Artifact Donation

Donations of Artifacts, Photographs, and Archival Materials
The mission of the National Museum of the Marine Corps is to collect, preserve, and exhibit objects of interest to the history of the Marine Corps. To accomplish this goal, the Museum acquires a wide variety of artifacts and historic materials for use in exhibits, as reference materials, and to assist in the conduct of original research on Marine Corps history. The National Museum of the Marine Corps follows the ethical guidelines for acquiring artifacts established by the American Association of Museums (AAM).

Historic Artifacts: The Museum collects three-dimensional artifacts (for example: vehicles, uniforms, weapons, personal effects, etc.) in a selective and responsible manner. The Museum will accept only those items that the Museum can utilize and has the resources to professionally care for. If you have artifacts that you would like to donate to the Museum, please contact Ben Kristy at benjamin.kristy@usmcu.edu or fill out and return a Donation Information Form to:

National Museum of the Marine Corps
ATTN: Curatorial Services Department
2014 Anderson Ave.
Quantico, VA 22134-5002

Photographs and Archival Materials: Original documents are crucial to the mission of the Museum. Museum curators and researchers utilize photographs, personal papers and correspondence, official records, log books, etc. as part of the research required to prepare new exhibits and to prepare new publications. Archival materials of this kind are collected and preserved by the Archival Branch of the Marine Corps History Division,  located at Quantico, VA.

If you have any photographs, letters, official records, log books, etc., and wish to donate them to the Marine Corps History Division Archives Branch, please contact:

mcu_archives@usmcu.edu

Marjah Vest

Sgt. Luis Hernandez was serving in Marjah, Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment when an IED exploded and nearly killed him. He donated the flak jacket he was wearing at the time to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in February 2015.

Please do not bring any artifacts, photographs, or other archival materials to the museum without first completing a Donation Information Form and speaking with a Museum representative. The National Museum of the Marine Corps will NOT be responsible for any items left at the Museum without prior approval of a Museum staff member.