Military - Overview
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.
"Military - Overview" showing 228 items.
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The Russian Imperial Guard awaiting the German Emperor, Peterhof Pier. [Active no. 1081 : photonegative,] 1897
- Notes
- Company catalog card included
- Similar to RSN 19907
- Currently stored in box 3.1.11 [197]
- Date
- 1897
- 1900-2000
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- Subject
- Imperial Guard (Russian)
- Local number
- RSN 12425
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Code Designator Slide Chart - FELSENTHAL FAA-141A
- Description
- This slide chart is designed to assist in coding United States Air Force forms for inventory control. The envelope is of clear plastic printed in blue, with a white plastic card that slides crosswise. The sliding card has columns for eight Air Force forms (forms number 158A&B, 158C&D, 813, 814, 815, 158-7, 366J&K, and 366L&M). The numbers in each column indicate the place on the form on which the data is to be entered. For example, in all eight forms spaces 1through15 are for the stock number and spaces 31through 34 are for the organization number. The first 56 spaces are described on the front of the sliding card. The remainder (up to 80) are on the back.
- It is possible that the forms described are 80-column punch cards, such as those made by IBM for use with electronic data processing equipment.
- A mark on the front of the envelope reads: Code Designator (/) Slide Chart. A mark on the back of the envelope reads: Felsenthal Instruments Co.1963 (/) Chicago 31, Illinois (/) MFR’s PT.NO. FAA-141-A.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1963
- maker
- Felsenthal Instruments Co.
- ID Number
- 1977.1141.44
- catalog number
- 336428
- accession number
- 1977.1141
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Nine Rules of Conduct Card
- Description
- Physical Description
- Printed card stock.
- General History
- This card entitled “Nine Rules For Personnel of US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam” was carried by soldiers. The card reads: "Rules: The Vietnamese have paid a heavy price in suffering for their long fight against the communists. We military men are in Vietnam now because their government has asked us to help its soldiers and people in winning their struggle. The Viet Cong will attempt to turn the Vietnamese people against you. You can defeat them at every turn by the strength, understanding, and generosity you display with the people. Here are nine simple rules: 1.) Remember we are guests here: We make no demands and seek no special treatment. 2.) Join with the people! Understand their life, use phrases from their language and honor their customs and laws. 3.) Treat women with politeness and respect. 4.) Make personal friends among the soldiers and common people. 5.) Always give the Vietnamese the right of way. 6.) Be alert to security and ready to react with your military skill. 7.) Don't attract attention by loud, rude or unusual behavior. 8.) Avoid separating yourself from the people by a display of wealth or privilege. 9.) Above all else you are members of the U.S. Military Forces on a difficult mission, responsible for all your official and personal actions. Reflect honor upon yourself and the United States of America."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1967
- 1967
- associated date
- 1966 - 1973
- ID Number
- AF*76367M
- catalog number
- 76367M
- accession number
- 303435
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Rigged Model, Massachusetts Privateer Rhodes
- Description
- Although the Salem, Massachusetts privateer Rhodes was less than 98 feet long, it had a crew of 90. Privateers needed large crews not only to intimidate their prey and hopefully make them surrender quickly, but also to overpower their enemies if a battle occurred. After a fight, the winner also needed to put a “prize” crew aboard to sail the captured vessel into port, where the ship and contents could be inventoried and sold. The auction proceeds were then distributed among the owners, the ship officers and the crew.
- The three-masted ship Rhodes was sharply built for speed and heavily armed, with 20 cannon. Despite these features, it was captured on a cruise in the West Indies by H.M.S. ship Prothé in February 1782. It was taken back to England, where its hull shape was drawn on paper to document how it might have obtained its speed. The Royal Navy then purchased it and renamed it H.M.S. Barbadoes.
- Date made
- 1962
- privateer captured
- 1782-02
- ID Number
- TR*320667
- catalog number
- 320667
- accession number
- 245900
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer
- Description
- This circular slide rule describes the effects of a nuclear explosion on people. After World War II, scientists at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory prepared a report on forms of damage associated with the explosion of atomic bombs. These included physical damage, fire and heat, and nuclear radiation.
- With the development of the more powerful hydrogen bomb, physical chemist Samuel Glasstone and his associates prepared an updated report, and published it under the title The Effects of Nuclear Weapons. This information was distributed for use in planning against possible nuclear attack.
- From 1962 onward, copies of The Effects of Nuclear Weapons had a pocket containing a Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer. Setting the indices on the front of the instrument for the yield of a nuclear bomb in megatons and the distance of its explosion in miles, scales on the front of the instrument describe changes in atmospheric pressure and winds associated with the blast, as well as cratering and the velocity of window glass.
- Charts on the back indicate the initial nuclear radiation and the thermal radiation. Tables indicate the probable medical effects of various doses of radiation, from no illness to severe burns to death. The Nuclear Bomb Effects Computer was developed at the Lovelace Foundation in Albuqueque, New Mexico, for the United States Atomic Energy Commission.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1962
- maker
- Lovelace Foundation
- ID Number
- 1990.0688.01
- accession number
- 1990.0688
- catalog number
- 1990.0688.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
USS Carondolet Model
- Description
- Physical Description
- Wooden model with plastic parts.
- Specific History
- Model built to the plans of William Geoghagen.
- General History
- USS Carondolet was a 512-ton ironclad gunboat in the style of the Cairo. It was built in Saint Louis and commissioned in January 1862. Within a month it had contributed to the capture of both Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. The Carondolet fought in more engagements than any ship until World War II, including the capture of a Confederate fortress at Island Number Ten, operations against Fort Pillow, near Memphis, and a major campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi. The only real opposition the Carondolet faced was in the Yazoo River when it engaged the Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas. On July 15, 1862, the Carondolet was severely damaged by the Arkansas. After repairs, the Carondolet and the other ships of the army’s Western Gunboat Flotilla were transferred to the U.S. Navy. It was decommissioned in 1865.
