Wilson History and Research Center facts for kids
The Wilson History and Research Center (WHRC) was a special non-profit group in Little Rock, Arkansas. It had a huge private collection of military hats and other items from the 1900s. Robert M. Wilson, Jr. started the WHRC in 2008. They shared their collection and research online on their website. This website showed over three thousand different items. Their main goal was to list every piece of military headgear from the 20th century.
Discover the World's Largest Military Hat Collection
The WHRC was known for having the biggest collection of military headgear in the world! This was even noted in the Book of Alternative Records. Besides their amazing collection, the WHRC also designed and set up special displays. They created several exhibits for places around Little Rock. Their website also had many articles written by top collectors. These articles gave cool insights into the world of military hats. The WHRC also published a book called Exotische: Rare Cloth Headgear of the Third Reich. They were working on more books too.
Explore Historic Military Gear from Around the World
The WHRC collection featured hats and gear from almost every part of the 20th century. They especially focused on items from World War I and World War II. The oldest item in their collection was from the early 1800s. The newest pieces came from more recent conflicts like the War in Afghanistan and Iraq War. Many different countries were represented, including faraway places like Kazakhstan, North Korea, and Andorra.
The collection included both military and some civilian hats. It also had other interesting items. These included equipment, uniforms, flags, old photographs, and personal belongings. Not every item was shown on their website, but the WHRC kept adding new things daily.
The WHRC owned several items that were very rare and important to history. Some of these special items were often shown on the front page of their website. Here are a few examples:
- French Cavalry Helmet of General Victor d'Urbal
- Imperial German Army Detachment Gaede Steel Helmet
- U.S. Experimental Model 7 "Sentinel" Helmet
- Bronze Cast of Marshal Paul von Hindenburg's Right Hand Holding Marshals Baton
- U.S. M1 Steel Helmet belonging to General William M. Hoge
- U.S. Air Force Visor Hat of Chief of Staff General Lew Allen, Jr.
- U.S. Army Dress Visor Hat of General Omar Bradley
- U.S. Navy Dress Bicorne Hat of Admiral John Sidney McCain, Sr.
- Capt. Albert Sammt's Visor Hat of the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei
- Grappling Hook used by U.S. Army Rangers at Point du Hoc
- German Kriegsmarine Visor Cap of U-Boat Captain Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock
- German M-42 Helmet with Embedded Mortar Fin
See WHRC Exhibits in Little Rock
The WHRC created many exhibits for different locations around Little Rock. For example, they had a display about the peace talks that ended World War I and World War II. They also had exhibits about the German Freikorps from the early 1920s. Both of these were shown at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. Another exhibit, called "Law in a Land Without Justice," was about the German criminal court during the Third Reich. This exhibit was displayed at the William H. Bowen School of Law.
