History Commons^™

Ms-177: Lillian Quinn Letter Collection, Avery N. Fox

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The collection consists primarily of letters written from Lillian Quinn to Lillian Carling. The letters span from January 27, 1937 to August 8, 1949 and focus on family health, activities, and troubles of the Quinn family, as well as their opinions about World War II and how it impacts the family.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website https://www.gettysburg.edu/special-collections/collections/.

Ms-178: David Woods ’52 Papers, Kathryn Shirey

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The David Woods Collections consists primarily of letters Woods wrote during his time serving in the Army, stationed in the Philippines. The letters are from August 1, 1946 to September 10, 1947. He was a consistent writer and sent letters home usually at least once a week. A concerned man, he frequently apologizes to his parents, and for not writing more often. All of the letters, except one, are addressed to his family, including his mother, Margaret McGaughy Woods, his father, David Walker Woods II and his little brother, William A. Woods. He liked to take photos and send them …

Ms-171: Corporal Luther Jacob “Jake” Thomas Papers, Margaret J. Meyers, Jenna E. Fleming

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This collection consists of letters, photographs, documents, and artifacts relating to Luther J. “Jake” Thomas’s military service during the Second World War. The majority of the collection features correspondence between Thomas and his family, particularly his mother Anna Thomas, between 1943 and 1945. While serving as an MP in the Army Air Corps, Thomas regularly mailed letters and photographs home detailing his training, travels, and experiences as a soldier. The collection also includes Thomas’s military documentation (for example, induction and separation papers), training materials, wartime souvenirs and artefacts, and post-war awards and honors. The collection includes documents related to Thomas’s …

Ms-142: World War Ii Correspondence Of Clarence And Helen Haldeman, Devin Mckinney

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The bulk of the letters in the collection were written by Clarence and Helen Haldeman between 1943 and 1946, while Clarence was being trained at various bases by the Army Air Corps, and later serving in a bomber squadron in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website https://www.gettysburg.edu/special-collections/collections/.

Ms-147: Lieutenant Andrew R. Kane Letters, Amy E. Lucadamo

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This collection is made up of 28 letters sent to Andrew R. Kane of Philadelphia, PA from May 31-July 15, 1918 while he was serving with the 112th Infantry, Company C in France. They were sent by the women in his family: his mother, two sisters, his sister-in-law, and girlfriend. His younger sister, Frances, and girlfriend, Marie wrote most often. Letters reference family and friends in Philadelphia, their pride in Andrew’s service, and their worries about his safety. They express patriotic and religious sentiments. Letters from Andrew’s mother, Mary, contain the most spelling and grammatical errors and letters from his …

Ms-130: World War I Letters Of Henry W. Straus, Devin Mckinney

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This collection comprises 48 letters from Henry W. Straus to his wife Anna. They were written between June 1918 and March 1919, when Henry, as a U.S. Army medical officer, was serving a British ambulance corps in France. Throughout the letters, Straus addresses his wife with great tenderness and yearning, anticipating their reunion and post-war life. He also displays a progressive attitude with respect to women’s independence, abilities, and right to do useful work.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information …

Ms-123: Robert D. Hanson Papers, Meghan E. Kelly

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This collection is mainly comprised of letters and telegrams of the immediate Hanson family during WWII (1942-1946, with gaps), though there is a selection of letters to members of the family from other authors and a small group of letters written from 1904-1924 to Elizabeth and Henry Hanson from Elizabeth’s parents F. V. N. (Franklin Verzelius Newton) and L. T. ( Laura Trimble) Painter. In the sub-series of other letters addressed to Robert Hanson there are several letters pertaining to Robert’s admission to law school, the bar, and the army in addition to personal correspondence.

