July 4 marked 250 years since the nation’s founding, and reminders of the role played by the Army and the Signal Corps in the development of the country can be found within the documents, photographs, and records housed within the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command historical archive.
A few of the highlights from the collection include book published in 1813 that traveled to the Arctic with then-Lt. Adolphus Greely and a hand-written journal recording scientific observations from that 1881 trip by a Soldier who did not make it back from that ill-fated mission. The archive maintains one of the largest collections of World War I-era photographic negatives, recording training camp life from around the country.
The history of the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, is revealed through the searchable collection of newspapers documenting Army activities there from 1917 until 2011. A souvenir publication given as a Christmas gift to one of the “Hello Girls,” female telephone operators sent to France in World War I, illustrates the evolving role of women in society and the military.
The personal journal of then-Maj. William Blair, written as he predicted the weather for the Army’s first aerial circumnavigation of the world in 1924, offers insight into the ideas and thoughts that would eventually lead to the development of radar. A collection documenting the first space communication under Project Diana and the pioneering scientist Walter S. McAfee, whose theoretical work made it possible, reflects the growing role of science and technology in the mid-20th century. Records from the Army’s pigeon training and breeding program show the evolution of the use of animals and their eventual irrelevance as communications technologies advanced.
These are just a few of the archival highlights reflecting more than 100 years of history under the purview of the CECOM historical archive.
The archive, under the command’s Strategic Communications Directorate, serves as institutional memory for CECOM and its predecessor organizations, provides public access to the history of the command, and develops and maintains a physical and digital archive of material related to the command. The archival collection reflects the broad history of technical and scientific advancements that were developed to meet the communications needs of Soldiers dating back to the founding of the Signal Corps in 1860, through the life of Fort Monmouth as “The Home of the Signal Corps” until the 1970s, and modern advancements and changes in communications and electronics technology.
Recent additions include a sample of the new brushless motors currently being built at Tobyhanna Army Depot to support the small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUAS) mission and documents related to how the Army’s efforts at continuous transformation are being carried out at CECOM. As the nation looks forward to the next era of our evolution, the work and the efforts of the Army and CECOM will continue to be documented and preserved for future citizens to study.
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