Still Pictures Aerial Photography in Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer
Color and Black and White Contact Prints of U.S. Army Activities in Korea, 1958 - 1981 (111-CCK)
The photographs in this series are black and white and color views of the U.S. Army activities in Korea. The photographs document a wide variety of subjects including; aerial and general views; ammunition; aviation-helicopters; bases, camps, and posts; boards and committees; bombing; bridges; border patrols; carnivals; ceremonies; children; communications; construction of buildings and roads; control towers; customs inspections; guided missiles; guns and weapons; flags; erosion control; public buildings; Allied and American personnel; the attendees at the Panmunjom Conference; prisons; religious activities; signal corps activities; storage facilities; sentry dogs; radars; training; tunnels; the Trans-Korean Pipeline and other (miscellaneous)subjects. Also included are photographs of the Secretary of Defense Harold Brown; President Jimmy Carter visiting Camp Casey in 1979, and with Mrs. Carter and the President of South Korea Park Chung Hee; and entertainers Bob Hope and Lola Falana performing before troops. Corresponding negatives and transparencies for most of the prints in this series can be found in 111-SC, and 111-C. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room.
Color Contact Prints of the U.S. Army Art Collection Relating to the Korean War, Vietnam War and Thailand, 1950 - 1981 (111-KV)
The photographs of artworks in this series illustrate a wide variety of subjects relating to the Korean War, the Vietnam War and military activity in Thailand. The subjects include crew quarters; ships, U-boats and fishing boats; hospitals; recreational activity; seaplane bases; control towers; American and foreign military troops; trains; aircraft; portraits; prisoners; landscapes; aerial and general views; camp scenes; bridges; children; damaged buildings and roads; ruins, casualties and other views. The dates covered in this series are the dates the photographs of the artworks were taken, not the dates the artworks were created. Corresponding negatives and transparencies for the prints in this series can be found in series 111-C. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room.
Color Photographs of Signal Corps Activity, 1944 - 1981 (111-C)
This series consists of color prints, negatives, transparencies, and 35mm slides as well as a limited number of black and white prints and negatives. Many of the black and white prints have accompanying color negatives. Some items may contain all photographic formats, however, the majority of items contain only one or two of the formats. Although the bulk of the photographs cover the years 1944-1981, there are a number of photographs for period 1982-1983.
The photographs were taken by the Signal Corps to document and publicize United States Army activities and technological developments at home and abroad. Subjects of photographs include Army bases; equipment; guns and weapons; aircraft; military exercises in the United States and foreign countries; aerial views of United States and foreign countries; military units and Special Forces; medical facilities; military ceremonies; communication systems; transportation vehicles; American and foreign prisoners of war; foreign landscapes, locales, and populations; foreign armies and equipment; combat artwork pertaining to World War II and Vietnam; American and foreign military personnel, politicians, and dignitaries. The combat photography within the series pertains virtually to the Korean Conflict and Vietnam War.
For the period 1944-1954, there are both 4"x5" and 8"x10" prints with most of the 8"x10" prints mounted. all prints after 1954 are 4"x5" and unmounted. Based on the difference in volume, as well as, a comparison between the prints and the negatives, transparencies, and slides, there is nearly a 2:1 ratio of negatives, transparencies, and slides to contact prints. Typed captions appear on the back of the prints and a majority of the negatives, transparencies, and slides have accompanying captions which either appear on slips of paper within each envelope or on the front of each envelope. This series contains negatives, slides, and transparencies for the prints which appear in the series designated 111-CCA, CCE, CCK, CCP, CCS, CCV, CPF, CRB, and CTC. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room. This series is partially digitized.
Photographs of Activities at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, 1924 - 1947 (111-FM)
This series consists of photographs relating to meteorological, photographic, and communications training at the U.S. Army Signal School in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Included are aerial views of the fort and photographs of military and civilian employees, soldiers, classes, drills, buildings, and radio, telephone, and telegraphy equipment. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room.
Photographs of American Military Activities, ca. 1918 - ca. 1981 (111-SC)
This series consists of photographs documenting American activity, the bulk of which is military, from the French and Indian War through the Vietnam War. Other military engagements depicted include the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the China Relief Expedition, the Mexican Punitive Expedition, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War. There are also scenes from wars in which the United States did not directly participate such as the Napoleonic Wars, the Russo-Japanese War, and the Chinese-Japanese War of 1932. The photographs of early American activity are reproductions of paintings, sketches, and artifacts. This series is an aggregate of four accessions. Researchers should be aware that there is some overlapping of items in the first two accessions, and the items received in later accessions often fill in gaps. This series covers such a vast array of subjects that they cannot be listed here in any great detail, but some of the general categories are individuals in U.S. history, events, wars, officers and enlisted personnel, military installations, military ceremonies, armaments, vehicles, general military activity (including administration, recruitment, training, and demobilization), medical facilities and care, communication systems, prisoners of war, foreign armies and equipment, and combat artwork. The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room. This series is partially digitized.
U.S. Army Signal Corps Photographs of Military Activity During World War II and The Korean Conflict, 1941 - 1954 (111-SCA)
This set of albums was created by the Signal Corps to provide broad subject access to the accretion described in 111-SC. The prints in the albums are mostly enlargements of the corresponding negatives in the accretion. The bulk dates for this series are 1941 to 1954, however, some of the prints treat subjects that date back to the French and Indian War, and some prints treat subjects as recent as Viet Nam. The albums are arranged under eight broad categories. Some of the categories are arranged alphabetically by sub-topics and others are arranged numerically by sub-topics (for example, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Division). Some volumes can deal with several subjects or one subject may encompass several volumes. The prints within an album/albums or those prints that deal with a specific subject within an album are arranged numerically by the Signal Corps identification number from the back to the front of the album/albums or the specific subject within an album. The eight subject headings are:
- U.S. Army Posts (1930's-1960's)- Volumes 1-697, arranged alphabetically by name of the post.
- Geographic File (WWII and after)- Volumes 698-3055, arranged alphabetically by country. There are a number of anomalies in this file. For example, the countries of Africa are arranged alphabetically under the "Africa" heading, and the countries of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are grouped under "B" for British Isles, and the Korean War is filed under the "Korea" series- under "N" for Korea-North and the forty albums for "Korea-South."
- Aerial File (Worldwide)- Volumes 3056-3101, arranged alphabetically by country or state.
- Subject File- Volumes 3102-5613, arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder alphabetically by sub-topic and book number.
- Branch of Service File- Volumes 5614-6379, arranged alphabetically by Service Branch, and thereunder alphabetically by sub-topic and book number.
- Unit File- Volumes 6380-6629, arranged alphabetically by Service Branch and thereunder numerically by unit number (The units are divisions, but the last three albums of the file are labeled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Armies.
- Army Maneuvers File (late 1930's and early 1940's)- Volumes 6630-6704, arranged numerically by Army number and thereunder by year and location.
- Personalities- Volumes 6705-6720, unarranged. Some examples of the personalities include Generals Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, Stilwell, and Wainwright; Adolf Hitler (from von Ribbentrop's photo albums); Secretary of War Henry Stimson; and Medal of Honor recipients.
The finding aid for the series is available in the Still Pictures Research Room. This series is partially digitized.
