This week on 60 Minutes, Norah O’Donnell takes a trip into America’s past by entering the archives. The National Archives functions as the nation’s vault, preserving the priceless original documents that made America what it is, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
But beyond the founding documents that students read about in history books, the National Archives also preserves lesser-known artifacts that tell the story of America—and all of its citizens.
Among the more than two billion documents stored at the Archives’ headquarters in Washington, D.C., 60 Minutes spotted petitions from two famous American women who played prominent roles in the Civil War. As the documents show, the women later begged the U.S. government to pay them what they felt was owed.
One petition is from Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln and the first widow of an assassinated president. In 1869, she wrote to then-Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax explaining that she should receive a pension from the federal government, just as widows of Civil War soldiers did. Up until that point, no former first lady had ever received a pension.
The following year, Congress passed a law giving her a $3,000-a-year pension, setting a precedent for future first ladies who were widowed to receive an annual payment from the federal government regardless of whether their husbands died in office. Presidential widows now receive $20,000 a year, based on a 1958 federal law.
A second Civil War-era petition seen on 60 Minutes was filed by Harriet Tubman. Tubman, an abolitionist who brought enslaved people via the Underground Railroad, had served as a nurse, scout and spy for the Union Army. But more than two decades after the Civil War ended, she had to ask for help from the nation she had served.
In the petition Tubman filed with the federal pension office, she explained that she was destitute and that at age 67 she was still working odd jobs to support herself. She was, she said, in debt for necessities such as groceries and coal.
Prominent American Women in the Archives
Her request was for an increase in the meager pension she had begun receiving after her husband died. Because her husband, Nelson Davis, had served in the Civil War, Tubman was eligible for a widow’s pension. Now she was asking for compensation for the work she herself had done serving the country during the Civil War.
After Tubman and other prominent Americans sent further petitions to Congress, Congress passed a bill in 1899 to increase her pension to $20 a month, as a reward for her work as a nurse during the war.
Finding your family in the National Archives
But the pages of the National Archives don’t just tell the stories of famous Americans; they also preserve the records of ordinary citizens. In the 13.5 billion paper documents, almost anyone can find details of their own family history.
In the microfilm reading room, Norah O’Donnell spotted a name meaningful to her in the passenger manifests of the SS California: her grandmother, Mary Monaghan, who had emigrated from Belfast when she was 23. Monaghan, a seamstress with only $20 in her pocket, was planning to visit an aunt in Jersey City — information O’Donnell was learning for the first time.
Any American who wants to explore their own family history can use the National Archives. To get started, visit archives.gov , which explains how to explore the different types of genealogical sources. Think about the ways your ancestors may have interacted with the federal government, such as serving in the military, appearing on the census, or buying and selling land.
For Colleen Shogan, the archivist of the United States, making these documents accessible is a vital part of preserving the nation’s story. Whether it’s a first lady’s petition or the first stop on an immigrant’s journey to America,
“It allows the public to learn more about the history of the United States,” Shogan told 60 Minutes. “And that could be someone who wants to learn more about their personal history, their local history, their community history. It could be someone who wants to learn more about a particular era in American history or a particular president. We want to be accessible not only to professional researchers, who are very important to us, but also to the high school student.”
The video above was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and edited by Scott Rosann.
