The 1957 Dodge County Extension Service annual report contains two documents: 31-page Annual Statistical Report; 114-page Extension Narrative Report. The Narrative Report includes: Introductory Statement (pages 1-5); Extension Organization Extension Committee, budget, meetings, organizational chart (pages 6-17); Projects Goals and Methods (pages 18-23); Crops weather, harvest, varieties, new varieties Forrest Barley and Minhafer Oats, Third Crop Show with results and program, Officers of Dodge County Extension Service Crop Improvement Association, soil fertility compared to bank account, fertilizer recommendations location maps Crop Variety Demonstrations, Corn Plots and Soil Testing (pages 24-36); Weeds and Insects displays, road spraying, grasshoppers (page 37); Hay and Forage Crops (pages 42-43); Dairy loose housing, County ADA officers, dairy testing, artificial breeding, disease control, outlook location map DHIA members (pages 44-49); Beef programs failed to reach the right people, feeding issues (pages 49-50); Swine, Poultry and Sheep Meat Animal Association officers, Sheep and Swine Day, Egg Show and Institute with results (pages 50-52); Soil and Water Conservation plowing and land judging contest (pages 53-54); Farm Buildings and Safety (pages 54-56); Community Development Farm Forum in Waseca, USFA, FHA, ASC, Veterans and Vocational Agriculture (pages 56-57); Home Program Council members Programs Include Reupholster, Family Life (85 cent luncheon), Salads, Breads, Clothing Accessories, Enrollment numbers, location maps of Project Groups, Training Center and Clothing Accessory meetings, Crop Show and Tea (pages 58-70); 4-H Clubs - location maps clubs and adult leaders, graphs of 10 year enrollment, enrollment by club, enrollment by age, by years in Club work, project completion, percent exhibiting at Fair and Demonstration Day, (pages 71-78). 4-H Club Organization Federation Officers, meeting programs, enrollment campaign, Junior Livestock Show with results, Achievement Banquet with awards (pages 84-88); Other 4-H activities some results (pages 89-97); County Fair new dairy barn, projects with results, livestock parade (pages 98-102); State Fair with results (pages 103-104); Other 4-H Activities (pages 104-109); Summary (pages 110-111); Outlook and Recommendations (pages 110-114).
Contributing Institution:
Dodge County Extension Office, University of Minnesota Extension
Group of Civil War veterans at the home of H.R. Jefferson in Bingham Lake. House is in the background. Men include: D.A. Day, H.M. Clark, H.M. Graveley, Joe Bailey, Corlius Mead, A.M. Kogle, William Potter, Ruel V. Byron, John A. Brown, Watkins Jones, H.R. Jefferson, W.W. Barlow.
Members of the Grand Army of the Republic (G. A. R.) standing on a sidewalk. Pictured are: Erdmann; Rob More; Allen Cummings; Mr. Craig; Mr. McCory; Mr. Cartier; Mr. Constans; Wayne Mort.
World War I veterans blank record form for the Washington County War History, Washington County, Minnesota. The form was used to capture name, birth date, parental information, address, service record, and occupation.
Handwritten document by Edward George containing information about the character of his father, James George, including military experience in the Mexican War and the Civil War, law practice, pioneer life and politics
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.
In an oral interview conducted by Mike McDonald on September 6, 1993, Robert "Bob" Duoos discussed his training and service during World War II as a member of the 80th Infantry Division in Europe. Duoos was born on January 15, 1923 and was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. Duoos was drafted in to the U.S. Army in December of 1942. In this interview, Duoos described his experiences in the European Theater, including his interactions with the foreign civilians and the time he spent in England, France, Germany, Luxemburg, and Czechoslovakia. In this interview, Duoos discussed his participation in the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany. He described the horrors of "The Beast of Buchenwald" from his own experiences and recounts the stories he heard from survivors of the camp. Duoos voiced his opinions on the leadership of General Patton and General Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Pacific Theater of World War II.
