Film and Video History Section
From the First World War to the present, the proud history of the Marine Corps is captured on film and videotape.
The History Division collection of moving image media includes some 20,000 films and 12,000 videotapes. While the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository of Marine Corps footage depicting combat, heads of state, commandants, there are additional copies of some of those films at the History Division. In addition to the copies, our collection primarily preserves behind-the-lines support and planning. This includes combined arms, inter-service, and joint international training exercises, as well as interventions and humanitarian missions. We have a solid collection of recruiting and MOS videos, 1990s videos of over 200 embassies, and MC birthday messages that date back to WWII. Also represented in our collection are changes of command, ceremonial events, bands and drill teams, all significant memorials for the Corps.
We digitized most of the History Division collection. All of the films and videos are accessioned in a searchable database, which supplants the need for finding aids that go out of date quickly. Security protocols prohibit outside access to the database, but requests for information will be handled by the professional historians at the History Division. Better results are obtained with a conference between the requestor and the historian, either in person or by phone. Media that is already digitized can usually be forwarded via a link on a cloud based system.
To visit our YouTube site, click here.