# United States Marine Corps History Division

The United States Marine Corps History Division is an arm of the Headquarters Marine Corps tasked with researching, writing, and maintaining the History of the United States Marine Corps. It also provides reference and research assistance; preserves personal experiences and observations through oral history interviews; and deploys field historians to record history in the making. It is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.

## History

The History Division was formed on 8 September 1919, by Order Number 53 of Commandant of the Marine Corps George Barnett as the Historical Section of the Department of the Adjutant and Inspector. After World War II, the organization was known as "Marine Corps History and Museums Division" until the splitting of the division in 2005 in order to create the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

## Organization

The United States Marine Corps History Division is a staff organization with the primary task of researching and writing the Marine Corps’ official history. The unit is not a division-sized military formation. It is organized into four branches:
* The Historical Branch prepares a wide variety of official publications that tell the Marine Corps story as accurately and comprehensively as possible. Publications include: articles, monographs, occasional papers, and definitive histories. The Branch also includes the Oral History Program, which obtains, catalogs, transcribes, and preserves personal narrative, experiences and observations of historic value from active duty and retired Marines for use as reference source material.
* The Historical Reference Branch provides historical research and reference services and historical analysis. In addition, the Branch supports specific programs: Unit Lineage and Honors, Commemorative Naming, Marine Corps Flag Manual, and Marine Corps Chronology.
* The Field History Branch deploys Individual Mobilization Augmentee detachment historians to collect historically relevant material (oral history, written/electronic plans, operation orders, maps, overlays and artifacts) for use as reference material. The Branch also consists of a Mobilization Training Unit whose members support the History Division with specific projects.
* The Editing and Design branch designs and lays out manuscripts, maps and other graphic materials to support the History Division’s publications.

### Directors

Since its inception, the following individuals have served as director:
| # | Rank | Name | Tenure began | Tenure ended |
| 1 | 4Major | McClellanEdwin N. McClellan | 8 September 1919 | 31 May 1925 |
| 2 | 4Major | SturdevantEdward W. Sturdevant | 1 June 1925 | 15 August 1928 |
| 3.03 | 3Captain | BurnhamLucian W. Burnham | 16 August 1928 | 31 July 1929 |
| 3.5acting | 0Mr. | JenkinsJames C. Jenkins | 1 August 1926 | 26 September 1929 |
| 4 | 3Captain | PlattJonas H. Platt | 27 September 1929 | 19 June 1930 |
| 5 | 4Major | McClellanEdwin N. McClellan | 20 June 1930 | 2 March 1933 |
| 6 | 3Captain | EllsworthHarry A. Ellsworth | 3 March 1933 | 30 August 1934 |
| 7 | 4Lieutenant colonel | DeCarreAlphonse DeCarre | 31 August 1934 | 5 February 1935 |
| 8.08 | 5Lieutenant colonel | MetcalfClyde H. Metcalf | 6 February 1935 | 31 December 1938 |
| 8.1acting | 0Mr. | JenkinsJames C. Jenkins | 1 January 1939 | 4 October 1942 |
| 8.28 | 6Colonel | MetcalfClyde H. Metcalf | 5 October 1942 | 15 April 1944 |
| 8.3acting | 3Captain | CarletonPhilips D. Carleton | 16 April 1944 | 2 May 1944 |
| 9 | 6Colonel | PottsJohn Potts | 3 May 1944 | 2 January 1946 |
| 10 | 6Colonel | KenyonHoward N. Kenyon | 3 January 1946 | 15 October 1946 |
| 11 | 5Lieutenant colonel | MurrayEllsworth N. Murray | 16 October 1946 | 20 December 1946 |
| 12 | 5Lieutenant colonel | HeinlRobert D. Heinl Jr. | 21 December 1946 | 12 June 1949 |
| 13 | 5Lieutenant colonel | GayleGordon D. Gayle | 13 June 1949 | 13 August 1951 |
| 14 | 5Lieutenant colonel | HoughFrancis O. Hough | 14 August 1951 | 8 June 1952 |
| 15 | 5Lieutenant colonel | EdwardsHarry W. Edwards | 9 June 1952 | 17 July 1955 |
| 16 | 6Colonel | HarrisonCharles W. Harrison | 18 July 1955 | 24 July 1959 |
| 17 | 4Major | KuokkaHubard D. Kuokka | 25 July 1959 | 17 August 1959 |
| 18 | 4Major | FinkGerald Fink | 18 August 1959 | 7 January 1960 |
| 19 | 6Colonel | MillerWilliam M. Miller | 8 January 1960 | 31 July 1961 |
| 20.020 | 6Colonel | RoeThomas G. Roe | 1 August 1961 | 30 June 1962 |
| 20.1acting | 4Major | JohnstoneJohn H. Johnstone | 1 July 1962 | 8 November 1962 |
| 21 | 6Colonel | WagnerJoseph F. Wagner Jr. | 9 November 1962 | 31 August 1963 |
| 22 | 5Lieutenant colonel | ScheningRichard J. Schening | 1 September 1963 | 14 November 1963 |
| 23 | 6Colonel | CaldwellFrank C. Caldwell | 15 November 1963 | 30 November 1970 |
| 24.024 | 7Brigadier general | SimmonsEdwin H. Simmons | 1 December 1971 | 1 July 1978 |
| 24.124 | 7Brigadier general (ret.) | SimmonsEdwin H. Simmons | 21 October 1978 | 3 January 1996 |
| 25 | 6Colonel | MoniganMichael F. Monigan | 4 January 1996 | 11 July 1999 |
| 26.026 | 6Colonel (ret.) | RipleyJohn W. Ripley | 12 July 1999 | 31 August 2005 |
| 26.1acting | 0Mr. | MelsonCharles D. Melson | 1 September 2005 | 8 January 2006 |
| 26.2acting | 6Colonel (ret.) | CampRichard D. Camp Jr. | 9 January 2006 | 10 December 2006 |
| 27 | 0Dr. | NeimeyerCharles P. Neimeyer | 11 December 2006 | December 2017 |
| 28 | 0Dr. | NevgloskiEdward T. Nevgloski | 19 May 2019 | December 2022 |
| 29 | 0Dr. | CallahanShawn P. Callahan | 29 January 2024 | Present |

## Publications

The History Division maintains several publications, including the quarterly newsletter Fortitudine (ISBN 0-16-010404-1), which was a traditional motto of the Corps before semper fidelis was adapted in 1883. They also maintain an archive of all historical publications published since its founding.