Research Our Records

Independent Researchers for Hire - Media Types

Researchers Specializing in Audio and Sound Records*

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Margaret Johnson
MMJ Research
3200 Garfield St NW
Washington, DC 20008-3513
Telephone: (202) 669-7479
E-mail: mmj@erols.com
Research Specialty: Still picture research including photographs, cartographic records, microfilm, manuscripts, civilian and military textual records, and Presidential records.
About: 25+ years experience.

Kevin Leonard
9364 Spring Water Path
Jessup, MD 20794
Telephone: (301) 776-9260
Fax:
E-mail: theleonardgroup7@gmail.com
Research Specialty: Militaty history, 20th century American history, film and video, audio and sound, still photos, NASA, DOJ, FBI
About:

Vina Hutchinson
3517 Terrace Dr. Apt. B
Suitland, MD 20746
Telephone: (703) 568-9836
Fax:
E-mail: vinahutchinson@gmail.com
Research Specialty: General research; genealogy and family history; house/building/post use propertry history; research for movie, television, and streaming productions
About:

Gregory T. Smith, Chief Investigator
History Piquette LLC
W10298 Wells Road
Lodi, WI 53555
Telephone: (608) 843-6633
Fax:
E-mail: chief@historypiquette.com
Research Specialty: General Research, Military, Declassified Documents, Corporation History, Congressional Research, Aviation Research, FAA/NTSB, Naval, Maritime, Coast Guard, Harbor. Transportation, Film and Still photography.
About:

Jeannette Remak; Joseph Ventolo
Phoenix Aviation Research
41-41 41st Street #1-M
Sunnyside, NY 11104-3243
Telephone: (718) 937-7436
Fax: (718) 784-4682
E-mail: valkyr1097@nyc.rr.com
Research Specialty: Military, historical, government; record groups media, series, subjects
About:

Joan M. Mathys
MJM Picture and Film Research
2801 Quebec St NW 222
Washington, DC 20008-1242
Telephone: (202) 537-3256
Fax: (202) 966-5816
E-mail: joanmathys@msn.com
Research Specialty: Motion Picture (moving images) and sound (audio recordings); Still Picture and Graphics; Textual materials; Cartographic materials

Katie Rasdorf
4393 Kevin Walker Dr 228
Montclair, VA 22025
Telephone: (202) 498-4447
Fax: (703) 656-4851
E-mail: krasdorf@yahoo.com
Research Specialty: Modern military records; Genealogy; WWII; Korea; Vietnam; Cold War, Prisoners of War (POW); Missing in Action (MIA); Aerial imagery, cartography, still photos

Donna Inserra
4117 Woodbine St
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Telephone:
Fax:
E-mail: inserra.donna@gmail.com
Research Specialty: Newsreels, Motion Picture and Sound Recordings, Still Pictures, Video
About: A national Emmy award-winning news producer.

John Taylor
Taylor Research Group LLC - A Litigation and Environmental Research Firm
3333 Connecticut Ave NW Ste 3
Washington, DC 20008
Telephone: (703) 822-4658
Fax:
E-mail: johntaylor@taylorresearchgroup.com
Research Specialty: Environmental and Legal Research; Asbestos; Captured German Records; Cold War; Congressional Records; Court Records; Diplomatic Records; Immigration, Emigration & Naturalization; Labor & Business History; Military Records; Native American Relations Records; Navy Records; President Nixon Records; Science, Technology, Natural Resources and the Environment Records; Audio/Sound Recordings; Cartographic/Architectural/Ships Plans Records; Film & Video Recordings; Photographs and Pictures
About:

Edward Engel
313 Highland Terrace
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Telephone: (410) 610-2685
Fax:
E-mail: edwardengel@yahoo.com
Research Specialty: Textual records; still photographs; film and video
About:

Scott Russell
20 Covina Ave
Long Beach, CA 90803
Telephone: (562) 433-2312
Fax:
E-mail: askrussell@aol.com
Research Specialty: The Nixon presidency and administration, including staff, cabinet departments, domestic policies, foreign relations, politics, campaigns, publicity. Experienced with all media collections (documents, tapes, photos, film/video). The Reagan presidency and administration.
About: Experienced with multiple textual collections at the Reagan Library. Archival researcher for the Nixon Museum’s $15 million renovation: found and selected scores of documents, photos, and audiovisual materials for permanent display in the new galleries.

