Clifford R. Carnahan Collection, 1881-1889, and undated
1.5 cubic foot (in 3 boxes and 3 oversized folders)
Collection, 1881-1989, undated, includes textual materials, photographs, military publications and objects documenting Tip’s life in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, his World War I service in France, his family, and Central Michigan University. The first donation of materials includes two handwritten World War I letters, one a breakup letter to Tip from “Dutch”, 1918 (with matching enveloped attached to a scrapbook page; censor approved letter from Tip to his father, November 12, 1918 about the time directly before and after the Armistice, celebrating the Armistice; unidentified African Americans in an unspecified labor battalion whom he refers to several times in derogatory, racist terms, and his thoughts of friends and the future; two acidic, worn pages (Front and back) of an oversized scrapbook, with a published letter from Tip to his father, October 23, 1918, describing life in France, the artillery, and Boche lines; a French regulation artillery form, filled in in English, undated; published World War I song lyrics, October 11, 1919; and a page of miscellaneous including ration cards, a Paris postcard, and a newspaper article about the Armistice, undated (preservation copies of the scrapbook pages were added in color and black and white by the Archivist); four newspaper clippings include: an acidic image of Carnahan in his WWI uniform for his 90th birthday, 1984 (and preservation copies); and three long descriptive interviews with Carnahan by Burnie Bonnel, published in the Mount Pleasant (Mich.) Morning Sun, about his life at CMU, in Mount Pleasant, during and after WWI, and his opinions on various topics, January 23-24, 1986 and July 1, 1989. His obituary (1990, copy) is in the Hotel Chieftan scrapbook,1947-1971, which is also housed at the Clarke.
The 2020 addition includes photographs of Tip and his family; and Tip’s family history written and pasted onto a piece of cardboard. His service materials include: two service patches; his veteran’s bonuses and insurance materials; official war correspondence including his embarkation orders, his official papers of promotion, several associated manuals, discharge papers; personal notes and other materials that he used while discharging his duty. Published works include: a book on cavalry drill regulations for the US Army, 1916; a booklet on the by-laws of Union Prisoners of War Association, 1881; a French phrase book for American soldiers, 1918; and a book on the 329th Barrage which was the unit that Tip served with in France, 1919. One oversized folder includes a selection of mostly American piano sheet music, 1911-1945, and undated, which were retained in the collection due to the images on their covers and/or inscriptions from members of the Carnahan family. The collection is organized by format, size, and alphabetically. Overall, the collection is in good condition although two folders are fragile and one piece of cardboard with family history pasted and written on it is acidic.
Researchers may also be interested in the Hotel Chieftain scrapbook.