Wilson History and Research Center

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Wilson History and Research Center (WHRC) was a non-profit 501C3 charitable foundation that housed a private collection of twentieth century military headgear and other militaria in Little Rock, Arkansas. Robert M. Wilson, Jr. founded the WHRC in 2008. The collection was researched and presented online through the WHRC's website. The site contained over three thousand individual items. Its goal was to provide a catalog of every piece of military headgear from the twentieth century.

Contents

Highlights

The WHRC features the largest collection of military headgear in the world, according to the Book of Alternative Records. [1] In addition to its collection, the WHRC has an exhibit design department that has created and displayed several exhibits in the local area, listed in detail below. Their website also provides a number of articles written by premier collectors of militaria, giving insight into the world of military headgear. Finally, the WHRC has published Exotische: Rare Cloth Headgear of the Third Reich and is currently working on future volumes as well as other books.

Archives

The WHRC collection features headgear from nearly every era of the twentieth century but especially focuses on World War I and World War II. The oldest piece in the collection is dated to the early 19th century, with the latest pieces coming from the War in Afghanistan and Iraq. A large number of countries are represented, including Kazakhstan, North Korea, and Andorra. Both military and some civilian headgear are represented, along with other items such as equipment, uniforms, flags, period photographs and personal items. While not every item in the collection is published on the website, the WHRC continues to update the site daily. [2]

The WHRC held several items of great historical significance and rarity. They were often featured on the front page of their website. These items included:

Exhibitions

The WHRC has created multiple exhibits for various places around Little Rock. An exhibit on the peace talks that ended World War I and World War II and exhibits on the German Freikorps of the early 1920s were both on display at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. An exhibit on the Third Reich criminal court, titled Law in a Land Without Justice, was placed on display at the William H. Bowen School of Law. [4]

Related Research Articles

Pickelhaube spiked helmet

The Pickelhaube, also Pickelhelm, is a spiked helmet worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German military, firefighters and police. Although typically associated with the Prussian Army, which adopted it in 1842–43, the helmet was widely imitated by other armies during that period. It is still worn today as part of ceremonial wear in the militaries of certain countries, such as Sweden, Chile and Colombia.

Helmet Protective headwear

A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes worn. Soldiers wear helmets, often made from lightweight plastic materials.

Baseball cap type of hat

A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded crown and a stiff bill projecting in front.

Slouch hat Wide-brimmed soft felt or cloth hat most commonly worn as part of a military uniform

A slouch hat is a wide-brimmed felt or cloth hat most commonly worn as part of a military uniform, often, although not always, with a chinstrap. It has been worn by military personnel from many different nations including Australia, Ireland, Britain, India, New Zealand, Southern Rhodesia, France, the United States, the Confederate States, Germany and many others. Australia and New Zealand have had various models of slouch hat as standard issue headwear since the late Victorian period.

Kepi flat circular cap with a visor

The kepi is a cap with a flat circular top and a peak, or visor. In English, the term is a loanword of French: képi, itself a re-spelled version of the Alemannic German: Käppi, a diminutive form of Kappe, meaning "cap". In Europe, this headgear is most commonly associated with French military and police uniforms, though versions of it were widely worn by other armies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In North America, it is usually associated with the American Civil War, as it was worn by soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

Brodie helmet Steel combat helmet

The Brodie helmet is a steel combat helmet designed and patented in London in 1915 by John Leopold Brodie. A modified form of it became the Helmet, Steel, Mark I in Britain and the M1917 Helmet in the U.S. Colloquially, it was called the shrapnel helmet, battle bowler, Tommy helmet, tin hat, and in the United States the doughboy helmet. It was also known as the dishpan hat, tin pan hat, washbasin, battle bowler, and Kelly helmet. The German Army called it the Salatschüssel. The term Brodie is often misused. It is correctly applied only to the original 1915 Brodie's Steel Helmet, War Office Pattern.

