Welcome to Virginia Archives Month 2025!
Oh Snap!: Photography in the Archives
The Virginia Archives Month is a part of the annual celebration of American Archives Month held in October. The observance raises awareness of the importance of preserving and sharing local, state, and national historical records. This year’s theme is Oh Snap!: Photography in the Archives.
The USS Birmingham Research Library at the Virginia War Memorial will join repositories across the Commonwealth of Virginia to commemorate our state’s archives and special collections. Every week for the month of October, we will share photographs from collections and the stories behind them.
Photograph of Robert D. Ramsey Jr. in the Pacific, circa 1946
Photography captures a moment in time. These snapshots connect us to the past and reveal historically valuable information to those that view them. This week, we will start with Captain Robert D. Ramsey Jr. who is featured in our new exhibit, Virginia’s Missing in Action: The Search Continues.
The Robert D. Ramsey Photographs (ACC 1729) gives a candid look into members of the 5th Air Force during the occupation in the Pacific. A native of Lynchburg, Ramsey joined the Army Air Corps in 1944. He flew combat patrol with the 5th Air Force, 348th Fighter Group (FG) in the Pacific Theater until February 1948.
Selections from the Robert D. Ramsey Jr. Scrapbook, ACC 1729
Ramsey created this photo album entitled” Air Force Characters” in January 1946 that documents the daily life of the 348th FG while stationed in Japan. On the first page, Ramsey writes an introduction to the collection of photographs in the album stating “Everyone seems to consider the Air Corps as a branch composed of a multitude of characters. Now I’m not disagreeing with everybody, but I maintain that there are no more characters in the Air Corps than anywhere else…It would take ten of these albums to hold the likeness of all my Air Corps buddies and I wish that I had nine before this one full of photos of those guys I’ve know…”
Throughout the album, Ramsey uses photographs strategically. He admits that the collection of the photographs may be “haphazard and will lack continuity,” but that any “remembrance of the following photos to the subject matter was neither accidental or coincidental.”
Formation of P-51 Mustang aircrafts, circa late-1940s
When you look at the photographs, the men of the 5th Air Force look back at you. You can see the camaraderie among the crew through the photographs that are paired with Ramsey’s commentary on the men he served with and the environment around them. The collection of photos also give a closer look at the experience of a pilot serving in the Pacific through what Ramsey chose to document.
If you would like to know more about the life and sacrifice of Captain Robert D. Ramsey, Jr., stop by the Virginia War Memorial to see Virginia’s Missing in Action.
The Robert D. Ramsey Photographs (ACC 1729) were donated by his son, Robert D. Ramsey, III.
