2 Mig Usmc
Luz Ignasiak
1. Historical Branch: Prepares a wide variety of official publications that tell the Marine Corps story as accurately and comprehensively as possible. Publications include: articles, monographs, occasional papers, and definitive histories.
2. Historical Resources Branch: Provides historical research and reference services and historical analysis. In addition, the Branch supports specific programs: Unit Lineage and Honors, Commemorative Naming, Marine Corps Flag Manual, and Marine Corps Chronology.
3. Field History Branch: Deploys Individual Mobilization Augmentee (IMA) Detachment historians to collect historically relevant material (oral history, written/electronic plans, operation orders, maps, overlays and artifacts) for use as reference material. The Branch also consists of a Mobilization Training Unit (MTU) whose members support HD with specific projects.
For more than a century, the History Division's primary task has been to preserve and promulgate the official record of the Marine Corps in peacetime and in war. In doing so, its archivists collect and maintain research materials (official documents, special collections, maps, oral histories, photos, and film/video) so that its historians might research and write official accounts on operational, institutional, and doctrinal topics and events; unit histories and lineage; and the establishment and lifecycle of Marine Corps bases/stations. Because of its focus, the History Division is not staffed to retrieve materials from our archival holdings, make copies of research materials, or research general queries for the public. We can, however, provide you advice and guidance on how to conduct your own research. Our intent for the future is to provide the general public access to our holdings though a state-of-the-art online website. Until then, access to the majority of our holdings is by way of in-person visits only. Queries from Headquarters Marine Corps, Marine Corps units and commands, Department of Defense organizations and agencies, and other government agencies will, however, continue to be our priority.
Search our Archives Branch at -usmcu.libguides.com/marine-corps-archives/main to see where the information you are looking for is held. If you think the document is held by the History Division, go into the research tools area at the left of the webpage to see if it is listed in one of the finding aids.
Contact the Marine Corps Association and Foundation at m...@mca-marines.org or call (866) 622-1775 for access to past articles featured in the Marine Corps Gazette and/or Leatherneck and that provide insight into the Marine Corps and its history.
Another source to consider for general Marine Corps history is your local library. Many of the most basic and even the most detailed questions about the Marine Corps can be answered with standard reference materials or by requesting specialized literature through interlibrary loan. Local libraries are one of our nation's most valuable resources and should be the first stop for anyone interested in pursuing research in Marine Corps history.
Commonly requested topics often misdirected to the Marine Corps History Division center on awards, casualties, and service records. If you have queries on these topics, please follow these instructions:
b. CASUALTIES: For information on casualties and casualty cards, please submit a FOIA request at The request will be routed to Marine Corps Casualty Assistance Branch. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call HQMC FOIA at 703-614-4008.
d. MAPS: For maps ranging from World War II to Vietnam, please use the go to the Library of Congress website and the associated map repository or the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University at www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/.
e. UNIT AND COMMAND RECORDS (KOREA AND VIETNAM): For command chronologies and battle reports on Marine Corps units and commands during the Korean War and Vietnam War, please see Records of War at www.recordsofwar.com.
CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRIES: If you are inquiring from the office of a member of Congress, please direct your question to the Congressional Liaison Service, Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.
DONATIONS. For anyone wishing to make a donation to the Marine Corps History Division, we consider archival donations on a case-by-case basis and only when the donations are of historical relevance (e.g., official documents, personal papers and special collections, maps, photos, film/video, and select Marine Corps history and doctrinal books) and research value. For material donations, such as Marine Corps uniform items, medals, and equipment, please contact the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps History Division holds a vast collection of historical materials that researchers may access. Click here for more information on what the Historical Resources Branch (archival records, personal papers, oral histories, Marine Corps University student papers, photographs, and more) holds and how to access the materials on site or remotely.
For more than 100 years, History Division has been dedicated to preserving, promoting, and publishing the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. History Division accomplishes its mission by writing or contracting commemorative battlestudies, or full-length monographs on a variety of topics from the long history of the Corps.
The Historical Branch records the official institutional and operational history of the Marine Corps. It prepares a wide variety of publications, ranging from pamphlets, monographs, and occasional papers to case-bound histories, for distribution within the Marine Corps, the Department of Defense, other Federal agencies, and to the general public. Publications produced by the branch are written works that provide an account of the planning, operational, logistical, developmental, and/or administrative activities of a specific unit, event, or period in Marine Corps history.
Since the division was founded in 1919, its writers have been recording history that is applicable to Marines but appeals to other Federal agencies, scholars, and a general audience. The office produces a variety of publications of varying length in the fulfillment of its mission. These fall into three categories traditionally:
The first are historical studies that reflect discussions occurring inside the Marine Corps and inform those responsible for making decisions that will shape the future of the service. These works can be three types:
Reference Pamphlets: Concise narratives on narrow topics in the recent past, these are intended to keep Marines informed and to provide answers to the public. Authors generally have been Marine officers. Pamphlet length can range from 12,000 to 20,000 words.
Occasional Papers: Any product that is considered of intrinsic worth to the study of Marine Corps history but is not intended for mass publication. Design work is minimal and print runs are small. They can range from 10,000 to 190,000 words.
The third category is official histories of the major wars that the Marine Corps has fought. In the production of these official histories, the office has followed an identifiable pattern for the last forty years:
Monographs: These are the first draft of an official history and are the most common History Division publication. They are book-length studies of campaigns and operations of considerable duration (6-12 months) and can range from 15,000 to 150,000 words. The division also produces thematic monographs on topics such as African-Americans in the Marine Corps and women in the Marine Corps.
Definitive Histories: These are the most comprehensive and highly detailed accounts of all aspects of Marine Corps operations during a major conflict that the History Division produces. They are the final stage in the process of producing official history, and use information from the anthologies and monographs. They draw on all available sources, from archives, oral histories, and secondary works. Definitive histories are usually divided into multiple volumes of 110,000 to 600,000 words each.
The History Division collection of moving image media includes some 20,000 films and 12,000 videotapes. While the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository of Marine Corps footage depicting combat, heads of state, commandants, there are additional copies of some of those films at the History Division. In addition to the copies, our collection primarily preserves behind-the-lines support and planning. This includes combined arms, inter-service, and joint international training exercises, as well as interventions and humanitarian missions. We have a solid collection of recruiting and MOS videos, 1990s videos of over 200 embassies, and MC birthday messages that date back to WWII. Also represented in our collection are changes of command, ceremonial events, bands and drill teams, all significant memorials for the Corps.
We digitized most of the History Division collection. All of the films and videos are accessioned in a searchable database, which supplants the need for finding aids that go out of date quickly. Security protocols prohibit outside access to the database, but requests for information will be handled by the professional historians at the History Division. Better results are obtained with a conference between the requestor and the historian, either in person or by phone. Media that is already digitized can usually be forwarded via a link on a cloud based system.
The mission of the Field History Branch is to assist the Director of Marine Corps History Division in his responsibilities to "record, preserve, and disseminate the cumulative, operational, and institutional experience of the Marine Corps." The detachment accomplishes this task through a variety of activities: (1) collection of oral history, documentary, visual (photography and combat art), and artifactual history of the Marine Corps, accomplished by deployed field historians and combat artists with Marine Corps operational forces and joint service commands; (2) performing research and writing on historical subjects as assigned by the director; (3) creating artworks reflective of Marine Corps operations and historical subjects as assigned by the Director; and, (4) cataloging documents and other materials into the History Division archives.
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