MREC-17 · MILITARY RECORDS LIBRARY
Photographs, Correspondence & Personal Papers
MREC-17: Personal evidence that can identify people, places, dates, relationships, conditions, equipment, unit culture, and leads to official records when provenance is preserved.
What this record can establish
The existence and content of the paper/photo; annotations; correspondence; depicted people/places when independently identifiable; leads and contextual evidence.
What it does not establish automatically
Family lore, captions, recollection, and later annotations are not self-proving. Image date/location/identity may require corroboration. A copy detached from provenance can lose evidentiary value.
Preservation package
Original item; front/back scans; envelope; handwriting; filename; metadata; custodian history; date estimates; identified people; transcription linked to source; privacy-sensitive information.
Minimum source metadata
- Stable source ID and record class
- Creator or issuing office
- Document date and covered period
- Subject identifiers
- Repository and exact locator
- Provenance or acquisition note
- Proposition supported and express limits
- Evidence-status code and derivative/OCR/transcription lineage
Evidence testing
- Identity: Is the record tied to the correct person, unit, platform, or event?
- Chronology: Separate document date, effective date, event date, and covered period.
- Institutional purpose: Understand why the record was created and what it was designed to record.
- Corroboration: Seek independent records; copies and derivatives from one source do not create independence.
Evidence status key: D1 direct primary; D2 corroborated primary; S1 authoritative secondary; S2 credible secondary; I inference; C conflict; U unverified; N negative research result.
Connected Life Record chapters
- MLR-01 — Before Service
- MLR-03 — Training & Qualifications
- MLR-06 — Career, Assignments & Deployment
- MLR-07 — Family & Dependents
- MLR-13 — Veteran Lifetime
- MLR-14 — Death
- MLR-15 — Survivors
Related navigation guides
Retrieval and authority status
This page defines the evidence family and preservation method. Repository-specific access rules, privacy limits, request forms, retention schedules, service/era differences, and governing authorities must be verified for the particular record before treating retrieval instructions as final. Start with current official repositories and the linked Navigation Guides.
