Here’s something to pass the time on this soggy Tuesday. The National Archives has launched a test version of their online public access system.

The Online Public Access prototype is the public portal that provides access to digitized records, and information about our records. It also provides a centralized means of searching multiple National Archives resources at once. Currently, researchers perform separate searches in the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) for catalog descriptions, histories and biographies; Access to Archival Databases (AAD) for electronic records; and Archives.gov. The new interface illustrates a streamlined search experience for users, searching across all of these resources.

I’ve been randomly entering locally relevant search terms.

“Honolulu” found an interview with Charlene Thornton, now Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu FBI office, describing (in part) the responsibility of the Honolulu office for counter-terrorism investigations before 9/11.

In Honolulu, they were responsible for many of the FBI’s extraterritorial investigations. They had responsibility for Asia and the Pacific Rim, including Philippines, India, and Pakistan. They had one squad which handled CT matters, and most of their work was extraterritorial in nature.

I found the index listing for a 1964 movie of some kind of explosive test being prepared on Kahoolawe (Operation Sailor Hat 1965), and references to records of the Department of Justice on Kahoolawe “trespass” dated from the 1967-1979 period, possibly just news clippings, since there’s a reference to possible copyright restrictions.

If you’re interested in a list of local movers & shakers from 1975, check the guest list for a December 7 breakfast with President Ford at Pearl Harbor.

It goes on and on.

Give it a try and let us know about your best “finds”.