Fort Belvoir (Virginia) US Army "Museum Support Center" historical artifact depository (Grant's Kepi etc)

[PaulJ]

Hi,
apologies if this has been covered already but I wondered if this is widely known? It seems this facility has Grant's kepi, does anyone have any knowledge of anything else of Civil War significance it may house (not already shown in this article). I've often wondered if there is more to come to light at some point - from official government sources that is.

It reminds me of the UK's Imperial War Museum in London. Many years ago I visited to view some artifacts and was told that only 10% of their inventory is on display, and that there are crates full of uniforms etc dating back to 1945, many of which that have never been opened since WW2....

http://www.buzzfeed.com/bennyjohnson/inside-the-armys-spectacular-hidden-treasure-room

http://www.army.mil/article/78318/

It seems there are plans to build a new museum to display the artifacts:-

"there are major fundraising hurdles to jump before the museum can be built. The foundation’s president recently told the Washington Post that they have raised $76 million of the $175 million required for the museum and predicts the museum could open in 2018. The plan is to build the museum at Fort Belvoir"

Let's hope so!


Regards, Paul

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: Fort Belvoir (Virginia) US Army "Museum Support Center" historical artifact depository (Grant's Kepi etc)

Paul,
Call the information number ((703) 545-6700) ask for Miguel Valdez who was the registrar in 2012. Unsure if he is still the registrar there but if he is not ask for the Museum Support Center Registrar. Once you get ahold of one of them ask if there is a collections database which can be searched publicly!
Drew

[Pennvolunteer]

Re: Fort Belvoir (Virginia) US Army "Museum Support Center" historical artifact depository (Grant's Kepi etc)

The Army Historical Foundation is raising funds to build a state of the art National Army Museum in the vicinity of Fort Belvoir. Unfortunately they are less than half way to their goal in fundraising. The MSC is where all major Army Historical artifacts that are not in exhibit or storage at other Army Museums, i.e. the Infantry Museum, Armor Museum, here at our Field Artillery Museum and Fort Sill National Historic Landmark at Fort Sill, etc, are theoretically to be stored at the MSC facility which has the most modern facilities available to protect and preserve treasures, especially fabrics like uniforms and flags. It is also to be a training facility for all of the folks who work in the Army Museum system. It is indeed a great facility and yes, they have more CW items than I can enumerate. I've been there 3 times, and it is awe inspiring. And BTW, the guy who more or less is the senior guy there is a fellow many of you may recognize his name; Chris Semancik.

Unfortunately, it is not a museum, nor can you just go visit.

However, if you want to see this awesome collection, you can join the Army Historical Society or contribute so we can build the National Army Museum!!! https://armyhistory.org/

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Fort Belvoir (Virginia) US Army "Museum Support Center" historical artifact depository (Grant's Kepi etc)

This looks interesting:

http://www.history.army.mil/museum.html