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.
In this oral history by David H. Overy, Carl F. VanderHaar details his service experiences in the Minnesota National Guard and U.S. Army from 1931 to 1952. VonderHaar was born in Albertville, Minnesota on June 21, 1913, and was raised in Little Falls where he spent his adult life. His service includes early surveying and construction at Camp Ripley, motor repair during World War II, and later quartermaster duties in both World War 2 and Korea. VonderHaar served overseas in Ireland, Africa, France, and the Philippines. In Minnesota, he ran several successful businesses between his terms of military service. VonderHaar also discusses Japanese internment, Vietnam and the Gulf War. The father of four he died on April 27, 2014, at the age of 100 in Little Falls, Minnesota.
In an oral history conducted by Daniel Lewis on May 18, 1991, Charles Arnold discussed his experience as a baker and typist in the United States Air Force during World War II. Raised in Preston, Minnesota, he was drafted into the Army in 1941, but enlisted in the Air Force and became a baker. In this interview, Arnold described day to day life living and working in the Matagorda Island Air Force Base in Texas. In 1945, Arnold was transferred to Fresno, California to attend typist school. In addition, he discussed his thoughts and feelings about his time in the Air Force and the several military bases he served on. In 1944, Arnold married his wife, Audrey, and had six children. Lastly, Arnold discussed life after the Air Force, becoming a farmer and raising his children. He died on December 9, 2009.
Chester Judd was born on Apr 2, 1916 and served as a first lieutenant in the Air Force during World War II. . He was stationed in England from September 1944 to late 1945 and was a B-17 copilot on 35 missions. Judd described camp life, including food and lodging, and explains how the planes were organized for actual missions. He described several combat experiences and how pilots and crew dealt with the strain, particularly flying his final mission. He returned to the United States and flew C-47 cargo planes to transport wounded veterans to hospitals across the country. After the war he became a farmer. He died on November 15, 1995.
In an oral interview conducted by David Overy on September 4, 1992, Clair A. Dziuk discussed his experiences in the construction of the Alcan Highway, from 1941 to 1943. Dziuk was born April 5, 1907 in Benton County, Minnesota, where he was raised. In this interview Dziuk describes the day to day life of building the Alcan Highway, from working with Canadians and the Army, camp life, and the wildlife of Canada.
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.
Clem Miller was born on May 5, 1922 in Duluth, MN. He joined the Minnesota National Guard in 1939 and was inducted into the Army in 1941. He and his unit, the 125th Field Artillery in the 34th Infantry Division, were sent to the European theater, and he saw action in North Africa and Italy. Miller directed artillery fire on the battlefield as a surveyor had a wide variety of combat experiences including artillery barrages, air raids, sniper fire, minefields, and friendly fire. In North Africa he patrolled the battlefield after the Allied victory and guarded POWs. In Italy, he served with the 100th Infantry Division and the 92nd Infantry (segregated units of Japanese Americans and African Americans, respectively). Throughout the interview, Miller gave his opinions on the quality of American troops as well as the German and Italian soldiers, their respective armaments, and the civilians he encountered. Miller wrote about his military experiences in a book entitled Some Things You Never Forget. He died on August 27, 2008 in Hermantown, MN.
In an oral history conducted by Kris Wiggs on September 27, 1992, Clifton L. Gawtry discussed his experience as a flight instructor for the United States Navy during World War II. Gawtry was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on September 29, 1923. In 1941, after graduating high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he enlisted in the United States Navy in the V-5 program. After various flight schools for eighteen months, Gawtry became a flight instructor in Jacksonville and Pensacola, Florida. Gawtry recounted his experiences and comments on various aspects of flight and flight instruction. In 1944, he married his wife, Alice, and had four children. From 1949 to 1963, Gawtry served in a reserve squadron until he retired. He died on April 2, 2000 at the age of 76.
