Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Albert E. St. Germain collection contains correspondence, military documents, and other items relating to the St. Germain family. The bulk of the collection pertains to Albert St. Germain's service in the United States Army's press service in Europe during and just after World War I.

The Albert E. St. Germain collection (over 190 items) contains correspondence, military documents, and other items relating to the St. Germain family. The bulk of the collection pertains to Albert St. Germain's service in the United States Army's press division in Europe during and just after World War I.

The Correspondence series (28 items) is made up of personal letters related to members of the St. Germain family. Sisters Clarinda (1 item) and M. Clementina (8 item) wrote French-language letters to their parents from the Convent of Mercy in Meriden, Connecticut, between 1894 and 1900. Other convent correspondents included Sister Teresa, who invited the St. Germain family to a ceremony (August 10, 1896), and Sister M. Augustine, who sent a telegram about Sister Clementina's death in November 1900. A woman named "Leontina" wrote 4 letters to Leon St. Germain from Québec in 1905.

Albert E. St. Germain wrote 6 letters to his mother and 2 letters to his brother Oscar while serving in the United States Army in France during and immediately after World War I. He described his travels in France and discussed some of his duties in the press section. In 1919, an acquaintance named J. Morgan wrote Albert St. Germain a personal letter and a letter of recommendation. Later correspondence includes a letter that one of Albert's children wrote to him in 1959, a letter about the 50 reunion of the Bulkeley High School class of 1914, and a World War II-era greeting card from the South Pacific.

The Documents series is divided into two subseries. Military Documents (97 items) are mostly comprised of news bulletins and intelligence summaries providing details about the Allied war effort in France from September 1918-November 1918, as well as 2 copies of Gerald Morgan's recollections about service as Chief Field Censor for the American Expeditionary Forces, written in February 1919. Department of Labor and Personal Documents (15 items) include intelligence tests, Albert St. Germain's employment history, a blank naturalization form, documents related to Leon St. German's estate, and documents regarding field stations during World War II.

The Photographs series (3 items) contains 2 formal card photograph portraits of an unidentified couple and of Albert E. St. Germain, as well as a photograph of Albert E. Saint Germain, in uniform, shaking hands with a French soldier. The latter photograph is enclosed with a copy of the New York newspaper that ran the photograph on August 4, 1918.

The Writings and Pencil Sketch series is comprised of 7 copies of stories that Albert E. St. Germain wrote around the World War I era. The writings include an account of his interactions with a French citizen during the war, a camping trip, and various other subjects; some of the drafts have manuscript notes. The collection has duplicate copies of 2 stories. The series includes a pencil drawing of "Le Vieux Moulin."

• The Cards and Currency subseries (4 items) consists of 3 business cards of Albert E. St. Germain and a French banknote.
• The Maps subseries (5 items) contains printed maps of the Moselle River, the Rhine River, and Bar-le-Duc, France; one of the Rhine River maps was produced for members of the army of occupation. Also included is a blueprint map of properties that Leon St. Germain owned in Waterford, Connecticut.
• The Pamphlets subseries (6 items) has the following items: a retrospective and commencement program related to the Bulkeley School class of 1914, a cover from a copy of The Louis Allis Messenger, a page from a printed recipe book, a pamphlet about the United States flag, and a copy of the United States Constitution with additional information for use in passing the country's citizenship examination.
• The Newspapers subseries (13 items) contains around 10 articles about World War I, the Bulkeley School, Albert E. St. Germain, and army censorship. The newspaper articles originate from papers in Connecticut and France. Three copies of The Stars and Stripes, dated 1918, are also present.

The Address Book and Fragments series (14 items) includes manuscript, typed, and printed fragments, and an address book that Albert St. Germain owned while working for the United States Department of Labor.

The Artifacts series consists of a brown leather satchel.