Bonnie G. Rowan
Bonnie G. Rowan Film Research
1849 California Street NW
Washington, DC 20009-1808
Telephone: (202) 580-9933
Fax:
E-mail: browan@his.com
Research Specialty: Research and screeners: motion pictures, video, recorded sound, still pictures, textual records; 20th century world history, World War II, black history, POWs, sports, air and space, children, arts, presidents, technology, and family history.
About: Full-time, on-site research. Thirty years research experience. Credits on over 500 documentaries, exhibits, publications.

Dirk Burgdorf
AAA Research
21515 Manor View Cir
Germantown, MD 20876
Telephone: (301) 922-9610
E-mail: contact@naraexpert.com
Research Specialty: Specialist in Aerial Imagery and Maps (both U.S. and foreign), American Military Records, Captured German Records (SS, Wehrmacht, NSDAP, War Diaries), and German technical Manuals.
About: 30+ years of historical research experience, complete fluency in German, partnered with specialists in both Russian and Germany. First hand experience from personal visits to battlefields on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.

Elisabeth M. Hartjens
Imagefinders, Inc.
6101 Utah Ave NW
Washington, DC 20015-2461
Telephone: (202) 244-4456
Fax: (202) 244-3237
E-mail: hartjens@erols.com
Research Specialty: Motion picture, sound, and video; still images; textual records, including Congressional, Coast Guard and lighthouse, diplomatic, military, Navy, immigration and naturalization, and Nixon related records

Sim Smiley
Archival Historical Research

Washington, DC 20016
Telephone: (202) 812-8466
Fax:
E-mail: sim.smiley@gmail.com
Research Specialty: World War II Intelligence and Diplomatic Records: the Office of Strategic Services (RG 226), the Department of State (RG 59 and 84), USIA (RG 306), The Office of War Information (RG 208) Military Records in general. Textual, Photographs and Maps.
About: I have over 30 years’ experience as a former NARA volunteer (compiled some of the OSS finding aids) and researcher for OSS agents and clients worldwide. A diplomatic simultaneous interpreter by training, I can read, speak and write in French, Italian and can easily read Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish and Norwegian.

Joseph P. Harris
Absolutely Archives
PO Box 922
Greenbelt, MD 20768-0922
Telephone: (703) 967-3070
Fax: (301) 474-8290
E-mail: info@absolutelyarchives.com
Research Specialty: Motion Pictures, Still Pictures, Sound Recordings, Video Recordings, Textual, Cartographic
About: Full-time, onsite researcher; former NARA staff; 25+ years of experience.

Martha King
American Research Associates
147 Payson Rd
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Telephone: (617) 680-2356
E-mail: martha_king@post.harvard.edu
Research Specialty: Federal Court records, New England; Maritime, Lighthouses, Shipwreck reports, New England; Coast Guard records, New England; Congressional Records, New England; Science, Technology, Natural Resources, Environmental Records, New England; John F. Kennedy Library records, including the Ernest Hemingway Collection; some Harvard University libraries, including the HBS Baker Library. Special Media: Audio/Sound Recordings; Film + Video Recordings; Photographs + Pictures.

Susan Grandis Goldstein
10037 Colebrook Avenue
Potomac, MD 20854
Telephone: (202) 549-4439
Fax:
E-mail: susangrandisgoldstein@gmail.com
Research Specialty: National Archives and Records Administration Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Unit and Still Picture Branch
About:

Elizabeth Hansen
Museum, Media, and History Services
608 Harris Ave
Austin, TX 78705
Telephone: (512) 983-7679
Fax:
E-mail: elizabeth@elizabeth-hansen.com
Research Specialty: 20th century history, audiovisual records, presidential archives.
About: A historian, curator, public programmer, and certified archivist, Elizabeth Hansen provides program planning, curation, and digital strategy services to museums and archives as well as proxy research services to filmmakers, television producers, authors, curators, and scholars.

