Photograph of a group of active and retired members of the Mora Fire Department in front of the Fire Department building. Photograph includes: Willis Fairbanks, Otto Stolle, Wyman Barker, Vern Ricks, William W. Tenney, J.G. Stariha, Lyle Esler, Ralph Fairbanks, C.W. McFarland, Lee Goldsmith, V.W. Peterson, Clifford Hanson, H.F. Robinson, Oscar Swanson, Chas R. Williams, R.G. Esler, Dr. C.S. Bossert, Walter Edgar, Stanley Humphrey, Otto Jensen, Anton Ripka, H.L. Westby, K.H. Williams, Jay Goldsmith, K.E. McIlhargey. 2 firemen not pictured are S.D. McIlhargey and A.L. Johnstone
Photograph of a group of active and retired members of the Mora Fire Department in front of the Fire Department building. Photograph includes: Willis Fairbanks, Otto Stolle, Wyman Barker, Vern Ricks, William W. Tenney, J.G. Stariha, Lyle Esler, Ralph Fairbanks, C.W. McFarland, Lee Goldsmith, V.W. Peterson, Clifford Hanson, H.F. Robinson, Oscar Swanson, Chas. R. Williams, R.G. Esler, Dr. C.S. Bossert, Walter Edgar, Stanley Humphrey, Otto Jensen, Anton Ripka, H.L. Westby, K.H. Williams, Jay Goldsmith, K.E. McIlhargey. 2 firemen not pictured are S.D. McIlhargey and A.L. Johnstone
Portrait of American Legion Officers, Butch Dalby, Dr Ouimette, Don Saboe, at podium of American Legion, located at 118 Railroad Avenue NE, Mora, Minnesota.
Biographies of veterans of Company B 1st Minnesota Volunteers, including detailed accounts of their lives before, during and after the Civil War. The record book also contains meeting minutes and details of Last Man's Club banquets.
Postcard of Blue Earth County Courthouse, message on reverse from Florence to Miss Sophie Christensen. Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, postmarked Mankato, Minnesota
Resolution dated December 17, 1929 authorizing the City of Stillwater to make and deliver a release of certain property for highway purpose to St. Croix County, Wisconsin.
Diary of Sgt. Philip Olson who served in World War I with the 25th Regiment Engineers, United States Army. After his enlistment, he departed New York for France on October 31, 1917, aboard the transport ship Agamemnon. The journey was eventful due to fears about German U-boats, and an accident which involved their ship being rammed. Upon arrival in France, Olson took part in a number of projects including the building of a docks and doing engineering at the front in Verdun. In addition, he had various duties including working for the supply sergeant, warehouse work, and distributing kits through camp. These duties were performed in a number of locations in France including Brest, Bordeaux, Verdun, and Paris. At the close of the war, Olson took a trip to Monaco and Monte Carlo. After the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, Olson stayed for a time in France. During this time, he and the 25th Engineers aided in construction and rebuilding projects. In March of 1919, Olson returned to the United States by way of New York.
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
Draft of a bill dated January 20, 1925 authorizing the Wisconsin State Highway Commission to construct, re-construct, repair, maintain and operate inter-state bridge.
The re-election campaign of President Truman brought him to cities in Minnesota including Duluth where he was celebrated by local Democrats at the Duluth Armory.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
First city well in Sibley Park, Mankato, Minnesota, with eight men. Note on back of the image reads, "Vern Lundin--Free Press; Al M. Kircher--city engineer; C K Moyer--Mayor; Otto Brockmeyer--councilman; John Solfer--Mankato Electric; Geo. G. Krost--councilman; Chas F Barnum--councilman; M. G. 'Bill' Knoff--councilman""
Inside the courthouse, Dwight Eisenhower met with a smaller group. Eisenhower's visit was the first presidential candidate campaign visit to St. Cloud.
State of Minnesota Department of Highways Map showing location of proposed bridge over St. Croix River at Stillwater between Minnesota and Wisconsin Approved June 7, 1929 includes structure elevation, span and dimensions, fill, water elevation and roadway dimensions and State of Minnesota thumbnail map.
Interview with former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan C. Page on his life and his legal and judicial career. He was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1992 and retired in 2015. Subjects covered: his early life, his education and football career, the years in private practice and in the Minnesota Attorney General's office, and his time on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Interviewed by Jeff Holth, a former law clerk of Justice Page.
