 77822504
Will you join us for this transcription challenge? Together we can transcribe all 127 pages of this approved pension file in February. Every word you transcribe helps unlock history. New to the Citizen Archivist program? Learn how to register and get started.
To learn more about the life and legacy of Frederick Douglass, we invite you to watch this recorded panel discussion in honor of the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Douglass, available on the National Archives YouTube channel.
Make History Hub your first stop! You can ask—or answer—questions on History Hub, or see if your question has already been answered.
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