The Geiger family papers are primarily made up of correspondence written or received by Henry and Mildred Palmer Geiger, who lived in Galena, Illinois, and Sheldon, Iowa, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection includes letters that the couple wrote to each other during their courtship and letters that Henry received from his wife, siblings, parents, and children while he served with the Illinois National Guard during the Spanish-American War and with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.

The Geiger family papers are primarily made up of correspondence written or received by Henry and Mildred Palmer Geiger, who lived in Galena, Illinois, and Sheldon, Iowa, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection includes letters that the couple wrote to each other during their courtship and letters that Henry received from his wife, siblings, parents, and children while he served with the Illinois National Guard during the Spanish-American War and with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I.

The Correspondence series comprises the bulk of the collection. Henry Geiger wrote over 100 letters to Mildred Palmer between 1890 and 1894, during their courtship. Though he lived in Galena, Illinois, he frequently spent time in Chicago and Scales Mound, Illinois, while serving with the 6th Illinois National Guard. His letters, often lighthearted, provide details about their relationship and social lives and, to a lesser extent, describe his military service, which included duty in Chicago during the 1894 Pullman Strike. During the summer of 1893, he discussed his experiences at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. He visited national pavilions, rode the Ferris wheel, and went on other excursions. The collection holds only a few of Mildred's responses before their marriage.

Henry Geiger received around 30 letters while serving in Company M of the 6th Illinois National Guard Regiment during the Spanish-American War. His siblings, parents, and other family members provided news from Galena, Illinois, and occasionally commented on the progress of the conflict. Henry served at Camp Alger and in Puerto Rico in the summer of 1898, and he wrote 1 letter during his service (August 21, 1898). His sister "Eda" enclosed a small woven United States flag in her letter of August 13, 1898. Henry also received around 35 letters from his wife and children when he was serving in various units during World War I; they discussed family news, the war, education, and their separation. Henry's brothers occasionally wrote about their careers.

In addition to Henry and Mildred's family letters, the collection contains 6 letters addressed to Effie Fowler, a schoolteacher who lived in Slater, Missouri, from 1905-1906 , including one letter of recommendation and other personal correspondence.

The Travel Manuscripts series is comprised of two sets of travel notes made while the unidentified authors visited Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and Japan (6 index cards) and Israel (2 copies, 2 pages each).

The Financial records are receipts, accounts, and a check related to the financial affairs of the Geiger family and to Mrs. Lucy C. Wing of Marshall, Missouri. A small account book holding 2 pages of Wing's partially printed accounts is also included.

The Printed Items series consists of 4 newspaper clippings and an advertisement. Among the clippings are a recipe and an obituary for Mary Katherine Weinsheimer, Henry Geiger's mother. The advertisement in German announces Anna Heise's performance in Die Verfolgte Unschuld on May 3, 1930, in Philadelphia.

This collection is made up of correspondence, documents, photographs, printed items, and genealogical papers related to Joseph LaVille Young, who served in the Virginia Militia, United States Army, and United States Navy from the 1890s to the end of World War I. Most of the materials pertain to Young's military career, particularly during the Spanish-American War and World War I.

This collection (1 linear foot) is made up of approximately 200 letters and documents, 15 photographs, 30 printed items, and genealogical papers related to Joseph LaVille Young, who served in the Virginia Militia, United States Army, and United States Navy from the 1890s to the end of World War I. The bulk of the collection is comprised of a partially disassembled scrapbook; the loose items from the scrapbook have been arranged into series of correspondence and documents, photographs, printed items, and genealogical materials.

The majority of the Correspondence and Documents relate to Young's service in the Spanish-American War and World War I. They include commissions, orders, memorandums, and financial records. One small group of items pertains to Theodore Roosevelt's efforts to raise volunteer troops during World War I, including a signed letter from Roosevelt to Young, who had wanted to raise a Virginia regiment (May 25, 1917). Joseph LaVille kept a small memorandum book while stationed in France from January to February 1918. Most of the notes concern his expenses and other financial affairs, and he also copied information about converting English measures to metric units.

