U.S. Army Pictorial Center

The U.S. Army Pictorial Center (USAPC) was established in 1942 as the Signal Corps Photographic Center in Astoria, Queens, New York, taking over a former Paramount Pictures studio. During World War II and the subsequent decades, the center produced training films, documentaries, and propaganda materials for the U.S. Army, significantly contributing to military education and morale. Renamed the U.S. Army Pictorial Center in 1958, it continued to serve as the Army’s primary film and television production facility throughout the Cold War. The USAPC was closed in 1970, but its legacy lives on through thousands of military films and instructional materials housed in national archives.