USMA Library Archives and Special Collections

USMA Association of Graduates

• USMA AOG provides the Find A Grad website where you can learn if someone graduated and what year. Limited information is available to non-graduates, such as name and year of graduation. 
  • If you wish to contact a graduate, AOG has an Email a Grad service that allows you to blindly email the person through the email that AOG has on file. 
• Register of Graduates: AOG traces the West Point Register of Graduates & Former Cadets legacy to the post-Civil War era, when the Register was compiled by George W. Cullum, Class of 1833. Search for individual entries recording the names, classes, and careers of every West Point graduate from 1802 to the present. AOG limits access to this online resource to graduates, widows/widowers, or ex-cadets. 

Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy

• The official record of cadets begins from the founding of the Academy. Hard copies are available on the 5th floor of Jefferson Hall in the circulating collection at U410.H52. The following digitized versions are available: 
  • Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802, to 1890.
  • Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802, Supplement. Coverage through the Class of 1950.

Official Register of the Officers and Cadets of the U.S. Military Academy

• Although content changes substantially during the 148 years of its publication, a list of the academic and military staff and the order-of-merit lists for each class are included in all editions. The staff list includes information on the individual's rank, unit, or branch, and period of service at USMA. The order-of-merit list includes such data on each cadet as his date of admission, age, source of appointment, rank in respective studies, and demerits accumulated and contains remarks on cadets not examined, discharged, or turned back to a lower class. 
• Registers from 1818-1966 are digitized as part of the digital collection of the USMA Library.

Class Albums: Created by cadets between 1857 - 1909 (we have examples from every year except for 1858 and 1860). They vary in composition because individual cadets purchased the photographs they wanted as part of their albums. Class albums from the classes of 1862 and 1898-1902 are available digitally. 

Howitzer: The yearbook of the United States Corps of Cadets published by the first class.

• Digitized Howitzers: available through the USMA Library Digital Collection, ranges from 1894-1949.
• Hard copy Howitzers: Located on the 2nd floor of the USMA Library, or in the circulating collection at U410.N5 H84. 

Transcripts can be requested through the USMA Registrars Office: Request a transcript

The West Point Association of Graduates publishes Memorial Articles in memory of deceased graduates and former cadets. Articles are published in an annual issue of TAPS and can be found online. Search for obituaries using the "Deceased Graduate Search" function on that page.

Earlier obituaries were also published in the Annual Reunion of the AOG,1870-1916, and the Annual report of the Association of the Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, 1917-1941. Not all obituaries from these earlier works are included on AOG's current website.

Some obituary information is included with the biographical sketches from the Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. The Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802, to 1890 and the Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from its establishment, in 1802, Supplement (coverage through the Class of 1950) are available digitally.

The Archives collection is comprised of the historical administrative records of the U.S. Military Academy, dating from its founding in 1802 through the present. Manuscripts, typescripts, publications, photographs, sound recordings, and maps are all included in the collection. To qualify for the Archives, the material must have been generated by the Academy in the course of official business and must be of permanent historical value. Although maintained at West Point, these materials constitute record group 404 of the National Archives of the United States. As part of the National Archives, they are available to researchers within the confines of applicable rules, regulations, and statutes. The USMA Library also has additional materials that support the official archive, although they may not be part of the NARA collection.

The Archives include many series of Academy publications, such as the cadet yearbook, Howitzer; the post newspaper, Pointer View; Annual Reports of the Superintendent; and others.

• Preliminary Inventory of the records of the United States Military Academy, record group 404.
• The annual reports by the Superintendent concerning the state and accomplishments of the U.S. Military Academy. Among the subjects covered are personnel, academic departments, courses of study, expenditures, buildings and grounds, athletics, official visitors, and major events. Often included as appendixes are reports of the Adjutant, the Surgeon, the Treasurer, the Librarian, the Quartermaster, the Dean, the Commandant of Cadets, and other Academy officials. Normally prepared in June after the end of the academic year, the reports were submitted to the Secretary of War and, after 1947, to the Secretary of the Army. Beginning in 1890 these reports were issued as a separate publication, either by the Government Printing Office or by the U.S. Military Academy Press. There are no reports for the years 1874-76.
• The Centennial of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. 1802-1902. This volume was created after the centennial celebration of the U.S. Military Academy and includes information such as the textbooks used, graduates, bibliographies of West Point (1694-1902), of the U.S. Military Academy (1776-1902), and of the writings of graduates of USMA in the first 100 years. 2 Volumes. 
• Historical Photographs
  • Photographs of West Point by the Army Signal Corps
  • Photographs of West Point by William H. Stockbridge