This was an interview conducted on February 11, 1990 by Richard Olson. Albert Wedell was born September 29, 1911 in Milaca, Minnesota. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and trained in California. He was assigned to the repair division of the U.S.S. Louisville, on which he served in the Aleutian Islands and the South Pacific. He discussed the armaments of the ship, the conditions aboard, men he met in the crew, and some of the attacks on the ship by Japanese ships and aircraft. While in the Navy, Wedell married Velma Swenson on March 14, 1945, and was honorably discharged on October 27, 1945. After the war, he ran a dairy farm near Milaca for 45 years and served on the Chase Brook School Board, the local telephone and creamery boards, and the county ASCA. Wedell passed away on March 16, 2000 and was buried in Borgholm Cemetery in Bock, Minnesota. He was survived by his wife, two sons, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
This was an interview conducted in the late 1980s to early 1990s by John Carter. Bohn E. Fawkes was born on September 2, 1919 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was part of the ROTC program when World War II began, and was called to active duty initially in antiaircraft battery, but he took up the opportunity to attend flight school and be a pilot. Fawkes was a B-17 pilot with the 8th Air Force and participated in bombing raids on a manufacturing facility at Schweinfurt, Stuttgart, and Hamburg in Germany. He flew 25 missions before returning to the United States. Fawkes was stationed at Rapid City Airbase in South Dakota as a B-17 flight instructor, and eventually transferred to a B-29 training instructor in Fairmount, Nebraska. Fawkes left the military in 1962 to become a stock broker. He passed away on February 17, 2007 and is buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
In an oral history conducted by David Overy on November 17, 1990, Carl E. Erickson discussed his experiences as a lawyer before being called to duty as a training officer and Civil Affairs officer in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Erickson had joined the National Guard ROTC while studying law at the University of Minnesota. In this interview, Erickson described his experiences that led him to being assigned as part of General Douglass MacArthur's staff, and how he contributed to the rebuilding of the Pacific communities destroyed by the war. Lastly, Erickson detailed being reassigned from going into service in Korea to continue being a lawyer in Tokyo while the Army engineers rebuilt the area. Erickson was born on June 22, 1911 and is believed to have passed away on January 13, 1992.
This interview was conducted on December 7, 1989 by Nancy Baker. Clara Schrom Gruber was born in Albany, Minnesota, on July 3, 1921. After graduating high school in 1939, she enrolled in St. Cloud Hospital nurses training at Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley, Kansas, finishing in 1942. In June 1943, Gruber entered the United States Army Nurse Corps as a first lieutenant. Gruber helped establish two general hospitals, one outside of London, the other near Glasgow, Scotland, where wounded soldiers were evacuated directly from the war zone. In addition to her nursing responsibilities Gruber described the German and Italian prisoners of war who were housed next to the hospital in Glasgow. Upon discharge from the Army in December 1945, Gruber returned to St. Cloud and worked as a private nurse at the St. Cloud Hospital. In 1946, she married Roland Gruber, a paratrooper during World War II, and they raised five children. She worked as a registered nurse at the St. Cloud VA Hospital from 1967 until she retired in 1981. In this interview Gruber also discussed her nurses training at the St. Cloud Hospital and being encouraged to enlist by one of the doctors, the benefits of having served, and life after returning to St. Cloud. Gruber passed away on July 5, 2002.
In an oral history conducted by David H. Overy on June 3, 1991, Claude Menzhuber discussed his experiences both in combat and post-war as a combat engineer and supply sergeant in the European Theater during World War II. Born and raised in Minnesota, Menzhuber was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. In this interview, Menzhuber described his training experiences as a combat engineer, both in basic and combat, as well as participating in the invasion of Sicily. He described the civilian's attitudes towards the American soldiers and briefly his conversations with German solider prisoners of war. Lastly, Menzhuber discussed his feelings about the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. He married his wife, Marian, in 1943 and they had two children, Carole and Lowell. Menzhuber was born on May 12, 1909, in Spring Hill, Minnesota, and passed away on March 21, 2005, in Sartell, Minnesota.
This was an interview conducted on July 19, 1989 by David Overy. Dean H. Aarvig was born on October 15, 1920 in Wilmar, Minnesota. He graduated from high school in 1937 and was drafted into the Army in 1942. After completing basic training, Aarvig went to Officer Candidate School (OCS) and joined the 9th Armored Division in France as a platoon leader that conducted intelligence & reconnaissance missions. During his service, Aarvig participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Remagen. After the wars end, Aarvig returned to Minnesota, where he and his wife ran a newspaper in Grand Meadow, as well as farmed. In November of 1950, Aarvig was recalled into the service and served with the 25th Infantry Division as a Company Commander in Korea. He talked about his thoughts on those in Vietnam burning their draft cards and going to Canada. Aarvig was married and had two children. He passed away on July 2, 1998.
In an oral history conducted by David Lewis on April 18, 1991, Richard L. Carroll discussed his experiences in training, combat and as a prisoner of war as a heavy bomber pilot in the European Theater during World War II. Born and raised in Rosemount, Minnesota, Carroll enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942 and was called to active duty in 1943. In this interview, Carroll described his training to become a bomber pilot and his combat missions, including his fifteenth when he had to bail-out of his airplane only to be shot and captured by Hungarian civilians. Carroll described his experiences as a prisoner of war with a bullet lodged in the muscle of his heart, including his medical complications and multiple prisoner transfers. Lastly, Carroll describes his liberation and being used in prisoner negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States as well as a brief mention of getting married, being placed on disability, and retiring from military service, all while the bullet remained lodged in his heart. Carroll was born on October 19, 1920, in Rosemount, Minnesota.
This interview was conducted on July 7, 1989 by David Overy. Donald Dean enlisted into service on July 5, 1942 and joined the 133rd Ordinance Maintenance Battalion as a vehicle repairman. He was present at the Battle of the Bulge as well as the liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp, and described the scene of the former prisoners and their actions towards their former German captors. Dean had gotten married prior to being shipped overseas and had two sons. Dean concludes the interview by sharing a personal story about his son refusing to fight in Vietnam if drafted.