Sallet war helmet

The sallet was a combat helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also popular, but in Germany the sallet became almost universal.

<i>Stahlhelm</i> German WWI steel helmet

The Stahlhelm is a specific type of German military headgear made of steel, which is primarily intended to provide protection against fragments of grenades. The term Stahlhelm refers both to a generic steel helmet, and more specifically to the distinctive German military design.

M1 helmet U.S. Army helmet, issued to the US military from 1942 until the 1990s.

The M1 helmet is a combat helmet that was used by the United States military from World War II until 1985, when it was succeeded by the PASGT helmet. The M1 helmet has become an icon of the American military, with its design inspiring other militaries around the world.

Adrian helmet Combat helmet issued to the French Army during World War I

The M15 Adrian helmet was a combat helmet issued to the French Army during World War I. It was the first standard helmet of the French Army and was designed when millions of French troops were engaged in trench warfare, and head wounds from the falling shrapnel generated by indirect fire became a frequent cause of battlefield casualties. Introduced in 1915, it was the first modern steel helmet and it served as the basic helmet of many armies well into the 1930s. Initially issued to infantry soldiers, in modified form they were also issued to cavalry and tank crews. A subsequent version, the M26, was used during World War II.

Pith helmet Lightweight cloth-covered helmet

The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, sun helmet, topee, sola topee or topi, is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet is an adaptation of the native salakot headgear of the Philippines.

Deerstalker cap with visors at front and back, often with earflaps tied on top

A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear for a detective, especially in comical drawings or cartoons along with farcical plays and films.

Eye protection protective gear for the eyes, guarding against particles, light, wind blast, heat, sea spray or some type of ball or puck used in sports

Eye protection is protective gear for the eyes, and sometimes face, designed to reduce the risk of injury. Examples of risks requiring eye protection can include: impact from particles or debris, light or radiation, wind blast, heat, sea spray or impact from some type of ball or puck used in sports.

Shako tall, cylindrical military cap with a visor

A shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with some kind of ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise, and often has a feather, plume, or pompom attached at the top.

Patrol cap Type of a cap

A patrol hat, also known as a field cap, is a soft kepi with a stiff, rounded visor, and flat top, somewhat similar to a baseball cap, worn by the military personnel of some countries in the field when a combat helmet is not required.

Robert M. Wilson Jr. was an Arkansas lawyer.

Headgear Any covering for the head; element of clothing which is worn on ones head

Headgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head.

Coventry Sallet

The Coventry Sallet is a 15th-century helmet now on display at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. English sallets have been considered both rare and important.

Panamanka Tropical hat worn by Soviet and Russian militaries

The Panamanka or Panamka were the common names for the standard tropical headgear of the Soviet Army. Officially the M-38 Field Hat, the Panamanka was introduced on 10 March, 1938, for troops of the Red Army in the Central Asian, North Caucasian and Transcaucasian military districts and Crimea. It was nicknamed Panamanka in reference to Panama hats, due to the vague physical resemblance between the two hats. The Panamanka was popularized in Western imagery of the Soviet Union during the Soviet-Afghan War in 1980s, where it was often worn with the Afghanka uniform as Afghanistan was known for its extreme hot daytime temperatures in the summer and its equally bitter cold nights in the winter months.

References

  1. Book of Alternative Records, "Largest Collection of Military Headgear in the World" http://www.alternativerecords.co.uk/recorddetails.asp?recid=449 September 8, 2010
  2. Robert Bell, "Attorney Aims to Turn Collection of Military Headgear into Museum," Arkansas Business July 5, 2010 http://www.militaryheadgear.com/system/ar-business_article.jpg
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Featured Item Archive". Wilson History and Research Center. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  4. Rebecca Brockman, "Wilson History and Research Center Presents Exhibit at Bowen Law School," DailyRecord October 16, 2009 http://www.dailyrecord.us/Story.aspx?id=1597&date=10%2F16%2F2009