Curriculum

• Descriptions of the Academic Program
  • Catalog of information. 1946-1949/50.
  • Catalog of the United States Military Academy. 1950/51.
  • Catalog of the United States Military Academy. 1951/52 - 1959/60.
  • Catalogue. 1960/61 - 1970/71.
  • West Point: catalog. 1971/72 - 
  • Academic program [The Redbook] AY 1965/66 - 2014 (most years available)
  • The current course catalog, The Redbook

  • Official Register of the Officers and Cadets of the U.S. Military Academy

    • Official Registers include curriculum information starting mid 19th Century. The Centennial volumes also have a lot of information on first century curriculum (broken out by department)
    • Registers from 1818-1966 are digitized as part of the digital collection of the USMA Library.

News and Public Affairs Resources

• Pointer View Newspapers
  • Pointer View, 1946-1975.
  • Pointer View, 2004-2017.
  • PAO Pointer View Archives, 2006-2021.
• USMA PAO Flickr (thousand of photographs from approximately 2009 to present)

Basic information on the source of cadet appointments is available from a couple of sources. 

• Example listing for General Ulysses S. Grant, USMA 1843 from the digitized 1843 Official Register:

• USMA Association of Graduates
  • How to look at a Register Entry:
    • Example listing for General Ulysses S. Grant, USMA 1843 from the AOG online Register:
      • Appointment category. State from which, or how, a graduate was appointed. If blank, appointment is from the state of birth. See Note 2 for a full list of appointment categories.

• Ancestry.com: Most public libraries subscribe to Ancestry.com. Contact your local public library to learn if they subscribe and what you need to access this resource. If you are eligible to access Military OneSource MWR Digital Library, it includes access to the Ancestry Library online. The DoD MWR Library provides access to this resource, not the USMA Library. 
  • Go to the MWR Digital Library. You may be asked to log in to Military OneSource. If you have never used Military OneSource before, you will need to register before gaining access to the site.
  • The U.S., Military and Naval Academies, Cadet Records and Applications collection has this information through 1894 for USMA. 
  • Example listing for General Ulysses S. Grant, USMA 1843 from NARA Record Group 94:

The West Point Post Cemetery is America’s oldest military post cemetery and has become a historic national landmark. The cemetery is located on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in the great state of New York and provides a serene locale for the thousands of visitors who walk the grounds each year. Prior to its designation as a military cemetery in 1817, the grounds were used by local residents for burials, and the graves of Soldiers from as far back as the Revolutionary war are located there. Those laid to rest in these hallowed grounds include distinguished Soldiers, Medal of Honor Recipients, astronauts, athletes, and family members.

The cemetery website includes a brochure guide in pdf format. There are grave locators at the information kiosk in the rear of the cemetery office, at the rear of the Old Cadet Chapel, and in the Old Cadet Chapel Columbarium. 

The Cadet Publications Program coordinates the production and sales of USMA publications: Bugle Notes, Howitzer, Pointer, Mortar, Wall Calendar, and Planner. Ordering and contact information is included on their website. 

USMA Library Virtual Exhibits

Photographs of West Point by the Army Signal Corps

Photographs of West Point by William H. Stockbridge

USMA PAO Flickr (from approximately 2009 to present)

West Point Postcards

West Point Museum

West Point Center for Oral History

West Point Feature Films

Black History Project at West Point (Videos created by the USMA Department of History)

Women of West Point: A virtual tour of USMA (USMA Department of History)

Women of West Point (Videos created by the USMA Department of History)

West Point Material Culture (Videos created by the USMA Department of History)

Predecessors to the Assembly and West Point Magazines: 

• Annual Reunion / Association of the Graduates of the United States Military Academy. 1870-1916.
• Annual report of the Association of the Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. 1917-1941.

Assembly Magazines (former alumni magazine published by AOG), digitized editions include 1942-1990.

West Point Magazine (current alumni quarterly magazine published by AOG)