Funds generated by the War Years Acquisitions Endowment will be used to acquire and preserve materials relating to all aspects of World War II. This endowment has helped the library acquire strong collections of memoirs and personal narratives from those who served. These first hand accounts provide both a fascinating personal perspective on the war and rich primary materials for the scholar. Nearly 300 items have been purchased through the War Years Acquisition Endowment, covering all aspects of World War II, from Europe to the Pacific to the home front.

The fund also accepts memorials for and materials from individuals who served in World War II. One such gift came from Mr. Hugh Wilson of West Columbia. From his personal collection, Wilson donated Desert Rat Sketch, written and illustrated by Clifford Saber, as well as a two-volume edition of The West Point Atlas of American Wars, edited by Brigadier General Vincent J. Esposito.

One research collection the library acquired with the endowment is the Records of the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American flying unit in the Army Air Forces.

The following titles are a small sample of the kind of materials in the collection:

Doing Their Bit: Wartime American Animated Short Films 1939-1945 by Michal S. Shull and David E. Wilt

Soldiering for freedom: a GI's account of World War II / Herman J. Obermayer. College Station : Texas A&M University Press, c2005.

Doing their bit: wartime American animated short films, 1939-1945 / Michael S. Shull and David E. Wilt. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, c2004.

Healers in World War II: oral histories of Medical Corps personnel / edited by Patricia W. Sewell. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, c2001. hat won the war / Peter Elphick. Anapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001.

Liberty: Ships that won the war/ Peter Elphick. Anapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001.

Knocking down barriers: my fight for Black America / Truman K. Gibson, Jr., with Steve Huntley. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, c2005.

Studies on the Holocaust: Selected Writings / Randolph L. Braham. New York : Columbia University Press, 2000.

To learn more about books and other materials purchased through the War Years Acquisition Endowment, search the Library's Catalog by keyword, then type "War Years Endowment" in the search box.

To donate to this fund and for additional information, please contact the University Libraries Development Office at (803) 777-5564 or visit http://www.sc.edu/library/develop/cu.html.

To make a gift online, please click the "Gift Online" button located on the left side of this page or the following link https://giftsonline.sc.edu/contribute.asp.

U.S. Marines raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima (photo by Joe Rosenthal).