Posted by John Witek on September 28, 2012, 10:03 am
I recently acquired a collection of original Armed Guard documents including hand-written logs for commands on the SS Elwood, SS Oscar Underwood, SS Adabelle Sykes. Any ideas on what best to do with this material?
In addition to being webmaster of the Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website, I wear another hat or combination of hats. I am a member of Project Liberty Ship in Baltimore, Maryland, a volunteer crewman aboard SS JOHN W BROWN, a restored World War II Liberty ship, a member of the Board of Directors of Project Liberty Ship, and the webmaster of the Project's website at www.liberty-ship.com.
JOHN W BROWN has three on-board museums, one recognizing the shipbuilders and shipyards that constructed Liberty ships, another honoring the U.S. merchant marine, and finally a museum honoring the U.S. Navy Armed Guard.
I am sure the Armed Guard museum would be enhanced by having your collection of Armed Guard officers' reports, if you would consider donating them to Project Liberty Ship. In addition I would be delighted to add electronic images of the reports to the Armed Guard website.
If you would like to make such a donation, I urge you to contact Project Liberty Ship to discuss the matter. Please contact:
Dear Ron, Thank you for your prompt and helpful reply. I've only had the collection for about a week, so I'll be spending a little time going through it. It's a fascinating group of papers that has already yeilded three documents signed by James Forrestal and an AG commander's Barage Baloon Certificate. My main interest in World War ll concerns the Army and the European Theater of Operations. I will consider trading the collection for memorabilia from the war in Europe, but I will certainly also bear in mind the option you suggest of donating the archive to the AG museum. Thanks again for your help.