With the arrival of 20 pallets of materials from the personal collection of the longest-serving Secretary of the Army in U.S. history, last week marked a milestone for Columbus State University (CSU) and its deepening commitment to establishing itself as a premier institution for the study of U.S. military history. 

The Columbus State University Library Archives, in partnership with CSU’s Hallock Endowment for Military History, acquired the papers and artifacts from John O. Marsh, who was secretary of the Army from 1981-1989. The collection includes nearly 1,500 boxes that include Marsh’s work as a congressman, his tenure as army secretary, and his continued public service in retirement. The papers offer unparalleled insights into the post-Vietnam transformation of the U.S. Army during the Reagan era, said Dr. David Kieran, the Col. Richard R. Hallock Distinguished University Chair of Military History.  

This historic delivery marks the beginning of a new era in preserving and promoting U.S. military history in the Southeast.  

“This is a watershed moment,” said David M. Owings, who leads CSU’s Archives and Special Collections in the libraries. “These collections—now highlighted with the materials from John Marsh-- make Columbus State an indispensable resource for understanding the evolution of the U.S. military in the 20th and 21st centuries. The richness and diversity of these papers will support scholars, students, veterans, and the general public in new and exciting ways.”  

The newly arriving collections join an already robust repository that includes Civil War-era correspondence, the papers of Confederate General Henry Benning, and documents from both World Wars. Especially notable are the papers of Col. Richard Hallock, which detail his military service in Korea and his later work as an advisor to the Shah of Iran.  

In addition to the Marsh papers, other recent major new collections now include: 

• The Pierre Sprey Papers: Known as one of Robert McNamara’s “whiz kids,” Sprey was central to the design of aircraft like the A-10 Warthog and was an outspoken critic of military-industrial inefficiencies. His collection sheds light on civil-military dynamics, defense reform, and the technological evolution of air combat strategy. 

• The James Martin Papers: A pioneering Army social worker and researcher, Martin’s career spanned from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. His work in developing soldier substance abuse programs, researching psychological readiness, and advising on personnel policy during major conflicts makes his archive an essential source for understanding military mental health and the volunteer force era. 

• The Fort Benning / Fort Moore Initiative: Spearheaded by the papers of Major General (ret.) Patrick Donahoe, former Commanding General of Fort Benning’s Maneuver Center of Excellence, this initiative aims to document life on the base from World War II to the present. His materials—ranging from Iraq and Afghanistan deployments to the transformation of Fort Benning into Fort Moore—are the nucleus of a growing collection that will also include oral histories and community-sourced contributions.  

The development of the military history archives was the result of a partnership with the COL Richard R. Hallock Endowment for Military History and the Hallock Distinguished University Chair in Military History, one of fewer than a dozen such endowed positions in the country. These initiatives have already made CSU a regional leader in military history scholarship and public programming. With the arrival of these archival collections, the university has taken a major step toward becoming a premier research hub for U.S. military history and civil-military relations.  

With major new collections now in hand, the university is working on securing external funding to catalog the papers and make them publicly available and to create a fellowship that will allow researchers from around the country and around the world to visit CSU to study them. a plan that should solidify CSU’s role as the premier destination in the nation for military history research, public engagement, and education, Owings said.  

These collections add to the university’s partnership with, and dedication to, its military partners, which include connections to Fort Benning, one of the most vital military installations in the nation; serving one in five CSU students coming from military families or having served themselves; consistently high-ranking as a military-friendly university.  

“CSU is uniquely positioned to become a national center for military-affiliated scholarship and public history,” Kieran said. “We're grateful and humbled to have been entrusted with these collections and to be chosen as the stewards for such important collections. Studying them helps us connect the history of the Army to the debates happening today and connects the present to a rich tradition of service and sacrifice—and ensuring that the stories of soldiers, leaders, policymakers, and communities are preserved for generations to come.”