Is the Museum Accepting…? 
 
Items accompanied by a World War II-era photo of the person who collected the item, a personal account of any length and/or copies of available service documents are most likely to be accepted, however every offer is judged on an individual basis.  We are always looking for artifacts with a good story.

Axis Pistols – Yes, especially: Beretta Mo.34; Star Modelo B, Astra 300; Mauser C96; Browning Hi Power (with German Acceptance Stamps), Polish P-35 Radom, Walther Last Ditch Volkspistolen, Sauer M38. Steyr-Pistole M 12; Nazi marked Browning Hi power and an artillery Luger. There are regulations about mailing weapons and we are happy to assist you.

Axis Rifles – Yes, especially: G43s; also the Mauser for Mountain troops G33/40; naturally an FG42 would be super; a volks sturm rifle; K98 sniper rifles with optics, K-43s, G-41s, last ditch VG (Volkssturmgewehre) rifles; Contract VZ-24 Rifle (Czechoslovakian); Manchurian Model 98 Mauser; Last Ditch rifles 1944-45 (National Rifle for Civilian Defense; Grenade Discharging Rifle); Any Japanese Sniper Rifles with optics (Type 38,97,99 etc.); Any Japanese Paratroop Rifles. The Museum currently has sufficient examples of the Japanese Type 38 and type 99 Rifle and Tokarev SVT-40, issued extensively by Germany. If you are in doubt of the type of rifle you have, send us a picture. There are regulations about mailing weapons and are happy to assist you.

Books – Some. Books written during or about World War II, except: . We are no longer accepting Blue Jacket manuals, Time Life Books or the Navy pictorial booklet. We ARE specifically seeking the Saturday Evening Post, Infantry Journal, Artillery Journal, Motornews and specific issues of Time, Stars & Stripes, Yank and Life. Please send a list of the titles you wish to donate.

Brochures - Yes. Wartime ephemera such as brochures, theater tickets souvenirs will be placed in our archival collection and treated as artifacts. We are not accepting post-war pamphlets and guides to wartime locations like forts, battle sites and memorials

Cots – We are no longer accepting cots.

DVDs – Yes, some commercial and non-commercial DVDs for our library. Please send a list before mailing DVDs.

Film – Some. Send us titles and a photo of the canister. Efforts will be made to transfer the film to a stable digital format, which might result in the loss of the original film; nitrate film will be transferred if possible then discarded for the safety of the collection.

Footlockers – We are not accepting empty footlockers without a personal story. We would like a list of items and/or representative photo before accepting footlocker contents.

Japanese Items, non-weapon – Yes, we are collecting military and non-military items made in Japan during the war and occupation. Please send a photo

Medals and insignia– Yes, we can always use medals and insignia for many purposes. If you submit them in a shadow box, we may disassemble the box to make better use of the individual medals.

Nazi Flags – Yes, we are accepting Nazi flags.

Newspapers – We are looking for entire front pages with headlines describing pivotal events. We will also accept news articles related specifically to you or your veteran. We are not collecting scrapbooks full of clippings that do not relate to you or your family.

News Articles – Post-war feature, internet and other published articles not directly related to the family or veteran’s WWII experiences are only accepted when accompanied by other original WWII materials.

Photos, letters and journals – Yes! Please make the copies you need before sending us the originals. As for World War II service documents, we do not need originals. In fact, you will probably want the original Separation Papers and/or Discharge Papers. We will accept CDs, DVDs or good copies of wartime prints (though we prefer originals). Photocopies, low quality copies and internet printouts are generally not suitable library donations on their own—only as backup personal information.

Ration books – We are seeking ration book covers manufactured by private companies such as banks and others. They usually contain patriotic messages about their part in the war effort. Curatorial has many ration booklets and stamps, but our Education Department is still looking for ration books. The Education Collection might be brought to school groups to help them learn about World War II.

Reunion Materials - We accept a small amount of reunion materials to supplement original personal collections.

Scrapbooks – Because scrapbooks are unique they will be evaluated individually. A book of newspaper headlines that chronicle the war but do not tell us anything personal will probably not be useful for research or curatorial purposes, since most newspapers are archived on microfiche or other compact media. If you have separate items, it’s best not to assemble them into exhibits or scrapbooks at this point if you want to donate. We might disassemble scrapbooks in a manner consistent with preservation methods; the original structure will be preserved through photocopies.

Service Documents - We will accept copies of discharge papers that are not accompanied by other donation materials, but we are not processing them as individual gifts.

Uniforms – We are seeking uniforms worn while in performance of one’s World War II service, not necessarily uniforms only worn while on leave or issued upon discharge. Please send us a photo and service information.

VHS Movies -.. We do not accept VHS copies of commercial movies. WE DO accept personal oral histories recorded on all media.

Weapons – (also see "Axis Pistols" and "Axis Rifles").

Yearbooks, Unit Histories and Newsletters – Items printed during the war years will be placed in our archival collection and treated as artifacts; post-war books written about WWII will go in our library collection. Please ask curatorial staff before making or sending copies of unit histories and yearbooks, or before sending reunion newsletters or other reunion materials. Photocopies of published articles and printouts of internet pages are generally not suitable library donations on their own.

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