The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) was founded in Washington D.C. in 1935 to preserve important US government documents. It holds a fairly large amount of historical data on Taiwan, and the NMTH has carried out thematic research to showcase and study selected documents.
The NMTH has chosen three themes — World War II, the takeover of Taiwan by the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalists), and the period during which Taiwan received aid from the US — to demonstrate the close ties between Taiwan and the United States. From 2013 to 2014 and from 2014 to 2015, printed materials held by NARA were surveyed, respectively, for: documents about industries in Taiwan during World War II and the US aid period; and documents about the KMT takeover. In the first project, 166 files containing more than 15,000 pages were collected. In the second project, 150 files with more than 10,000 pages were obtained. While over 25,000 pages of material were found, it is thought that much more has been lost. Nevertheless, these historical documents are highly useful for research and reference purposes.