Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD.

The National Archives is pleased to announce that additional records of the Department of State have been digitized and are now available online through the National Archives Catalog.  An earlier post described the microfilm digitization project and the first foreign affairs records made available through it.

The records being digitized as part of this effort consist largely of the various series of records that constitute the Department’s central files for the period from 1789 to 1906.  The Department’s central files for those years are divided into three main categories, each of which is arranged in multiple series as follows.  Series in purple are already online; the series in green is discussed herein; series in red have yet to be uploaded.  Future blog posts will alert researchers as additional series of records are digitized and made available online.

• Diplomatic Correspondence
  • Diplomatic Instructions
  • Despatches
  • Notes to Foreign Missions
  • Notes from Foreign Missions
• Consular Correspondence
  • Consular Instructions
  • Despatches
  • Notes to Foreign Consuls
  • Notes from Foreign Consuls
• Miscellaneous Correspondence
  • Domestic Letters (Letters Sent)
  • Miscellaneous Letters (Letters Received)