MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va -- MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – The Alfred M. Gray Marine Corps Research Center located aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., offers a wealth of information relating to Marine Corps history through the library’s Archives and Special Collections Branch.
The department maintains a wide range of collections including photographs, personal letters and records rich in the organization’s heritage and makes them available for public view.
The Archives’ doors are open to anyone who has an interest in gaining insight into Marine Corps history, said Jim Ginther, an archival team leader at the Archives Special Collections Branch Sept. 12, 2013. He also said his staff is ready to help patrons access any specific materials they may need for research or personal interest.
“If you need something, I encourage you to give us a call,” said Ginther. “Come in and talk to one of the archivists, and give us an idea of the project you’re working on. Sometimes you may not have a really clear idea of what you need or what we have, so what we’ll do is sit you down and help shape your questions. We’ll find out exactly what you’re going for and pull the documents; it’ll be the real deal, not copies. You’ll use them out here in the reading room and be able to make copies of whatever you need so you can take it with you.”
Ginther said materials in Archives and Special Collections Branch are separated into a few broad categories.
“First we have an official collection,” said Ginther, “basically the Marine Corps documenting itself as an organization. It consists of command chronologies, studies and reports on weapons or tactics, after-action reports of different combat operations, curriculum from Marine Corps schools and a number of photographs related to various campaigns.”
Ginther said the second piece of the collection is personal papers that includes correspondence and emails. According to him, the collection contains valuable background information on official documentation.
“They show why things happened,” said Ginther. “The collection covers the entire range of the Marine Corps, and a vast majority comes from company grade officers and noncommissioned officers talking about their experiences. The personal papers collection covers Marines back to the early 1800s to modern day, and we have a few maps that go as far back to the [American] revolution."
Ginther said the third and final category is the archives’ audio and visual repository.
“There is a room that holds films, video, slides and photographs all more or less official to the Marine Corps,” said Ginther. “A lot of that is film of various combat operations, weapons testing and recruiting material. That collection goes back as far as the late 1800s.”
Ginther also said the branch has the ability to replicate all of the archive’s original and official records and visual documentation for the public.
“Most of the material we have in the archive is unique,” said Ginther. “It’s one-of-a-kind, so it doesn’t circulate, but almost everything we have here in the archive can be reproduced one way or another, either electronically or into hard copy. And that includes full quality, color and full-size reproductions of maps and visual or audio resources. You may have to give us a day or two to transfer, but we’ll be able to get it out to you one way or another.”
Correspondent: Natalie.coffman@usmc.mil