Welcome to the Archives

The museum’s public archive, the state’s largest military repository, tells the stories of our Veterans, veteran organizations, and military units. It provides provenance and context for our artifact collections and significance for our exhibits. The diaries, photos, films, maps, documents, and other Archive materials, in conjunction with the museum's artifact and book collections, tell the story of all Minnesota's Veterans from pre-statehood to the present. 

Our records consist of material donated by veterans’ families, military units, and the general public over the last 50 years.

The Archive collections specialize in material on Minnesota Veterans, Minnesota National Guard units, and Camp Ripley. Additionally, as Minnesotans have served our nation since pre-statehood, our collections also include material on all service branches, all war eras, and many military units nationwide.

The mission of the museum archive is to acquire, preserve, organize, and make accessible Veteran records, photos, videos, and related materials. This vital archival process allows our Veterans’ stories to be told by our museum and understood by all Minnesotans. 

Collection highlights include:

Collections receiving special emphasis include the Minnesota Air National Guard, Air Reserve, and the Vietnam Veterans Association. Development of our digital archive is also a priority.

All collections are publicly accessible unless restricted by museum policies. Researchers can utilize our finding aid to identify records of interest and make an appointment for viewing. 

Material donations to the museum must be coordinated in advance with the Archivist or Curator. Records we seek include Minnesota Veteran records, Minnesota military unit files, and Veteran organization materials. Contact us to donate.

Our Research Resources

Using our Archive

Research 

The museum maintains an extensive archival collection consisting of military records, personal documents, photographs, maps, publications, etc. Under the supervision of the archivist, the majority of these records are available to researchers at no cost to them. The researcher may request specific records for review on-site via the finding aid.

Although the archivist will not conduct extensive research on behalf of an individual, the archivist can provide information from our holdings as time and resources permit. Research requests of this nature will be charged to the requesting individual or institution at an hourly rate and will be paid prior to the research being conducted, based on a time estimate from the archivist. Typically, a researcher will pay for the initial hour, then evaluate based on findings.

Research on-site:

  • Locate records of interest using our public Archive Finding Aid.

  • Request the records using the finding aid “request” button or send the archivist a summary email including links to each record web page.

  • Make an appointment with the archivist to review the records.

  • Before your visit, the archivist will locate and prep the records for your review on-site.

  • There is no charge for on-site research.

Research remotely:

  • Contact the archivist to request research assistance with your project. Submitting Archive Finding Aid requests is helpful.

  • The archivist will determine if researching our collection will benefit your project or guide research elsewhere.

  • You will pay $25 for the initial hour of research.

  • The archivist will email you digital copies of the results.

  • You and the archivist will determine if research should continue at $25/hour. Usually, one hour is sufficient.

Duplication Fees

  • Duplication fees for records will be assessed at the rate of $0.30 per paper copy for on-site research.

  • No charge for digital copies.

Additional research resources