A few years ago, when Andy Wiest – historian, author and founding director of the Dale Center at the University of Southern Mississippi – began to work on another book, he realized the difficulty in finding information on the National Guard, as that material is held in various repositories throughout the country.
That began a project – helped along by Kevin Green, co-director of the Dale Center – to get that information housed under one roof at the university, which will be made possible by a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by the university and the National Guard Bureau. Under that memorandum – which was signed on January 23 by USM president Joe Paul and Richard Clark, director of the NGB History Office – officials will establish the Center for the Study of the National Guard at the Dale Center to serve as a central hub for archival materials and oral histories.
“If you want to study military history the right way – especially as it relates to the active-duty service branches – there are specific places where you go do that,” Greene said. “If you want to research the Guard, you’re going to over 60 different sites across the 54 states and territories and D.C.
“We started to poke around (to find research materials on Wiest’s book) and come to find out, that stuff is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Some of it’s at Camp Shelby, some of it’s in Jackson, and some of it is in armories and installations across Mississippi, within closets and spaces where people aren’t exactly sure what that stuff is.”
The Center for the Study of the National Guard is expected to serve as an international-level resource for the study of the Guard’s past, present and future. Under terms of the MOU, the center will provide “histories and documents of historical significance to USM as determined to be appropriate by the NGB historian,” and will facilitate contact between USM and the Guard organizations of the 54 states and territories, as well as Washington, D.C.
University officials will preserve the documents and provide public and academic access to the materials.
“The Guard has enabled [men and women] to develop their skills, not only changing their lives but those of their families for generations to come, all the while protecting and serving the state of Mississippi in times of hurricanes and tornadoes and defending the security of our nation,” Paul said. “Some even made the ultimate sacrifice.
“I can assure all of you that the curation and development of this history is in good hands at Southern Miss. Professors Wiest and Greene are deeply committed to this initiative.”
While Greene acknowledges that compiling all the material from around the country will be a massive task, he is excited to finally have all the material under one roof for easy access.
“It’s a good day for Southern Miss – it’s really great,” he said. “I am delighted that we have this opportunity to serve the guard bureau, and serve the Guard – it’s a tremendous honor and sense of duty to do this.
“At the same time, we’re just getting started, and we’re going to need all the help we can get. I’m ready to get to work – the idea of it is enormous.”
Although the center will be located in the Dale Center upon its establishment, officials hope to construct a separate facility, although that measure is way down the line.
“That is our goal, and that is what the Guard deserves, is a state-of-the-art, international-recognized home for its … history,” Greene said. “Maybe (one day) this becomes a place where leaders of the Guard and their families can go and think and research and study about the Guard.”
In addition to niversity leadership, representatives from the USM Foundation Board of Directors, Southern Miss Alumni Association, Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families, and the City of Hattiesburg were present for the MOU ceremony.
