The General Douglas MacArthur Memorial was opened on January 26, 1964. Most of the documents, library, personal and official papers from General MacArthur's estate, however, were not turned over to the City of Norfolk until 1965 when Norfolk employed an archivist to administer the papers.

The MacArthur Memorial Archives and Library is the repository for the papers of General MacArthur, eighteen of his subordinate generals, and the collections of hundreds of veterans and acquaintances of General MacArthur. Located in the Jean MacArthur Research Center of the MacArthur Memorial complex, the library and archives consist of a 6000 volume library including General MacArthur's personal library, some 2,000,000 documents, over 86,000 photographs, 250 films, and thousands of newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Caveat: Most of General MacArthur's pre-1942 papers were destroyed in the Manila Hotel during the battle for Manila, February 1945

The attached list of Record Groups provides basic information on the archival holdings.