Recent Discovery Furthers Scholarship on Monuments Man: Lt. Col. Edward Adams Portfolio Donated to the National Gallery of Art Archives

Edward Adams Papers, National Gallery of Art Archives. Courtesy of Monuments Men and Women Foundation / ©David Trozzo, All Rights Reserved.

It is always a notable occasion when new information about the Monuments Men and Women is discovered. As reflected in the Foundation’s mission and values, our team finds this beneficial in not only creating a more accurate historical record, but in honoring these heroes of our shared cultural heritage. This past spring, the Foundation was contacted by Chris Mooney, CFO of Penick Village, a retirement community in Southern Pines, North Carolina, where Monuments Man Lieutenant Colonel Edward E. Adams Jr. had lived his final years before his death in 1994. Facilities management had discovered a leather-bound portfolio that belonged to Adams during preparations for upcoming renovations.

From left to right, Casey Shelton (Senior Researcher, Monuments Men and Women Foundation), Michele Willens (Acting Chief of Archives, National Gallery of Art Archives), Anna Bottinelli (President, Monuments Men and Women Foundation). Courtesy of Monuments Men and Women Foundation / ©David Trozzo, All Rights Reserved.

Adams, then a captain in the US Army, was a vital contributor to the postwar efforts of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) program in its mission to return millions of displaced and stolen artworks and other cultural items. By October 1945, he was attached to Headquarters, Eastern Military District, which would later become the Office of Military Government for Bavaria, and became the director of the MFAA Special Evacuation Team. Captain Adams coordinated and oversaw the evacuation of some six thousand cultural objects from Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps, many of which had been spoliated from Jewish collectors and art dealers in France. Using a limited supply of ropes, wood planks, and manpower, he directed over six hundred crates down the castle’s steep staircases for just the first restitution shipment alone. The crates were then loaded onto fifty-two trucks before being driven seven kilometers to twenty-one train cars. On October 25, 1945, this first trainload of looted objects departed Füssen for Paris, escorted by French restitution officer Captain Hubert de Brye. Adams supervised two further shipments on November 24 and December 1 before undertaking a similar operation at Buxheim monastery repository. In the September 1946 issue of The Quartermaster Review, he detailed the challenges of the highly involved transports in his article “Looted Treasures Go Back to France.”

Adams had donated a number of his papers and photos to the National Gallery of Art Archives in Washington, DC, before his death, but it seems there was more to be discovered. The portfolio contained a collection of some of his cherished documents, including high school and college diplomas and several documents related to his military service. Of particular note are certificates acknowledging his valiant efforts during World War II by US Army occupation authorities and the French minister of national education. Because no next of kin had ever been identified after Adams’ death, the papers had remained in storage at Penick Village in an office for decades. Realizing the historical significance of the papers, Mooney learned of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation and reached out, see it as a fitting recipient of these documents for further research and evaluation. “We started out to find the next of kin of Edward Adams, and found a story of a true hero,” he remarked.

OMGUS achievement certificate

Adams pictured in the center

Adams awarded a rank within a French order of merit

On October 7, the Foundation’s president, Anna Bottinelli, and senior researcher, Casey Shelton, donated the portfolio to the National Gallery of Art Archives in the West Building in Washington, DC. Acting chief of archives, Michele Willens, and media archivist Kelly Burton welcomed the Foundation, displaying and discussing selections from the collections of Monuments Officers housed in their archives.

From left to right, Casey Shelton (Senior Researcher, Monuments Men and Women Foundation), Michele Willens (Acting Chief of Archives, National Gallery of Art Archives), Anna Bottinelli (President, Monuments Men and Women Foundation), and Kelly Burton (Media Archivist, National Gallery of Art Archives). Courtesy of Monuments Men and Women Foundation / ©David Trozzo, All Rights Reserved.

"The National Gallery of Art Archives is delighted to receive these documents and photographs relating to Edward E. Adams, a captain with Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives division of the United States army in Germany during and immediately after World War II, from the Monuments Men and Women Foundation," said Michele Willens. "Providing valuable information into his biography and his wartime activities, these materials will supplement the Adams’ papers already in the Archives as well as papers of other MFAA officers. We are grateful to the Foundation and to Penick Village, which initially held the materials, for this important gift."

This donation ensures the preservation of this portion of Adams’ historical record alongside his other papers in a single, accessible location for researchers. Information obtained from the contents of this portfolio has been added to Adams’ biography on our website. The Foundation extends its gratitude to Chris Mooney and the administration at Penick Village for initiating this generous donation. Their efforts and commitment in preserving this portfolio not only further the scholarship of the Monuments Men and Women, but honors their remarkable legacy as well.