The George C. Marshall Foundation
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The George C. Marshall Foundation in
Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, Virg ...
, US, was commissioned by President
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
in order to preserve the papers of General
George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. ...
, who served as Army chief of staff, secretary of state and defense, and received the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
in 1953 for the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...
.


The Foundation

The Foundation is located on the Post of the
Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...
, in a building containing a library, archive, and administrative offices. Dedicated on May 23, 1964, a large ceremony was held with soldiers and statesmen in attendance. Presidents
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...
and
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
spoke at the ceremony. Its first president was General
Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (12 February 1893 – 8 April 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He wa ...
. Members of the original board of directors included
Robert A. Lovett Robert Abercrombie Lovett (September 14, 1895May 7, 1986) was an American politician who served as the fourth United States Secretary of Defense, having been promoted to this position from Deputy Secretary of Defense. He served in the cabinet of ...
, Dr. Forrest C. Pogue and General Frank McCarthy.


George C. Marshall Museum & Library

The Marshall Museum displayed exhibits of Marshall's life and work in the entry hall and two adjacent galleries, one focused on his military career and the other on his achievements following World War II. In August 2019 the foundation planned to renovate the museum, but this did not happen, and the museum closed in January 2021. A small collection of artifacts was kept by the Foundation, with the rest sent for permanent display at other museums. The Marshall Research Library covers United States military and diplomatic history during Marshall's career as a military officer and public servant, from about 1900 to his death in 1959. Along with sorted paper collections, the library contains more than 23,000 manuscripts, two million documents including many from the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
, hundreds of maps, thousands of photographs, 700 posters from all countries involved in both World Wars, films, and over 250 oral histories.


References


External links


The George C. Marshall FoundationThe George C. Marshall Foundation gallery
''Google Arts & Culture''
Gates Receives George C. Marshall Award
, ''Department of Defense Photo Essay'' {{Authority control Marshall, George C. Libraries in Virginia Library buildings completed in 1964 Military and war museums in Virginia Museums in Lexington, Virginia Organizations established in 1953