Collections

This collection includes letters written to Arnold Busch, a basketball coach for Calvary Methodist Church in Lakewood, Ohio, by the students he previously coached. Whether drafted or enlisted, many of the men kept up a correspondence with Busch throughout the war years. This collection also includes Calvary Church newsletters and pamphlets, pamphlets regarding persons registered for service, ration books and other rationing documents, and letters returned to Busch because their recipients were MIA, deceased, or relocated. Also included are photographs of Calvary Church activities on the Homefront, the basketball team, and the Calvary Church's V-J Day service as well as a copy of an article in which the photograph was featured.

Cecil Blumenstein (served 1943-1945) discusses his experiences in the 13th Armored Division in Germany in the winter and spring of 1945. Blumenstein was captured and spent a brief period of time in a POW camp before being liberated and sent back to the front. He fought in several engagements. This collection consists of an interview transcript.

In an oral history interview, Harriette Shulman recalls her experiences as a war bond coordinator on the Home Front during World War II.  A good portion of the transcript is off topic about World War II, but it also contains information on how Shulman, who is Jewish, dealt with American anti-Semitism. Here she talks about anti-Semitism and slurs used against her by acquaintances.

This collection relates to Hazel Louis Bowman who worked for the Signal Corps and lived in India with the American Red Cross for two years. Bowman's collection contains six full boxes, one oversize box, a phono records box, and two photograph boxes. Four of the boxes include letters written to and from Hazel to her parents, family, neighbors, and friends. The collection also contains an oral history transcript, newsletters and bulletins, American Red Cross publications, her diary, a book written by Bowman, photograph albums, and ephemera.

This collection primarily consists of the letters of John B. Savard, an American soldier who fought in World War II and saw action at the Normandy landings, the Battle for Brest, and the D-Day Landings. Most of the material consists of letters to and from his parents, though letters from other soldiers are included. In addition to letters, this collection contains Savard's sketches, a poem he wrote detailing his reaction to the Battle of the Bulge, a manuscript of his autobiography detailing his life from birth to his time as a US Postal Worker and several photographs taken during the Second World War.

The collection of Robert Hoffmann contains an oral history transcript provided by the Reichelt Oral History Program. Hoffmann served with the United State Marine Corps during World War II on the island of Guam.

This collection contains a transcript of an interview conducted with Stanley and Elsie Davis on June 12, 2000. Stanley Davis served in the U.S. Army in the Military Railway Service in the European Theater during World War II.  The collection also contains 6 photographs, a photocopy of Stanley and Elsie's marriage certificate, and a copy of Kaiserzeit: Journal of the Imperial German Military Collector's Association vol. III, summer 1974.