The USMC Film Repository preserves the legacy of Combat Camera
The University of South Carolina Moving Image Research Collections (MIRC) is now home to the United States Marine Corps Film Repository. A partnership with the Marine Corps’ History Division at Quantico, the Repository will ensure the physical preservation and digitization of an estimated 18,000 films made almost entirely by the Marines of Combat Camera.
Featuring films from Combat Camera’s origins in World War II through the 1980s, MIRC will make freely available online to the public the great diversity of material produced by Combat Camera, including combat footage, finished documentaries, training films, and public relations materials. To date, MIRC has received more than 10,000 cans of film from Quantico. With the assistance of USC students and volunteers, over 3,200 films have been inspected, rehoused in archival film containers and moved to a new film vault.
Several hundred films have already been digitized and made available online thanks to the generosity of donors. Highlights include: detailed coverage of the fall 1961 basic training courses at Parris Island; an account of the battle of Iwo Jima called “What Price Iwo?” that documents the work of corpsmen on the island; and “For Thou Are With Me,” a 1967 film praising the work of Navy chaplains in Vietnam.
One objective of the Repository is to identify, whenever possible, the Marines of Combat Camera who made the films. MIRC is also interested in Marines stepping forward to help us better describe the content of the films. To this end, the website allows viewers to submit information to MIRC for inclusion in the catalog record for the film.
More information can be found online at digital.library.sc.edu/marinecorps. Financial contributions of any amount will help MIRC build a more robust and sustainable Marine Corps Film Repository for current and future generations.
If you have questions about the project, contact Greg Wilsbacher, at (803) 777-5556 or gregw@mailbox.sc.edu.