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

This composition book was kept by 8–10-year-old Mildred Wood and Mary Wood while living in Illinois and Missouri. The volumes include copied song lyrics and poems, and pencil and crayon drawings. A number of pressed flowers and leaves are laid into the volume.

This composition book was kept by 8–10-year-old Mildred Wood and Mary Wood while living in Illinois and Missouri. The volumes include copied song lyrics and poems, and pencil and crayon drawings. A number of pressed flowers and leaves are laid into the volume.

The song lyrics and poems focus on themes relating to nature, love, and friendship, and include titles such as "Missouri School Song," "The Yellow Rose of Texas," and "Illinois." The drawings feature flowers, houses, and a portrait of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. One outdoor scene shows two girls playing in front of a house, labelled "Living on the farm." Two pencil and crayon drawings done on tracing paper are laid into the volume: one of a ladies' boot with the name "Hamilton Brown shoe Co." on it, and another of a valentine with Cupid holding a bow and arrow.

Several entries are suggestive of schoolwork, such as sentence diagrams, a list of courts, a passage about U.S. history, a list of teachers in the Venice Public School and the average grades in their classes, and a list of the "Names of the Teachers I have had at Differ[e]nt Schools." Another passage is titled "The Japanese Fan."

Later entries were written in a different hand and consist mostly of quotations and proverbs. The word "Graduate" is printed on the cover of the volume.

The Peter H. Musty papers are made up of two bound diaries, disbound diary entries, a letter book, ten loose illustrations, and two printed items belonging to Peter Henry "Hank" Musty of Greensburg, Ohio. In 1862, Musty enlisted in the 61st Ohio Infantry and served as a musician until his health-related discharge in 1864.

Peter H. Musty Bound Diaries. The earlier of the two bound diaries dates from Musty's enlistment and initial period of service in the army (January 1862- September 1862) and the later bound diary begins after Musty had been discharged and returned home (June 1864- February 1865). Throughout both diaries, Musty wrote personal names and the daily entries for July 2- September 16, 1864, in a numerical substitution code. Before enlisting, Musty made multiple visits to a gypsy camp near Greensburg, where he had his fortune told and received an invitation into a tent to sing for them (January 15-19, 1862). Shortly after his enlistment, Musty was appointed as a musician (drummer) and transferred to Field and Staff duty where his responsibilities included cooking and guarding prisoners. Musty described daily life at Camp Dennison and Camp Chase in Ohio, including mentions of petty thefts such as a soldier being placed in the guard house for stealing a pie as well as someone stealing his blanket.

Although not directly involved in combat with his unit at the second Battle of Manassas, Musty was impressed by the intensity of the heavy "cannonading and musketry," and mentioned the forced retreat with the entry: "Jackson after us. I run all night - no sleep at all - cold, cold." On July 31, 1862, he described flags flying at half-mast in their camp and "canons fireing in every direction," at the news of Martin Van Buren's death.

After being invalided out of the army in 1864, Musty's diary entries again focused on life in Greensburg, Ohio. Musty spent a large part of each day playing his violin, often for two or three different gatherings on the same day. He played at "apple cuttings," parties, school programs, and oyster dinners. He serenaded neighbors, often not returning home until well after midnight. Sometimes Musty was accompanied by friends on the "basse" and drums, and on several occasions they donned "blackface" by rubbing their faces with cork only to find that it was much easier to apply the cork than it was to remove it. Musty returned to helping his father with the coopering business and began working part time at the local post office, hoping to get well enough to return to Washington, D.C., to work for the Veteran's Relief Corp. On the local scene, the town of Greensburg worked actively to prevent the drafting of local men in 1864. Instead of individual men buying their way out of the draft by hiring replacements, a committee of Greensburg citizens went to Cleveland and hired replacements for all the Greensburg men subject to the new draft. The town then set about soliciting money from all the local families to cover this communally-incurred expense. Musty made a passing mention to visiting a photographic gallery in November 1864, where he saw "movements on negatives" and had his "picture taken with motion." The December 23, 1864, entry includes four small pencil sketches of a friend named Tom, showing his progression from civilian to soldier. Musty was fond of keeping lists, and in the back of his diaries he compiled the names of soldiers he served with, people who owed him money, letters he had received, and a six page chronological list ("Memorandum") of all the girls he had accompanied home from local events between April 1860 and February 1865.

