Joseph K. Pettengill collection, 1944-1945, Date acquired: 02/11/2005
Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Pettengill, Joseph K.
- Abstract:
- The Joseph K. Pettengill Collection was donated to Florida State University by Robert Sherman Pettengill in 2005, having discovered his father's letters after retiring in 1999. The centerpiece of the Pettengill Collection is a series of letters from Joseph Pettengill, an army clerk with the G-3 Section of the 6th Army Group, Hq Special Troops in the ETO, to his mother and wife throughout his time serving in the United States Army in World War II.
- Extent:
- 1.00 boxes
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Joseph K. Pettengill collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/fa/02-05-1930
Background
- Scope and content:
The Joseph K. Pettengill Collection was donated to Florida State University by Robert Sherman Pettengill in 2005, having discovered his father's letters after retiring in 1999. The centerpiece of the Pettengill Collection is a series of letters from Joseph Pettengill, an army clerk with the G-3 Section of the 6th Army Group, Hq Special Troops in the ETO, to his mother and wife throughout his time serving in the United States Army in World War II. In total, the collection contains 263 pieces of correspondence, primarily letters but also telegrams and v-mail, between Pettengill and various family members, amounting to 590 pages. Also included were Pettengill's military records, a variety of photographs taken during his training and in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), most notably Paris, patches and ribbons, Sad Sack cartoons, several issues of Stars and Stripes, original road maps of France and Germany, postcards, insignia, and two voice recordings on vinyl. Taken as a whole, the Pettengill Collection provides tremendous insights into the daily life and experiences of a non-combat American soldier serving in the European Theater.
- Biographical / historical:
Joseph Kilburn Pettengill, Jr., was born December 24, 1911 in Mount Vernon, New York to Joseph Kilburn Pettengill, Sr., and Francis Sherman Pettengill. Prior to being inducted into the Army, Pettengill, Jr., worked for a Nash-Kelvinator defense plant in Lansing, Michigan that specialized in the production of Aircraft propellers. Having received basic training at Fort Sheridan and Fort McClellan, Pettengill was transferred to Fort Meade in Washington D.C. for advanced training. Upon completion of his training, he was shipped across the Atlantic to southern Italy where he became permanently assigned to the Hq Special Troops of the Sixth Army Group, specifically the G-3 Section that handled operations and plans, as a clerk. He would follow Sixth Army Group through France and then into Germany before being discharged from the Army on December 20, 1945. At the time of his death on June 6, 1964 he was Chief of Quality Assurance Engineering Branch, Quality Assurance Div., Detroit Procurement District, United States Army.
- Acquisition information:
Robert S. Pettengill
The Joseph K. Pettengill Collection was donated by his son, Robert S. Pettengill.
- Custodial history:
Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.
- Processing information:
Revised 02/09/2016 by MK.
Processed in 2005.
- Arrangement:
Organized chronologically into twenty-three folders.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Courtship.
Marriage.
RMS Queen Mary 2 (Ship)
Stars and stripes
Basic training
U.S. Army Clerk School
Black Market
Black market--France--History--20th century
Black market--France
Black market--Europe
V-E Day, 1945
Allied Forces--Headquarters--History
G-3 Army Operations and Plans (U.S.)
Hq Special Troops
European history
U.S. history
History
War and society--United States
War and society--Germany--Worms--History--20th century.
War and society--Europe--History--20th century.
War and society--France--History--20th century.
War and society.
Paris (France)--Description and travel
Lansing Region (Mich.)--History
Sixth Army Group (Allied Forces)
World War, 1939-1945
Rations
Christmas cards.
Christmas.
U.S.O.
Nash-Kelvinator Corporation
Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force
SHAEF
Censorship - Names:
- United States. Army. European Theater of Operations
United Service Organizations (U.S.)
Archbishop of Canterbury (Geoffrey Francis Fisher), 1887-1972
Jeanne d'Arc, Saint, 1412-1431
Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431.
Montgomery, Bernard Law, Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, 1887-1976
De Gaulle, Charles, 1890-1970
Pettengill, Joseph K., Sr.
Pettengill, Francis Sherman
Pettengill, Joseph K., 1911-1964
Pettengill, Marguerite
Alexander, Harold, 1891-1969
Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965 - Places:
- Bournemouth (England)
Shrivenham (England)
Glasgow (Scotland)
Darmstadt (Germany)
Worms (Germany)
Strasbourg (France)
Vosges (France)
St. Tropez (France)
Versailles (France)
Canterbury (England)
Swindon (England)
Cardiff (England)
Swansea (England)
Birmingham (England)
London (England)
Plymouth (England)
Bristol (England)
Sienna (Italy)
Naples (Italy)
Kaiserslautern (Germany)
Heidelberg (Germany)
Lyon (France)
Paris (France)
Fort George G. Meade (Md.)
Fort Sheridan (Ill.)
Lansing (Michigan)
Fort McClellan (Ala.)
Vittel (France)
Tidworth (England)
Camp Patrick Henry (Va.)
Choccolocco (Ala.)
Talladega County (Ala.)
Liverpool (England)
Southampton (England)
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Ann Arbor (Mich.)
Ogbourne St. George (England)
Caserta (Italy)
Access and use
- Restrictions:
This collection is open to all researchers.
- Terms of access:
All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Joseph K. Pettengill collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/fa/02-05-1930
- Location of this collection:
-
116 Honors WayTallahasseeFL32306-2047USA
