Collections

The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra (JSO) in Jacksonville, Florida, was founded in September 1949, and its sixty-three year history since reflects its development and current standing as a significant cultural resource. The collection provides historical documentation of the musical concerts and performances, and events and activities of the JSO from 1961 to date. The core of the collection are print ephemera, including event and performance programs, subscribers' cards and invitations, and publicity and news items. Of particular interest are source materials from the Grand Opening of the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts in 1997, and the Jacksonville Symphony Guild Designer Showhouses from 1977.

Contains letters, invitations, greeting cards, telegrams, postcards, art exhibition catalogs, bulletins, school catalogs, certificates, news clippings, magazines, photographs, medical illustrations, and two manuscripts, "The Artist and the Audience," and "Emergency Treatment." Also includes a short letter dated 1864 which certified the release of Wilson's maternal grandfather, William Bonacker, a Union Army captain captured by Confederate forces.  Capt. Bonacker reportedly fell at the Battle of New Market, 1864, but the War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, v. 37, p. 87, confirms he mustered out of the Army on October 10, 1864.

The collection consists one photograph album, four scrapbooks, one box of loose items, and three boxes containing primarily press clipping, programs, and concert announcements along with a small amount of correspondence. The collection also includes 38 1/2 inch tape reels, 8 cassettes, 4 oversized ampex reels, and10 LPs.

William A. Jacques served in the Army Signal Corps on the US Mainland. This collection includes a memoir entitled "C-Flight WW2 1942-1946," which is about Sgt. Jacques' time in the Army Signal Corps. Jacques (born blind in one eye) decided to volunteer for the Army Signal Corps. He lived and trained mostly in Florida and the Southeast. The memoir gives a detailed description of daily duties, leave trips back home, and news of major events from overseas and how these were perceived by those still in the US. There are copies of photos of places where he was stationed and the people he met.

This collection is comprised of photocopies of a marriage certificate of J.A. Falkner and Jane M. Wilder, Tampa, Florida, August 7, 1858 (2 copies), and of a "Family Record" of the Falkner family showing names, place of birth, date of birth, date of marriage and date of death of 15 family members. Also known as MSS 0-105.

Arthur H. Jaffe was born and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania and graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a B.A. degree in Classical Studies. Arthur Jaffe has had several distinguished careers. From 1942-1946 he served in World War II as an Army captain in charge of a military intelligence unit. Following WWII, Mr. Jaffe went to Palestine, where he studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. While there he began working as a Haganah officer, gathering information which was helpful in the formation of the new state of Israel. Mr. Jaffe then had a successful 30-year career as a partner in the family owned business, the House of Jaffe, a chain of department stores in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan. After the death of his first wife, Lois, Jaffe moved to Pittsburgh where he began a new career as Director of Planning and Development for the Carnegie Institute. He soon became involved in fund-raising in the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, where his success brought him to the attention of the Jewish Community Foundation of South Palm Beach County. In 1984, he and second wife Mata moved to Boca Raton where Arthur served as Founding Director of the Jewish Community Foundation of South Palm Beach County.

This collection relates to Technical Sergeant James A. Armstrong who served 691st Ordnance Company in the European Theater of Operation. He participated beginning with the Normandy Campaign and each subsequent campaign with the company through to Germany. After the war, he was also commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant Ammunition Supply Officer and assigned to the 633rd Ordnance Company. The collection contains letters, military documents, and photographs.

This collection relates to James Adams who served as an infantryman with the 26th "Yankee" Division and later the 87th Infantry regiment, part of General George Patton's 3rd Army. The collection contains letters and postcards from James Adams to family, mostly his mother.