Military

The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.

The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1851
ID Number
AF.22753
catalog number
22753
accession number
64127
Women's Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) uniform from World War I, consisting of hat, coat, shirtwaist, tie, skirt, and insignia. Coat and skirt are olive green wool gabardine, shirt is white dimity, hat is blue cotton, and tie is blue silk.
Description
Women's Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) uniform from World War I, consisting of hat, coat, shirtwaist, tie, skirt, and insignia. Coat and skirt are olive green wool gabardine, shirt is white dimity, hat is blue cotton, and tie is blue silk. Metal "U.S." insignia on coat lapel and cloth "J.W.B." patch with Star of David background on shouler and hat. Donated by the Jewish Welfare Board through The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
The Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) was organized shortly after America’s entry into World War I, consolidating religious groups in the Jewish community to become an official agency to work with the War Department through its Commission on Training Camp Activities. It was modeled after the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and the Knights of Columbus, and other organizations that in World War I adapted military-like uniforms for women and men volunteers. The JWB built buildings and stocked libraries on army installations and distributed books, articles, Bibles, and prayer books supplied through its affiliation with the Jewish Publication Society. It established community branches in the “second line of defense,” by supporting Jewish workers in the shipyards, arsenals, and other military plants and factories, as well as hospitals and universities where the government had taken over under military regulations. Following the Armistice, under direction of the Navy Department, the JWB transferred its peacetime work to veteran’s hospitals and enlarged Jewish community centers.
associated date
1914-1918
ID Number
1998.0165.25.01
catalog number
1998.0165.25.01.01
1998.0165.25.01.02
accession number
1998.0165
catalog number
1998.0165.25.01
U.S. Army Signal Corps Female Telephone Operator "Hello Girl" uniform, World War I. The uniform consists of a coat, skirt, and overseas cap, each made of navy blue wool.
Description
U.S. Army Signal Corps Female Telephone Operator "Hello Girl" uniform, World War I. The uniform consists of a coat, skirt, and overseas cap, each made of navy blue wool. The coat has several patches and insignia, including the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) General Headquarters patch on left sleeve and the Chief Operator rank insignia on the right sleeve. There are two overseas service chevrons on the lower left sleeve, denoting 6 months of service each. On the left breast is the World War I Victory Ribbon with silver citation star. This uniform was worn by Helen Cook and donated by her through The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
The Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators unit was formed in late 1917 following an urgent request from General Pershing. The AEF was in desperate need of bilingual switchboard operators to improve vital communications at the front. By the end of the war, over 400 women had been trained by the Army as "Hello Girls" and over 200 had served overseas, with many receiving Distinguished Service medals.
Upon returning home after the war, "Hello Girls," unlike women who had served in the Navy, were denied veteran benefits as Army regulations at the time defined soldiers as male. It wasn't until over 60 years later, in 1979, that the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators were finally given their veteran status and benefits.
ID Number
1998.0165.35.01
accession number
1998.0165
catalog number
1998.0165.35.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1918
associated date
1917 - 1921
maker
Bartunek, John M.
ID Number
1979.0915.01
accession number
1979.0915
catalog number
1979.0915. 01
designer number
1268
Women's American Library Association (ALA) uniform from World War I, consisting of a hat, coat, shirtwaist, necktie, skirt, and insignia.
Description
Women's American Library Association (ALA) uniform from World War I, consisting of a hat, coat, shirtwaist, necktie, skirt, and insignia. The hat is green velour, the coat and skirt are olive green wool gabardine, the shirtwaist is white crepe de chine, and the tie is greenish brown silk. Metal lapel and hat insignia and cloth sleeve insignia show "ALA" over an open book. This uniform was donated by the ALA through The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
The ALA's mission during World War I was to provide American men in the armed forces with reading material during their off-duty and recovery hours on transport ships, in camps, and in hospitals. Men served as librarians for the ALA, while women typically engaged in fundraising, sorting and preparing books, and working at ALA headquarters.
Source:
Vivian Lea Young, “'Petticoats Are Part of this Uniform': American Women Volunteers of the First World War and Their Uniforms” (Master's thesis, George Washington University, 1987).
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1917-1918
ID Number
1998.0165.60.01
accession number
1998.0165
catalog number
1998.0165.60.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
user
Schwarzkopf, H. Norman
ID Number
2007.0169.01
accession number
2007.0169
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1918
associated date
1917 - 1921
associated
Rubin, Edward
ID Number
1977.0082.04
accession number
1977.0082
catalog number
1977.0082.04
81197M
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1872
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80768W22
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1887
used date
1885 - 1902
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80777W30
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1887
associated date
1885 - 1902
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80777W43
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
used date
1917 - 1921
user
Boulemtef, Henry T.
ID Number
AF.77784M
catalog number
77784M
accession number
311909
catalog number
311909.001
This coat bears the insignia of a hospital steward—a yellow silk embroidered caduceus on each sleeve. The responsibilities of hospital stewards included maintaining order and discipline, keeping records, dressing minor wounds, assisting surgeons, and serving as pharmacists.
Description
This coat bears the insignia of a hospital steward—a yellow silk embroidered caduceus on each sleeve. The responsibilities of hospital stewards included maintaining order and discipline, keeping records, dressing minor wounds, assisting surgeons, and serving as pharmacists. No one except the hospital steward was allowed into the dispensary where opium, morphine, and other drugs were stored.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1857
ID Number
AF.24989.01
accession number
64127
catalog number
24989.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1832
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80738W08
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1902
associated person; user
Miles, Nelson Appleton
maker
Hatfield & Sons
ID Number
AF.35125
catalog number
35125
accession number
87946
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1851
ID Number
AF.22752
catalog number
22752
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
AF.25010
catalog number
25010
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1887
associated date
1885 - 1902
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80777W31
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
used date
1902 -
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80780W13
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
1885 - 1902
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80777W34
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1887 - 1902
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80777W13
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1864
associated date
1857
maker
Rockhill & Wilson
ID Number
AF.22820 [dup1]
accession number
64127
catalog number
22820
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
used date
1902 -
maker
Ridabock and Company
ID Number
AF.24917
catalog number
24917
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1884
used date
1885 - 1902
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80777W42
accession number
64127
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1887
associated date
1884 - 1902
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80777W05
accession number
64127

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