Additional manuscripts include some personal letters that Young wrote to his sister Linda while in France during World War I and a small number of documents related to the military service of Joseph LaVille Young, Sr. The later letters and documents concern Young's desire to return to the military during World War II, his real estate career, and the genealogy of the Pritchard family.

The Photographs include group portraits of the "Richmond Light Infantry Blues" during their Spanish-American War service in Cuba, and studio and informal portraits of Joseph LaVille Young as a young man, a Spanish-American War soldier, a member of the United States Navy, and an older man. One image shows Young posing in front of the family home in Portsmouth, Virginia, and another shows an unidentified man flexing his biceps and upper back muscles.

The Printed Items series is made up of 9 picture postcards, featuring scenes from multiple French towns; newspaper clippings, including obituaries for the elder Joseph LaVille Young and other family members; advertisements for real estate in Richmond, Virginia; and a pamphlet titled La Langue Anglaise sans Màître (1915).

The Genealogical Papers series includes histories, tables, and notes related to the Hollowell, Bacon, Hunter, Pettit, Godfrey, Swift, James, and Pritchard families. Included is a family tree showing Joseph LaVille Young's ancestors and a binder containing information on heraldic crests.

This collection pertains to William Ray Antis (1887-1943) of Detroit, Michigan, who served in the 484th Aero Squadron of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The collection includes eight letters to his mother Jessie Antis Germond, two military documents, a scrapbook of postcards kept during his time in France, photographs, two printed maps, three books, and four cloth/embroidered/painted-cloth items (incl. sergeant's stripes and a handkerchief case). The materials also include items from 1961 related to Sergeant Antis' daughter Dorothy J. Antis and Gerald "Jerry" Dumas, including original artwork from a Beetle Bailey comic strip.

This collection pertains to William Ray Antis (1887-1943) of Detroit, Michigan, who served in the 484th Aero Squadron of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The collection includes eight letters to his mother Jessie Antis Germond, two military documents, a scrapbook of postcards kept during his time in France, photographs, two printed maps, three books, and four cloth/embroidered/painted-cloth items (incl. sergeant's stripes and a handkerchief case). The materials also include items from 1961 related to Sergeant Antis' daughter Dorothy J. Antis and Gerald "Jerry" Dumas, including original artwork from a Beetle Bailey comic strip.

Antis wrote to his mother from San Antonio from December 1917 to January 1918; Aviation Branch, Virginia, in February 1918; and unspecified locations in France from May 1918 to December 1918. He wrote about his training in Texas, inoculation, carpentry, anticipation of leaving for the front, French farming and villages, expectation of getting a YMCA with a separate entertainment space, women's ability to wear service stripes corresponding to sons' and husbands' ranks, and more. He wrote several letters on printed "WITH THE COLORS" YMCA stationery. A final document is William R. Antis' selective service registration certificate, April 24, 1942, Detroit, Michigan.

One World War I era scrapbook contains largely souvenir picture photographs, with a number of greeting postcards, from Arcis-Sur-Aube, Vinets, Ramerupt, Lhuître, Mailly-le-Camp, Longeaux, Villers-Le-Sec, Ligny-en-Barrois, Bar-Le-Duc, Foug, Pagney-derrière-Barine, Bicqueley, Domgermain, Verdun, and Bezonvaux. The volume also includes several photographs and a French Woodrow Wilson postcard bearing a mounted silk portrait of the U.S. President.

The collection's newspaper clippings include recognition for Antis' service stripes and a published excerpt of one of his letters from France. It also includes two large, printed, detailed maps of France. A photographic portrait of William R. Antis is present.

A bundle of three items relate to Gerald "Jerry" Dumas during his visit to see his parents in Detroit in the spring of 1961. It includes a newspaper clipping and a manuscript letter from Jerry to Dorothy June Antis, accompanied by the original artwork for a 1960 Beetle Bailey comic strip.