Fred Shipman, Monuments Man
Dr. Fred W. Shipman, first Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, was asked to join the Roberts Commission (the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in Europe) in January 1944.
In a letter to President Roosevelt, Shipman described his new position, saying, “It would be my job to survey the problem relative to records and archives in this theater and to organize plans to preserve, salvage and make available important records for use in the continued administration and future reconstruction of the area and to preserve cultural materials.”
Roosevelt granted Shipman leave from the Library and the Director soon began his tenure as Temporary Archives Advisor to the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Subcommission of the Allied Control Commission. Members of this Commission are now famously referred to as “Monuments Men.”
Shipman left Washington, D. C. on March 17, 1944. He flew to Naples, Italy where he spent the next month meeting military personnel and getting his orders. From April 18 to May 4, Shipman traveled through Occupied Italy visiting archival repositories. The purpose of his mission was to help protect and preserve Italian archives and records. These materials included both the current administrative records of government and private organizations, as well as the older archives of historical and cultural value.
Read more about Shipman and his time as a Monuments Man.
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