Genealogy Series - Nat. Archives at St. Louis: 1973 NPRC Fire & Genealogical Research (2023 May 17)

2023 Genealogy Series, Session 3 of 6 - National Archives at St. Louis: Understanding the 1973 NPRC Fire and Its Impact on Genealogical Research by Eric Kilgore Eric Kilgore is an Archives Specialist from the National Archives at St. Louis ⇒ Presentation Slides/Handout: ⇒ Transcript: Request from KYR@ ⇒ Event Evaluation Form: ⇒ 2023 Genealogy Series web page: ⇒ 2023 Genealogy Series playlist: The catastrophic fire at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973 destroyed millions of military personnel records and presents a variety of challenges for researchers. This presentation will examine the fire, record losses, and common myths, and will provide guidance on how to research the records of veterans who were affected by the fire. Part of overcoming these challenges is knowing about other records that are available to supplement information lost in the fire. This presentation will highlight those record series at the National Archives at St. Louis and their usefulness for unlocking information from the past. Chapters: 00:00 - Welcome 01:39 - Introduction to The 1973 Fire at St. Louis 01:52 - Presenter biography and responsibilities 02:59 - Session Overview 03:24 - Background and history of the St. Louis Facility 06:05 - The fire and its aftermath 13:47 - The facility today 14:56 - Doing research at St. Louis 18:27 - Examples of what kinds of records to research 21:03 - The Registry and “B” files 24:52 - “R“- Reconstructed files 26:26 - Alternative Sources - VA Index Cards 28:45 - Alternative Sources - Morning Reports 32:18 - Individual Deceased Personnel Files 35:40 - Samples of personal data series at St. Louis 36:23 - More information on doing research at St. Louis 36:37 - Closing, Event Survey, Other Resources 37:44 - Questions and Answers in the chat #Genealogy #KnowYourRecords #GenieSeries2023