Collections

Badia Family WWII Letters Collection contains over 500 letters and associated ephemera relating to correspondence between Danny Badia and Leona De Nardo between the years 1941 and 1947. Primarily relating to WWII, these letters offer a glimpse into civilian and military life in the United States during the war years. Danny Badia born Dante Alighieri Badia (1922-2006) to Angelo and Laurina Badia of Ohio. In 1917, Danny's parents immigrated from Italy to the US and started a family. The letters are primarily from Danny's family, future wife and sweetheart Leona De Nardo (née Buccilli). They were married in 1944 and were together for 62 years when Danny passed away in 2006.

The Frazer-O'Sullivan Collection contains the research for the co- authored book, We Have Just Begun to Not Fight: An Oral History of Conscientious Objectors in the Civilian Public Service During World War II, by Heather Frazer and John O'Sullivan. More than 40,000 American men refused to fight during World War II. Citing principled opposition, they declared themselves conscientious objectors. Rejecting combat duty, nearly 12,000 men entered Civilian Public Service (CPS) with the intent to perform "work of national importance" as an alternative to combat duty. The CPS program was set up by members of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Brethren, and Quakers) and participated in by pacifists from other churches, of no specific religious persuasion, and, in the case of a few, no persuasion except not to fight in that particular war. CPS men worked as aides in mental hospitals, volunteered as smoke jumpers in forest fires, and participated in grueling medical and scientific experiments. Frazer and O'Sullivan use the oral histories of 15 CPS men and two of their wives to illuminate their experience during World War II.

Harold L. Glasser (1918 - 2009) was accomplished in both business and law. He was a native New Yorker and received his B.A., L.L.M., J.D. degrees from New York University and Columbia Law School respectively. Most notably Mr. Glasser had a distinguished military career serving overseas in World War II as a bombardier, achieving the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He was awarded 12 combat decorations including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters. After his return from the War, Mr. Glasser served as president of the American Society of Corporate Secretaries and as General Counsel of the Kayser-Roth Corporation. A few years after graduating from New York University with his J.D., he was elected Mayor of the City of Saddle Rock, New York and eventually ran for New York State Senate. In 1959, Mr. Glasser began an exciting career as the president of the Miss Universe Pageant and by the late 1970s, he was president of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA Pageants.

Herman "Pat" Herst (1909 – 1999) is most widely recognized for his exceptional contributions to philately. He was a prolific writer of philatelic literature and won every important award in the field, including the American Philatelic Society's Luff award. A third generation Mason, Herst was born and educated in Portland, Oregon, but spent most his life in New York and a member of the Masonic Stamp Club. Herst first championed the popular trend of topical collecting, specializing in specific stamp themes. After his death, his wife Ida donated his collections of Masonic, Philatelic, and Holocaust related material. This unique collection includes rare stamped and cancelled letters from inmates in Concentration Camps and ghetto currency. Also included in the collection are historical documents related to Freemasonry and photocopies of rare materials from and about the Ruhleben German Prisoner of War Camp from 1914 – 1918.

Jose M. Colon Collection (1928-2017), a Merchant Marine Veteran, this collection includes his service awards and medals, set of publications regarding the Merchant Marines. Although many of the publications memorialize fallen Marines and Merchant Marine Veterans, one publication goes into detail about the history of the Merchant Marines and their involvement in World War II. Mr. Colon served in both World War II and the Korea War.

Stanley Kerner (b. 1926), a native of Brooklyn, New York served in the United States Army during the latter-end of World War II in the Signal Corps attaining the rank of Sergeant. His posting was at Signal Corps Headquarters in Caserta, Italy at the Royal King's Palace from 1945 to 1947.

This important collection includes letters and memoirs written by Frank Korf during his wartime assignment as Officer-in-Charge of a Military Combat Intelligence Team for the 97th Infantry Division of General George S. Patton's 3rd U.S. Army in Europe. Korf, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was a liberator of Flossenburg concentration camp, offers a unique view of the meaning and conduct of war. Additional materials in the Korf Collection include correspondence, photographs and military documents from his post-war tenure as Attorney for the Overseas Branch of the U.S. Department of Justice in Munich and Berlin. It was during this period that Korf was chosen to investigate the authenticity of the Joseph Goebbels' diaries. "Korf's story is unique, as he was not a typical soldier. He was inducted into the army at age 32, older than 95% of the draftees. Korf was at once a victim of Nazism, an immigrant to the U.S. and a man who turned his back on his mother country in order to fight Nazism," states Dr. Patricia Kollander, Florida Atlantic University professor of history and co-author of "I Must Be a Part of This War": a German American's Fight Against Hitler and Nazism (Fordham University Press, 2005).

This collection contains the correspondence of Virginia Huber (1927 – 2014) to and from six servicemen from the vicinity of her hometown in Forrest, Illinois during World War II. The correspondence was carefully collected, arranged, and preserved by Virginia who was a senior in high school when she began writing to several of these young men. Virginia's letters to the servicemen were originally handwritten but she carefully typed and preserved a copy on onion skin paper which she housed in brown folders with each man's name, rank, and location. After graduating from high school, Virginia held the position of secretary to the Traffic Manager at Honnegers' Feeds located in Fairbury, Illinois. She was active in her local church and community, which she writes about in her letters. Because Virginia and the servicemen were united by geographic location, the letters represent a wide range of American military experience during World War II. The six men include: Norman Funk, a Naval airman from Roanoke, Illinois stationed in Jacksonville, FL; Roy Funk, an Army serviceman from Gridley, Illinois stationed in Camp Crowder and Camp Polk; Art Hartman, an Army serviceman from Strawn, Illinois stationed in Camp Lee, Virginia; Raymond Johnson, a Naval serviceman from Illinois; Howard Sauder, an Army sergeant from Roanoke, Illinois stationed in Aleutian Islands; Albert Steffen, a Naval serviceman from Elgin, Illinois stationed in Okinawa. This collection is remarkable for its inclusion of letters by Virginia, providing a complete picture of the correspondence between this woman and the soldiers of World War II.

William Rosenblatt Collection contains black and white photographs taken by the United States Army Signal Corps during World War II. Most of the photographs depict various members of the United States Army and relief organization workers in France and Belgium. The collection also contains some personal photographs of William Rosenblatt in Paris during that time and some postcards from Laval and Verdun France.