Here in St. Louis, we are lucky to have a branch of the National Archives, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). This massive building houses military personnel records, as well as federal civilian personnel records and Selective Service records.
When I attended the National Genealogical Society’s annual meeting in St. Charles, Missouri, in May, I attended a talk by the NPRC director, Bryan McGraw, who detailed which records were available in St. Louis versus in Washington, D.C. (See this page for details on which documents are in the St. Louis holdings.) Attending that talk made me anxious to visit the St. Louis facility, if I could figure out whether I had ancestors there to research.
Then I was contacted by a friend in another states whose grandfather’s World War II military personnel records were available at the NRPC in St. Louis. She was looking to save the $70 fee to have the records photocopied and mailed to her. I offered to visit the Archival Research Room at the center and look at the records, and photocopy or photograph them for her. It was my chance to see this place in person.
I thought I’d share the experience here, because I thought it was really interesting.
So here are my Things You Should Know About Researching at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis:
- You need an appointment. A fire at the Center in 1973 destroyed many records. Some were damaged but not destroyed and those may require examination and conservation treatment by preservation staff. Before I could see these records, they had to be treated. When that was completed, I was notified they were ready and given an appointment to view them.
- You have to go through security. When entering the Center, there’s a TSA-style x-ray machine for bags and metal detector The big difference is that at the Archives, they seem a bit more strict and attentive than at the airport. And security officer was much more polite and respectful.
- You’ll go through orientation. It was probably a half hour before I actually got into the research room because first I had to fill out some paperwork, talk with a helpful staff member, and watch a PowerPoint orientation. Then I was issued a Researcher Identification Card and sent in.
- You’re limited as to what you can bring into the Research Room. You’re not allowed to bring in your own blank paper for note taking. (Pencils and blank paper are provided.) If you have pre-written paper to which you want to refer, it must be reviewed and stamped “NARA APPROVED.” No pens or laptop cases. No purses. But they do have locked lockers, so you can store that stuff securely. (I had to go back to my locker to get my reading glasses, and that wasn’t a problem.) You can bring in laptops, cameras, mobile devices and certain scanners. See this Policies and Procedures page for more information.
- You can take great pictures with your phone. They provide what they call “camera table mounts,” which are clear acrylic stands, like little tables, that straddle the document. You place your phone on top of the stand to elevate the phone and hold it steady so that you can shoot a photo of the document from above (through the stand). The stand made it really easy to take good photos of many of the documents. I used the photocopier for bound documents, so they could lie flat.
- Security going out is stronger than going in. As a precaution against stealing, once you have paid for your photocopies, they count the documents, put them in a folder, and place them in a locked canvas bag (that’s one in the photo above), along with any papers stamped NARA APPROVED. Once you’ve gathered your things from your locker, you take the locked bag back to security, where it’s unlocked and your documents given you. There’s no way to smuggle anything out.
- It’s free! Except for the photocopying fee (I think I spent all of $10), there was no charge, not even for parking. There is a little concession area where you can purchase food if you’re there all day.
I enjoyed my experience at the NPRC and hope that I can go back to research my own ancestors!
For information about researching at the National Archives, in Washington, D.C., see this great blog post, 5 Tips for Your First Visit to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., by genealogist D. Joshua Taylor, which details that experience. They seem similar, with some key differences.
Janine, Thanks for posting. I need to get to St. Louis to photograph a Civil War Pension Record held there. I had wondered about several things – and you answered them all!
Roberta, I’m glad you found the post helpful! I was going to say the same thing that Mary says in her comment. Make sure you know which Archives location has the documents you want! (And you might be interested in my blog post on getting my Civil War ancestors’ pension records, if you haven’t read it already: https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/civil-war-pension-records-a-treasure-trove/
Janine – I really enjoyed that post, and will be using several suggestions from it! Thanks!
Thanks, Roberta! There’s another post on processing Civil War pension files that you might find helpful, too. I’m elbow deep in pension files around here. 🙂 https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/processing-civil-war-pension-files/
Roberta – Civil War pension files are in the National Archives in Washington, DC.
Mary – Actually, I was in D.C. Earlier this summer and got the other 7 Civil War Pension Records I needed. For some reason, this one is in St. Louis. I have verified this with the St. Louis archive. No one has been able to tell me why – so I am really anxious to see what is in it!
Ooh, that is intriguing!
Thank you! If I ever make out there, I will be so prepared! When you go back, would you photograph the camera table mount? Very curious.
Shoot! I should have taken a picture of that. I did a quick Google search and found an image of a stand that looks like the ones I saw. I’m not positive the dimensions are the same, but this will give you the idea.http://www.shinodadesigncenter.net/12-clr-acrylic-riser-s3/2525/. Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for that timely blog, Janine – Our family moved to Australia many years ago, but now I’m ready to research my Dad’s USN records for the family tree…. this has given me the impetus to get up and get organised…. well, at least start the ball rolling, it won’t be a fast exercise but not impossible.
Thanks for your comment, Jann. I’m glad you found this blog! If you have specific topics you’d like to see me cover on the blog, don’t hesitate to contact me. (That goes for everyone, of course!)
New to your site and find it very helpful. Do you need more than the serviceman’s name, birthdate and branch of service to get their records either by mail or in person?
Thanks for your comment! To send away for a serviceman’s pension file, you need the name, branch of service, kind of service and the war in which s/he served. There are other fields you can fill out (and I assume the more information you can supply, the better), but those are the required fields. Here’s a link to page to start the request (I requested the NATF85D for my ancestors’ Civil War pensions): https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/start.swe?SWECmd=GotoView&SWEPostnRowId=1-29XS&SWEView=GPEA+Product+Catalog+Category+Detail+View+FFO&SWEHo=eservices.archives.gov&SWEPostnApplet=GPEA+Product+Catalog+Category+Form+Applet+FFO
I’m less sure about the in-person records; when I went to the Archives here in St. Louis it was after my friend had made her request.
Thank You! I have at least 7 WWII records to find.
Glad it was helpful, Sara! Good luck in your WWII research!
Thank you for this detail! this is just a great way to prepare for a visit to an archive. Do their copiers allow you to scan to a USB drive? and of course, are USB drives allowed in? Again, really appreciate your description of the repository!
Maria, I wish my memory were better! I don’t think USB drive scanning was an option, but can’t be sure. The security surrounding the paper I took in and out was impressive!
So glad you found the post helpful!
Hi. When you say that you need an appointment, does that mean you make it the same day, and the documents you want to see are treated same day? Or, do you have to make one weeks or months out and plan a trip accordingly? Basically, you have to know who you are researching ahead of time.
Yes, you have to know ahead of time. They pull the documents for you in advance and, if they’ve involved in the fire, treat them. In my case, a form was submitted in early May, I got a call in June to set up the appointment, and I my appointment was in early July.