Special Collections and College Archives …

Ms-120: Naviglia-Woncheck World War Ii Letters Home: A Family Separated By War, G. Ronald Couchman

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The collection consists of 31 letters or postcards by service men to loved ones at home. Nearly all of the letters are from members of the Naviglia-Woncheck extended family including the four Naviglia brothers: Louis (14 letters), John (one letter), James (one letter), Joseph (7 letters), and “Check” Woncheck (5 letters) the brother-in-law of their sister Anne. The collection also includes one letter from PFC James Faulkner to his sister and one letter from Pvt. David R. Curry to his cousin, Frances Faulkner, a card address to Ford Peters, a war ration book, a Draft Classification Notice for William Thomas …

Ms-116: 1864 Diary Of Corporal Robert Ridge, Thomas P. Lester

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The diary contains information on the activities of Robert Ridge during 1864, and the first two months of 1865. It contains daily entries, list of proverbs, important events and dates, mail sent, mail received, members of Company B 95th Illinois Volunteers, money sent home, clothing acquired, addresses, rations, and Army Corps commanders.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website https://www.gettysburg.edu/special-collections/collections/ …

Ms-117: Papers Of George H. Sweet Jr. ’42, Elizabeth M. Ungemach

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This collection gives insight into the pre- and inter-wartime life of George H. Sweet Jr. ’42 as a member and captain of L.S.T. 358 in the Mediterranean. It also provides general information about World War II in the Mediterranean and L.S.T.s. It further gives a glimpse of the experiences of Donald Sweet ’49 as an aircrewman in the Pacific theater, specifically about life and important happenings during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about …

Ms-103: Jes Jerry Jessen World War I Letters, Kate Boeree

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This collection contains 109 letters written by Jes Jerry Jessen addressed to his family in Spokane, WA, including his mother and father, his brothers George and Ralph, his sister Helen (“La La”) and his aunt Molly between June 6th, 1917 and June 22nd, 1919. These letters follow him through his training in Vancouver, Washington; Charlotte, North Carolina; France; and Germany, where his correspondence ends.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. …

Ms-104: World War Ii Letters From Carl G. Ohmer And Richard E. Ohmer, Kate Boeree

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This collection contains 109 letters written by soldiers in World War II. 98 of these are letters are addressed to the Ohmer family in Girard, PA from their sons, Carl and Richard, as well as a friend of the family, Ray O’Connor. 11 of the letters are addressed to Georgia Hitchcock in New York, NY from John V. Starr, as well as one letter signed “Don,” with no other distinguishing factors of his identity. All letters include their original envelope.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding …

Ms-077: Gladys Kennedy World War Ii Letters, Tara R. Wink, Andrew D. Royer

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This collection of correspondence contains letters from all fronts and from many of Gladys’ “sweethearts.” It appears that she shipped her address out in the parts she made at the Depot and would get responses from some of the soldiers and sailors. Some of the letters are from soldiers and sailors abroad from her hometown of York Springs, Pennsylvania. Collection includes paperwork from a raise received by Kennedy in 1944.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in …

Ms-095: John Wright Collection, Kayla Lenkner

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This collection consist of letters and postcards received by John Wright between June 1917 and December 1919. Most of the correspondence is addressed to John Wright or the Knoxville Journal, however, some letters are addressed to other people who presumably passed the letters along to Wright for publication in the paper. The collection contains a mixture of letters from soldiers, sailors, cavalry men and officers.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of …

Ms-084: Letters Of Gerald Koster, World War Ii, Krystal M. Thomas

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The collection is compromised mainly of letters written by Gerald Koster home to his family in West Toledo, Ohio. The letters follow Koster through training in Great Lakes, Illinois and into combat as well as giving a fairly complete portrait of life on board ship. While Koster’s letters to his parents focus on naval operations and descriptions of military life, those addressed to his younger sister, Phyllis, include more information and queries regarding friends, family, and neighbors on the home front. Koster is very careful about censoring; few of his letters have been edited. As the war continues, he becomes …

Ms-082: Capt. Russell Miller And Claudia Lewis Miller Correspondence, 1916-1919, Amy Sanderson

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This collection consists of 297 letters written between Russell Miller and Claudia Miller from Washington in 1916-1919 during their courtship and marriage before Russell was deployed to Europe during World War I. Almost all letters are attached to their original envelopes with stamps.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website https://www.gettysburg.edu/special-collections/collections/.