- Date made
- 1961
- associated date
- 1862
- decommissioning
- 1865
- made original plans
- Geoghegan, William Earle
- maker
- Tragle, Thomas E.
- ID Number
- AF*58945N
- catalog number
- 58945-N
- accession number
- 241885
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Ship Model, Colonial Sloop
- Description
- During the period of North American colonization and early settlement, sloops formed the backbone of the trade along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and to the West Indies. They often sailed as smugglers and warships, too. This armed example from the late 1760s, with oars to maneuver in calms, is similar to craft used by Caribbean pirates a century earlier.
- Little coastal sloops were the tractor-trailers of the colonial period, populating the waters along the eastern coast of North America right down to the Caribbean islands. Heavily built for bad weather and rough sea conditions, they were simple to sail, roomy for lots of cargo and passengers, easily handled by small crews, relatively swift, and usually armed for self defense wherever they might sail. They were also simple to build and inexpensive, so that if one were lost, it might not cause a crippling financial loss to its owners.
- Date made
- 1960
- date made
- 1768
- maker
- Arthur G. Henning Inc.
- ID Number
- TR*318281
- catalog number
- 318281
- accession number
- 234477
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Letter of Marque Topsail Schooner Lynx
- Description
- Peter Kemp, Baltimore’s best known 19th-century shipbuilder, worked in the Fells Point area. He built the square topsail schooner Lynx in 1812 for just under $10,000. It measured 97 feet long and 25 tons, a bit larger than the swift pilot boats after which it was modeled. Pilot boats had to be fast, for the first one that reached a vessel offshore won the job to lead it through local waters into the port facilities.
- The Lynx was a letter of marque—a merchant vessel authorized to take prizes—rather than a privateer designed and built only to raid enemy shipping. Letters of marque were armed merchant vessels which were granted the authority to chase enemy merchantmen during the normal course of business, if an opportunity arose. Unlike privateers, letter of marque vessels paid their crews a regular wage, and their income did not depend on income from enemy ships. As a result, the Lynx carried only six guns and a 40-man crew instead of the many guns and big crews of privateers.
- Lynx served less than a year before it was captured by a British fleet of 17 vessels while trying to run a blockade off the Rappahannock River, Virginia. Renamed the Mosquidobit, it served in the British naval squadron blockading Chesapeake Bay. At the end of the War of 1812, it served against France. In recognition of its superior sailing characteristics, its hull shape was recorded by the Royal Navy. In 1820, it resumed service as a private merchant vessel.
- Date made
- 1964
- Associated Date
- 19th century
- shipbuilder
- Kemp, Peter
- ID Number
- TR*323263
- catalog number
- 323263
- accession number
- 249753
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
National Company (NATCO) Atomic Clocks Records, 1955-1968
- Notes
- Richard Timothy Daly, Jr. directed the development of the commercial clock. The papers probably include material created by him and other project personnel listed below
- The first commerical atomic clock was invented by a team of physicists working under J. R. Zacharias at MIT after WWII. They were produced by NATCO, Inc. of Malden, Mass., from 1955-1967. The company also researched other applications for the clocks, including a collision avoidance system
- Summary
- Original acquisition: Blueprints, technical drawings, research reports, instruction manuals, photographs, marketing brochures documenting the production of the first commerical cesium beam frequency standard and subsequent models. Other projects and proposals, esp. Collision Avoidance system, are also documented
- Addendum, 2012: Proposals, memoranda and reports on the technical aspects of atomic clocks, 1960s, generated by the National Company
- Cite as
- National Company (NATCO) Atomic Clocks Records, 1955-1968, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1955
- 1955-1968
- 1950-1970
- 1950-2000
- 1940-1970
- 20th century
- creator
- NATCO, Inc (National Company, Inc.)
- author
- Bagnall, James
- Daly, Richard Timothy Jr
- donor
- Lerner, Louis C
- author
- Grant, Eugene
- Mainberger, Walter
- Orensberg, Arthur
- George, James
- Holloway, Joseph
- Bovarnick, Michael
- Subject
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Local number
- 1985.0027 (NMAH Acc.)
- 2012.3018 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Everett H. Bickley Collection, 1919-1980 (bulk 1919-1965)
- Notes
- Bickley was one of the more active inventors of twentieth century. While his main and most portable invention was an automatic bean sorter, his other inventions were numerous and wide in scope. Examples are: a photographic exposure meter; fly killing device; dance charts; nut-cracking device; and outdoor electric sign
- Summary
- Correspondence, patents, drawings, manuals, trade literature, and photographs, particularly rich in information on Bickley's sorting devices. World War II innovations, and other inventions such as an exposure meter, dance charts, fly-killing device, and an outdoor electric sign known as the Motograph
- Spans much of the twenthieth century and is of value to researchers interested in product development, the patent application process, product marketing and promotion, World War II innovation, and the daily operation of a small, privately owned industry. General correspondence, patents and patent correspondence, drawings, manuals, trade literature, and photographs; also, several artifacts designed by Bickley, including a photographic exposure meter (Fotimer), a prototype slide mount (Color Tight Slide Mount), dance chart, and even a clipboard (Deskette)
- Cite as
- The Everett H. Bickley Collection, 1919-1980, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1919
- 1919-1980
- bulk 1919-1965
- 20th century
- 1930-1950
- creator
- Bickley, Everett H. 1888- 1972
- donor
- Beyer, Audrey Bickley
- Subject
- Bickley Manufacturing Company
- H. J. Heinz Company
- Local number
- 1999.3022 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