Susan Hormuth
3356 Pennsylvania Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20020
Telephone: (202) 584-3994
Fax:
E-mail: susanhormuth@verizon.net
Research Specialty: On-site research in Motion Picture, Video, Recorded Sound and Still Pictures. Particular research experience in American History, African American History, Women’s History, Popular Culture.
About: Over thirty years of research experience in the Washington, DC area.

Jenée Arthur/Gina Boucher
Peripheral View Media
755 E. Oltorf St. Unit #201
Austin, TX 78704
Telephone: (512) 576-0602
Fax:
E-mail: jenart@pviewmedia.com
Research Specialty: Family history documentaries and mini-docu-style presentations, video production, audio production and indepth research into the hard-to-find backstories of families.
About:

Shannon Bridget Murphy

Herndon, VA 20171
Telephone: (703) 864-3099
Fax:
E-mail: shannoninpapertrails@yahoo.com
Research Specialty: Captured German Records; Art Provenance: Cold War; Congressional Records; State Department Records; General Government Records, Family History; Immigration and Naturalization; Military Records - Military record searches, including lineage applications; Natural Resources and Environmental Records; Motion Pictures and Audio-Silent films; Photo Stills and Video Recordings; Photographs and Pictures
About: Acknowledged for research in ’From Arromanches to the Elbe’, by Charles More, published by Pen and Sword Publishing for research.

Satu Haase-Webb
Satu Haase-Webb, Independent Historian and Researcher
1334 A St SE
Washington, DC 20003
Telephone: (202) 257-6915
E-mail: satuhw@yahoo.com
Research Specialty: All media types-textual records, still images/photographs, video and audio recordings. World War II, captured German records, Holocaust, Diplomatic, military, intelligence records, African American History, Women, Immigration, Art, Social History (Labor, etc.), Cold War. Civil Rights.
About: On-site, 25 years of experience, former government historian. German speaker (native)

Susan Strange
Strange Research
PO Box 7165
McLean, VA 22106-7165
Telephone: (202) 320-2672
E-mail: strangeresearch@mac.com
Research Specialty: Motion pictures, still photographs and textual records - all subjects.
About: Full time on site research.

Jeremy Bigwood
Archive-Research.com
3200 16th Street NW #806
Washington, DC 20010-3348
Telephone: (202) 361-5000
Fax:
E-mail: JeremyBigwood@pm.me
Research Specialty: All records, all formats, all gov’t agencies. Research projects big and small. Latest copying equipment. Client downloads high-quality images or text-recognized PDFs from Dropbox. Lives close by. Over 25 years of research at NARA and over 30 years of using FOIA/MDR to obtain records.
About: Award-winning investigator in historical research, journalism, and science who works with academics, authors, and journalists worldwide to research their projects. Languages: English, Spanish, Ukrainian, Russian - some French and German. Google for publications.

Steve Greene
4623 Quimby Ave
Beltsville, MD 20705
Telephone: (301) 842-8923
E-mail: sgreene820@gmail.com
Research Specialty: Stills, recorded sound, moving images. The Modern Presidency
About: Retired NARA archivist

Ryan M. Curtis
Archive Research & Consulting Group, LLC
133 Main Street, Suite 203
Epping, NH 03042
Telephone: (603) 433-9000
Fax:
E-mail: rcurtis@ArchiveResearch.org
Research Specialty: Asbestos Litigation - Navy & Maritime Records
About: More than 15 years of research experience with an understanding of the ways asbestos was used on Navy/Maritime ships. We have researchers at the Archives every day to meet your needs.


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*Note:   Researchers for hire are not NARA employees. Any individual or company that does research in our holdings on behalf of others is free
to join the listing. For information on how to get on the Independent Researchers for Hire lists,
see the Opportunity for Independent Researchers page.

Inclusion on the independent researcher lists should not be viewed as an endorsement of the
quality of the researchers' work, and NARA will not be responsible for any arrangement made
with independent researchers. Such arrangements, including the character, extent, and cost
of the work, are purely private, contractual matters between the independent researcher
and you. It also is up to you to determine whether or not the researcher's experience
and qualifications meet your needs. Comments or complaints received by NARA regarding
any individual independent researcher on the listing will be forwarded to that researcher
for resolution.

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