I’m pleased to announce the recent opening of a new exhibit at the National Archives Building, Power & Light: Russell Lee’s Coal Survey, which will run until July 6, 2025. The creation of the exhibit was a collaborative effort between our Museum staff and the Still Picture Branch. The exhibit features photographs from the series 245-MS, “Photographs of the Medical Survey of the Bituminous Coal Industry, 1946-1947 (National Archives Identifier 540230), which contains over 4,000 photographs, with 2,765 taken by Lee. There are currently 1,300 survey photographs in the National Archives Catalog and the Still Picture Branch is currently working to digitize the entire collection and make it accessible online. A log containing an entry for each photograph can be found at this link. To read more about the survey and Russell Lee, check out this newly posted blog by National Archives Historian Jessie Kratz.
PUBLICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS FURNISHED BY THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES STILL PICTURE BRANCH-RRSS
Generally, copies of photographic records held by the National Archives may be published without special permission or additional fees. The National Archives does not grant exclusive or non-exclusive publication privileges. Copies of Federal records, as part of the public domain, are equally available to all. A small percentage of photographs in our holdings are or may be subject to copyright restrictions. The National Archives does not confirm the copyright status of photographs but will provide any information known about said status. It is the user’s responsibility to obtain all necessary clearances. Any use of these items is made at the researcher’s or purchaser’s own risk.
Proper credit lines are encouraged in the interest of good documentation. They also help inform the public about government photographic resources that are available.
*Because so many of our requests for information cite credits and captions that appear in published works, the inclusion of a photo number in hard copy and electronic publications is of great assistance to both us and the public.
Examples of preferred credit lines are as follows:
National Archives photo no. 64-NA-6511
Credit National Archives (photo no. 127-N-A240011)
Courtesy National Archives, photo no. 210-CMA-B-2A
National Archives (111-SC-374790)