U.S Government Cold War-related Sites

Image result for NARA logoNational Archives and Records Administration
NARA is an independent federal agency that helps preserve our nation's history by overseeing the management of all federal records. It seeks to ensure ready access to the essential evidence that documents the rights of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience. A special NARA page on Cold War-related records is also available.

 

Image result for us department of historian logoUS State Department's Office of the Historian
The Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, is headed by William Slany. The Historian's Office publishes the official documentary history of U.S. foreign policy and provides historical research and advice for the Department of State.

            Foreign Relations of the United States 

 

Image result for presidential libraries logoPresidential Libraries
The Presidential Library system is made up of ten Presidential Libraries and one Presidential Project. These nationwide facilities are overseen by the Office of Presidential Libraries within theNational Archives and Records Administration, located in Washington, D.C. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials of Presidents since Herbert Hoover. Each Presidential library contains a museum and provides an active series of public programs.

 

Image result for us intelligence community logoThe United States Intelligence Community
The Intelligence Community is a group of 13 government agencies and organizations that carry out the intelligence activities of the United States Government. The site also contains links to Community members with sites on the internet.

 

Image result for CIA logoCentral Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency's main home page is an effort to provide insight and information to the public about the Agency and its mission.
           Recently-Released CIA Documents
           The Family Jewels Documents
           Caesar-Polo-Esau Documents
           CIA Activities in Chile
                This report by the CIA was released in response to Section 311 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, the so-called "Hinchey Amendment." It attempts to address specific questions about CIA involvement in Chile during the period 1963-1973.
           
Center for the Study of Intelligence
                The Center for the Study of Intelligence conducts research on intelligence; publishes classified and unclassified editions of the Studies in Intelligence journal as well as books, monographs and a quarterly newsletter; hosts conferences and symposia; manages the systematic declassification review of historically valuable CIA records; coordinates a number of academic outreach programs

FBI Records -- Document Vault

Library of Congress European Reading Room
In 1996 the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Library of Congress (LC) inaugurated a program to microfilm military records and inventories in former Soviet-bloc countries primarily from World War II and the early Cold War years. Projects are now underway at three institutions: the Central Military Archive (Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe) outside Warsaw, the National Defense Ministry Archives (Archivele Militarie ale Ministerului Apararii Nationale) in Bucharest, and the War History Archives (Hadtortenelmi Leveltar) in Budapest. Similar projects with the Slovak Military History Institute in Bratislava and the Russian Central Naval Archive at Gatchina near St. Petersburg are being considered.

 

Image result for u.s. army center of military historyU.S. Army Center of Military History
The Center of Military History (CMH) is responsible for the appropriate use of history throughout the U.S. Army. Traditionally, this mission meant that the Center recorded the official history of the Army in both peace and war, while advising the Army Staff on relevant historical matters. In recent times, CMH has produced detailed series on the Army's role in the Korean and Vietnam Wars and is beginning a series on the U.S. Army in the Cold War. These works, supplemented by hundreds of smaller monographs and other volumes on a wide range of military subjects of interest to the Army, have made the Center of Military History one of the major publishers of military history in the world

 

Image result for United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency logoUnited States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency existed as a separate government body from 1961 until 1999, when it was folded into the State Department. This privately maintained archive of the former ACDA contains links to arms control documents.

 

Library of Congress Soviet Archives Exhibit
The SOVIET ARCHIVE EXHIBIT is the first public display of the hitherto highly secret internal record of Soviet Communist rule. The willingness of the new Russian Archival Committee under Pikhoia to cooperate in preparing this exhibit with the Library of Congress dramatizes the break that a newly democratic Russia is attempting to make with the entire Soviet past. This exhibit illustrates both the domestic and the foreign policy of Soviet rule. 

 

Image result for nsa logoNational Security Agency
            VENONA
                  In July 1995 the Intelligence Community ended a 50-year silence regarding one of cryptology's most splendid successes - the VENONA Project. VENONA was the codename used for the U.S. Signals Intelligence effort to collect and decrypt the text of Soviet KGB and GRU messages from the 1940's. These messages provided extraordinary insight into Soviet attempts to infiltrate the highest levels of the United States Goverment. NSA has declassified over 3,000 messages related to VENONA.
             Cuban Missile Crisis
                  The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was one of the turning points of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that time the two superpowers came close to war, possibly with nuclear weapons; after it, both countries began to seek ways to adjust to each other, in particular, to prevent the use of nuclear weapons. The events of the Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated the maturity of the U.S. intelligence community, especially in its ability to collect and analyze information. The crucial roles of human intelligence (HUMINT) and photographic intelligence (PHOTINT) in the Cuban Missile Crisis have been known from the beginning. Documents declassified and released in 1998 now reveal that signals intelligence (SIGINT) also played an exceedingly important part in managing the crisis.

 

The US State Department Electronic Reading Room
The State Department's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room features frequently-requested declassified documents, points of reference for State Department records and information access, and other helpful links to sites with State Department materials

 

 

The Vietnam War Declassification Project
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh and Saigon, the staff of the Gerald R. Ford Library reviewed for possible declassification nearly 40,000 pages of National Security Adviser files.

 

The Hanssen Affidavit 
The FBI "Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint, Arrest Warrant, and Search Warrants" in the investigation of Russian counterspy Robert Hanssen. 

 

Image result for OSTI OPENNET LOGOOSTI OpenNet
The Department of Energy is committed to openness. In support of that commitment, we have developed OpenNet to provide easy, timely access to recently declassified information, including information declassified in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. This database will be updated regularly as more information becomes available.

 

U.S. Department of Justice FOIA Reference Materials
This site contains information and links pertaining to U.S. Department of Justice materials released under the auspices of the Freedom of Information Act.