Navajo Code Talkers oral histories [photocopies]
Collection
Identifier: MS 0504
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of photocopies of eight oral histories of the Marine Corps Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. The histories were previously bound, and include sixteen photographs of code talkers working during the war. The interviews were done 9-10 July, 1971, at Window Rock, AZ, where a reunion was being held. Benis M. French, representing the Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C., performed the interviews. Because the code talkers were sent to separate places of the world during the war, each person's oral history details different experiences.
Dates
- 1971
Creator
- United States. Marine Corps (Organization)
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Conditions Governing Use
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Biographical / Historical
The history of the Marine Corps Navajo Code Talkers dates from 1942-1945. In 1942, a white man by the name of Phillip Johnston, who had lived on a Navajo reservation for many years of his life, conceived an idea that he thought might help the war. He believed that the Navajo language, a verbal, rarely-written language, could be used as part of a code that would enable messages to be sent freely over the radio. An experiment was done in front of top Marine officials to prove that the system would work. After the go-ahead, Navajos volunteered or were recruited, and about 320 eventually contributed as code talkers. The code involved speaking in Navajo, but using substitute words for some things, as would a regular code. It was found that the Navajo speakers could put a message into the code, send it, and translate it faster than any other code system being used at that time. As far as is known, the Japanese were never able to break the Navajo code.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)
Abstract
This collection (1971) consists of photocopies of eight oral histories of the Marine Corps Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. The histories were previously bound, and include sixteen photographs of code talkers working during the war.
Processing Information
Processed by Lora Crouch in 1988.
Creator
- United States. Marine Corps (Organization)
- Title
- Inventory of the Navajo Code Talkers oral histories [photocopies], 1971
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Lora Crouch.
- Date
- © 2005 (last modified: 2018)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu