Collection Title: Forrest C. Pogue Collection
Series Number: MS11-02
Processed and Cataloged by: Processed by Benjamin J. Drake from the spring of 2010 to the fall of 2011.
Date Listed: October 19, 2011
Date Span: 1930-1996
Size of Collection: 108.0 linear feet.
Number of Boxes: 159 legal size document cases; 2 legal half size document cases; 6 record center boxes; 12 oversized boxes and 12 map cabinet drawers.
Type of Material: Correspondence, manuscripts, speeches, research and subject files, photographs, artifacts, maps, video cassettes and audio tapes, ephemera
Condition of Material: Good.
Arrangement: Organized into 23 series: I. Correspondence. II. Reviews. III. Speeches. IV. Articles. V. George C. Marshall Biography. VI. Subject Files. VII. Organizations. VIII. Subject Files. IX. Correspondence. X. Biographical Files. XI. Personal files. XII. Photographs. XIII. Diaries, memorabilia, etc. XIV. George C. Marshall. XV. Interviews. XVI. Supreme Command. XVII. Normandy Invasion. XVIII. Oral History. XIX. General Omar Bradley. XX. Christine Brown Pogue. XXII. Miscellaneous. XXIII. Map Cabinet. Chronological arrangement.
Biographical / Historical Information: Forrest C. Pogue was born on September 17, 1912, in Crittenden County, Kentucky. He received his Bachelors from Murray State Teachers College in 1931, his Masters from the University of Kentucky in 1932, and his doctorate from Clark University in 1936. From 1937 to 1938 he studied at the University of Paris, France. Upon his return to the United States, he taught at Western Kentucky College and then later at Murray State Teachers College. He was drafted in 1942 into the United States Army and in spring of 1943 was transferred to the Historical Division, where in 1944 he landed with the troops at Normandy, France. He conducted interviews with the soldiers and officers until the war’s conclusion. Following the war, he served as a civilian historian for the Department of the Army from 1945 to 1952. He briefly returned to teaching at Murray State College in 1954 and 1955. In 1956, he became the director of the newly established George C. Marshall Research Foundation. He became the Director of the Eisenhower Institute for Historical Research at the Smithsonian in 1974 where he remained until his retirement. He is best remembered for his work on the four volume biography of George C. Marshall and writings on the European theater of the Second World War. He died on October 6, 1996 at Murray, Kentucky.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, research notes, subject files, interviews and photographs of Forrest C. Pogue from 1930 to 1996. The collection contains correspondence and interviews from many historical figures from the Second World War, as well as information he collected while writing the book The Supreme Command and the biography of General George C. Marshall. Included in the collection are World War II photographs, maps with handwritten notes, correspondence with prominent world leaders and historians, audio reels, awards, newspaper clippings, speeches, reviews and artifacts.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Pogue, Forrest C., 1912-1996.
Marshall, George Catlett, 1880-1959.
World War, 1939-1945.
United States, Army -- Biography.
Generals -- United States -- Biography.
Military historians -- United States -- Diaries.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Western Front.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, America.
Additional Sources: See http://pogue.murraystate.edu/pdf/Pogue_Biography.PDF for more biographical information on Forrest C. Pogue. Samples of the photograph collection can be viewed at http://jpda.murraystate.edu.
