Please consult our recommendations below for citing research materials from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, including content on this website. Check with your teacher or professor for the specific formatting requirements of your institution.
- From the Museum’s Website
- From the Museum’s Archival Materials
- From the Museum’s Film, Oral History, Recorded Sound Archive
- From the Museum’s Library Materials
- From the International Tracing Service
- From the Shoah Foundation
From the Museum’s Website
Articles
To cite text from the Museum’s website and help others find it in the future, provide the:
- Author (if a particular person is not attributed, list the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as the author)
- Title of the article
- Title of the webpage
- URL of the webpage
- Date you accessed the information
Examples
To cite this article from the Museum’s Holocaust Encyclopedia, use:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Introduction to the Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/introduction-to-the-holocaust. Accessed on [date].
To cite this article from a Museum collections highlight, use:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “A Forgotten Suitcase: The Mantello Rescue Mission.” Collections Highlights. www.ushmm.org/research/research-in-collections/collections-highlights/mantello-rescue-mission. Accessed on [date].
Photographs
To cite a photograph from the Museum’s website or online databases, provide the:
- Image title
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archives #[number] (if applicable)
- Courtesy of [name] (if applicable)
- Copyright of [name] (if applicable)
Example
To cite this photo from the Museum’s photo archives database, use:
Portrait of diplomatic rescuer George Mandel-Mantello. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archives #45670. Courtesy of Eric Saul. Copyright of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
From the Museum’s Archival Materials
The Museum’s Collection consists of unpublished materials, collected from a variety of sources and in different formats, which are assigned accession (Acc.) numbers. Surrogate materials (duplicates) acquired from repositories around the world are also assigned record groups (RGs). It’s important to capture the key information that will enable you and other researchers to locate these materials in the future.
Consult collection finding aids and use preferred citation whenever provided. See basic templates and examples below for guidance when a preferred citation is not provided.
Bibliographic Form:
Identification of item, Name of collection, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.
Note Form:
Identification of item, Name of collection, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.
Examples
Bibliographic:
RG-15.104M, Centralny Komitet Żydów Polskich (CKŻP). Wydział Repatriacji z ZSRR: Central Committee of Jews in Poland. Repatriation Department from USSR, 1945-1950. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.
2013.503.3, Bagriansky-Zerner family collection. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.
Note:
File 271/1/572, Reel 26, RG-31.013M, Ivano-Frankivsk State Oblast Archives Records, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.
Writings, circa 1987-1993: Die grosse Aktion (Kaunas, 28 October 1941), (Box 1/folder 14), 2013.503.3, Bagriansky-Zerner family collection, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington, DC.
From the Museum’s Film, Oral History, Recorded Sound Archive
When citing time-based media archival collections from the Museum’s Film, Oral History, and Recorded Sound branch, consult the Collections Search catalog and refer to the credit line field, if available. Refer to the basic templates below for guidance when a credit line or preferred citation is not provided in the catalog.
For an entire oral history collection:
RG-50.062, Oral History interviews of the Hawaii Holocaust Project, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
For individual oral history interviews or transcripts:
RG-50.062.0010, Oral history interview with Royce Higa, Oral History interviews of the Hawaii Holocaust Project, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
For historic film footage:
RG-60.4260, Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Bundesarchiv
RG-60.4310, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, gift of Allen S. Hepner
For historic sound collections:
RG-91.0145, “Eksodus 1947,” courtesy of Lillian Gewirtzman, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
General examples, when credit line is not provided in Collections Search:
[Name of collection] or “[Title of Work],” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
[Identification of item (i.e. RG-number)], [Name of collection] or “[Title of Work],” courtesy of [Donor or Source, when available], United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
From the Museum’s Library Materials
There are several accepted ways to cite materials in a bibliography or on a works-cited page, and styles are constantly evolving. Many history professors prefer students use The Chicago Manual of Style, while high school teachers and other professors often allow the use of Turabian. Certain disciplines in the humanities encourage the use of the MLA Style Manual for graduate students and academics or the MLA Handbook for high school and undergraduates. Ask your teacher or professor which style guide or edition is preferred by your school or institution. Common style guides include:
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014. Find in a library near you.
- Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd edition. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2008. Find in a library near you.
- Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 8th edition. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2016. Find in a library near you.
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2015. Find in a library near you.
- Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. Find in a library near you.
Guidance for citing sources using these styles can be found at the Research and Documentation Online website.
From the International Tracing Service (ITS) Digital Collection
Citations of materials found within the digitized collections of the International Tracing Service, at the Museum or any of the other repositories, should comprise document-specific information, including the document title and the collection title as well as the archival tree number, the document ID, the name of the repository at which you accessed the material, and the date you accessed it.
To cite material in a footnote or endnote, use:
[Title of document], [Archival Sub-collection Number]/[Digital Document Number]/ITS Digital Archive. Accessed at [repository] on [date].
Examples
Report on Conferences on Unaccompanied Children, 1946, 6.1.2/82489042/ITS Digital Archive. Accessed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on [date].
Häftlingspersonalbogen Jakob Abelsohn, Dachau, 1.1.6.2/9956912/ITS Digital Archive. Accessed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on [date].
To cite material within a bibliography, use:
Sub-collection [Archival Sub-collection Number]: [Archival Sub-collection Title], ITS Digital Archive. Accessed at [repository] on [date].
Example
Sub-collection 1.1.5.3: Individuelle Unterlagen Männer Buchenwald, ITS Digital Archive. Accessed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on [date].
To cite materials used in exhibitions, adhere to your own institution-specific guidelines for captions and include:
[Digital Document Number] © ITS Bad Arolsen
From the Shoah Foundation
For citations of digitized oral history testimony found through the Shoah Foundation interface, use:
Interviewee’s last name, interviewee’s first name. Interview [interview-code]. Visual History Archive. USC Shoah Foundation Institute. Accessed online at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on [date].
Example
Limor, Elizabeth. Interview 16506. Visual History Archive. USC Shoah Foundation Institute. Accessed online at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on [date].
