History Commons^™

Ms – 247: Sinclair – Donaldson Papers, Michelle Williams, Ryan Bilger

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The Sinclair - Donaldson Collection includes photographs and ephemera saved by Connie Sinclair, an African-American W.A.C. member who served during WWII. It consists of sepia-toned and black and white photographs taken during training and enlistment, many captioned. Among the images are official Army photos, including women in a mess hall, the Nurse Corp at Fort Huachuca, and Native American soldiers at the same location.

Also contained within this collection are military pins, patches, and insignia, including the Pallas Athene and Sinclair’s dog tag; a W.A.C. song book from 1944; and Sinclair’s Service Recognition certificate. Two Service Club scrapbooks from the …

Ms – 244: Papers Of George S. Patton Jr., Jujuan K. Johnson

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This collection is contained in two series, the first being George S. Patton Jr.’s letters to his Aunt “Nannie” and his mother from both VMI and West Point (1903-1908). The second being George S. Patton Jr.’s book “My Father as I remembered him.”, which contains a biography of his father, George S. Patton, and a brief biography of other family members, including himself up to 1927.

In Patton’s book “My Father as I remembered him,” he gives brief descriptions and stories about his family, starting with the first “Patton” and ending with himself in 1927. The first “Patton” was Robert …

Ms – 213: Papers Of Edmund F. Churchill, Chloe Parrella

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This collection includes numerous letters, in a single box, in good condition written by Edmund Churchill to members of his family at home, chiefly his father and sister, Charlotte. There are fifty-two letters to Charlotte, twenty-one to his father, and four to his brother. There is one letter from Edmund’s father, as well as two letters from his brother Theodore to their father. Also included are several pages of Churchill’s “diary”, which he entitled Memoranda, which cover major events on a monthly basis. Several pages of background are included, provided by the previous owner. The location given for each letter …

Ms – 245: Papers Of Edward E. Bradbury, Jujuan K. Johnson

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This collection is a 50-page folio journal with the first entry on January 1, 1865 and the last entry on July 2, 1865. There are scattered math equations throughout the journal. The first four pages are instruction based about compass corrections, other navigational tasks, and deck work related to sails. In almost every entry, the day of the week is written, the time, the weather, the location of the ship Bradbury was aboard that day (mostly the U.S.S. Rhode Island), his duties for that day, leisure activities, and his personal health for that day (ex. good, fair, starving). On the …

Ms – 246: Papers Of The Bond/Smith Families, Natalie M. Orga, Michelle Williams

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The collection includes over 500 letters, most of them pertaining to WWI. The majority of these letters are from Norman Bond to his mother, Elizabeth (or “Bessie”) Bond, discussing his experiences as a pilot in the 13th Aero group 2nd pursuit squadron. Norman also wrote to his mother frequently before the war during his time at Harvard University, and during his post-college tour of Europe. The collection includes many of these letters, postcards, and photographs from this time period, as well as Norman’s grades, professor correspondence, a Harvard flag, and other documents and ephemera relating to his school years. It …

Ms – 243: Emma Guffey Miller Photo Albums, Katie Amtower

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This collection includes three different albums. Two of them are bound in traditional Japanese binding with rice paper; the other may have been constructed to imitate the Japanese bound ones. These albums include Emma Guffey’s travels, from traveling around Japan and returning home periodically. They also include photographs of her time living in Japan. The photographs in this album include many small panorama photographs of nature and architecture, and there is a possibility that these albums include a few early colored photographs.

The first album, labeled “1901-1904,” begins with a few photos of her final year at Bryn Mawr. It …

Ms-227: Theodore Schlack, Class Of 1950 Civil War Artifact Collection, Laurel J. Wilson

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This collection is made up of artifacts relating to the American Civil War. It includes both items from the Civil War era and postwar items. The wartime artifacts were collected by Rev. Dr. Schlack in order to reflect the items a Union soldier would have interacted with in their daily life. The collection of wartime artifacts includes items such as a Springfield rifled musket, a knapsack, and a dice cup with dice. The collection of postwar artifacts relates more broadly to war memory and commemoration, and includes items such as paper souvenir fans from the 75th anniversary of the Battle …

Ms- 241: Harry Dravo Parkin Wwi Memoir, Joy Zanghi

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This small collection includes five bound volumes of a memoir written by Harry Dravo Parkin. The collection contains information regarding his experience in WWI as a wounded prisoner of war as well as everyday life as a major.

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- 240: Records Of The Musselman Foundation, Joy Zanghi

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This is a small collection that is primarily comprised of loose and bound copies of The Musselman Processor, the monthly booklets containing information with regard to the Musselman Company. It also contains the Musselman Foundation Minute Book from 1949-1970, as well as a handful of photos relating to the Musselman Company.

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-238: Prisoner Of War Letters From World Wars I And Ii, Kelly A. Murphy

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This collection consists of various correspondence between POWs and their families, including 86 letters, 174 postcards, and about eight package slips during both world wars. Most of this correspondence was authored by the prisoners and sent to their families from camps in Europe, although it contains some correspondence from camps in Asia and Africa. The collection also contains correspondence from prisoners in concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, and from interned civilians in France and Germany. Because these letters were the main way to contact family members, most of the POW correspondence contain thoughts of homesickness and loneliness along with updates …

Ms-233: Papers Of Theta Chi, Lindsay R. Richwine

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The material in this collection documents the foundation of the Star and Crescent Club, its assimilation into a national fraternity, and the financial and social ventures of the fraternity through the early 1990s. Illustrated in papers, blueprints, photo albums, and clothing, this collection is interesting not only for Theta Chi brothers curious about the history of their organization at Gettysburg, but for anyone wishing to follow the development of fraternity culture at Gettysburg since the middle of the 20th century. In addition to the materials housed in Special Collections, donor Jeff Glisson also intends to send related materials to Theta …

Ms-239: The Ken Bruno Collection Of Louis A. Parsons, Karen Dupell Drickamer

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The bulk of this collection contains family correspondence as well as financial and legal correspondence, and documents. Parsons handled estate matters for family in Iowa and California. These materials supplement the previous acquisition of Parsons material in MS-203 Louis A. Parsons Papers and fill in a few gaps. There is one folder of miscellaneous writings of Parsons’, mostly fragments.

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 …

Ms-236: Bernard Peace Wwi Photograph Album, Kelly A. Murphy

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The album contains 200 photographs that depict everyday life and people in Baghdad and northeast India, including entire pages dedicated to “Arabs” and pictures of men and women in bazaars and drawing water. Other photographs are of notable events, including the “Dedication of British [Army] Cemetery” or the arrival of the “First Aeroplane from England to India.” There are also pictures of various landmarks, such as mosques, religious pilgrimage sites, historic cities and palaces, and natural wonders, from Iraq, India, and France. Included on the front cover is two photos pasted together to create a panorama of the “Signing of …

Ms – 231: Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg Keller, Class Of 1838, Karen Dupell Drickamer

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The collection consists of four notebooks penned in Keller’s hand. Two of the notebooks contain notes taken by Keller while a student at the Seminary, 1838-1840, for courses taught by Samuel. S. Schmucker, founder and sole instructor at the Seminary (original).

The notes in MS #1 begin with a lecture on Chronology, (the application of periods of time to history) and moves through lessons on “Biblical History” as presented in the Hebrew Scripture from creation in Genesis to the kingships of David and Solomon in I & II Samuel. The notes in MS #2 cover two subjects, “Church Government & …