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.


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Artist Sketch Box
- Description
- Artist sketch box used by Harvey Dunn as an official artist with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in World War I. The metal box is painted olive drab. It is marked on the top cover "HARVEY DUNN / CAPTAIN" with the castle insignia of the Army Corps of Engineers. The cover is attached by metal slide fasteners which hook into screws. Inside of the box is a roll of white drawing paper that can be advanced by turning the rollers with half-ring handles. On the bottom of the box is a metal back plate which is attached by nails and screws to allow the paper roll to be removed and replaced with a new roll.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- user
- Dunn, Harvey Thomas
- ID Number
- AF.67518M
- accession number
- 229290
- catalog number
- 67518M
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History