Peter H. Musty Disbound Diaries. Pages disbound from diaries span from January 1, 1861, to August 7, 1863, with some ca. 1865 entries at the end. The early entries pre-date Musty's enlistment and describe his schooling, daily activities, and work. Musty occasionally mentioned topics like slavery (January 8, 1861; February 24, 1861), and by April 1861 he began to note military activity. Throughout the rest of 1861 Musty recorded local enlistments, drills, and military news alongside his daily work and activities, providing a glimpse of local reactions to the early war effort. Entries from January to September 1862 overlap with the bound diary for these dates, but with variant wording and occasionally more details. Musty described his enlistment on February 26, 1862, and his subsequent stay at Camp Dennison and Camp Chase, providing details about daily camp life. Musty commented on guarding Confederate prisoners at Camp Chase, some who were en route to Johnson's Island (April 26-May 27, 1862). Musty described the march through West Virginia, arriving in Strausburg, Virginia, on June 21. From June to November 1862, Musty wrote from Strausburg, Middleton, Sperrysville, Arlington Heights, Fairfax Court House, New Baltimore, and other Virginia encampments, describing marches, camp life, nearby Confederates and guerrillas, and recent military encounters. In his entry for September 10, 1862, he vividly recalled his first time in battle on August 22. From April to August 1863, the collection includes copies of letters Musty wrote while at the hospital at Brooks Station, Virginia, and convalescent camps near Alexandria, relaying news of nearby engagements and activity at the hospitals. In July 1863 he began working as a clerk at the Medical Head Quarters for the convalescent camp and subsequently the Invalid Corps Head Quarters. The entries for 1865 primarily detail his health complaints. Musty included occasional references to African Americans (May 4, 1862; May 28, 1862; July 30, 1862; June 9, 1863; June 25, 1863). Other items include lyrics to a song about alcohol, an extract from the Army Herald entitled "The Fruits of Rebellion," and several pages accounting for Ohio soldiers.

Musty's letter book contains eleven of his outgoing correspondences and eighteen incoming letters from friends (both male and female) during the Civil War. It also includes poems, songs, programs of performances at the local Greensburg school from 1859 to 1861, the constitution of the Tyrocinean Debating Society, and a list of other men from Greensburg who served in the Civil War. Among the copied letters is a formal letter of complaint against Captain Thomas Graham for being intoxicated on multiple occasions while stationed at the Invalid Corps Convalescent Camp in Virginia (November 7, 1863). A table of contents for the letter book appears between pages 101 and 104.

Ten illustrations drawn by Musty during his military service are present in this collection. He drew three of these sketches between February and April 1863, when his unit (61st Ohio Infantry) was stationed near Stafford Courthouse, Virginia. Of particular interest is a detailed drawing of General Adolph von Steinwehr's headquarters and the surrounding camp activities, with what appears to be a self-portrait of Musty sketching the scene in the foreground (March 6, 1863). The illustration is on the reverse side of a fragment of a letter in which Musty states that he and all of the soldiers he knows are not fighting for "the freedom of the collord race." Another drawing from around the same time shows a soldier carrying dispatches in front of a tent, with several wooden hitching posts in the foreground. The third illustration depicts a log cabin next to what appears to be an oven while two soldiers stand guard nearby. On the reverse side of this sketch is part of a letter to his brother Francis in which Musty mentions having received a valentine from a girl (whose name he rendered in code). The fourth sketch from this period is on the back of a letter dated May 28, 1863, and shows a long tent, possibly a field hospital, with a "No Admittance" sign over the entrance. A man is visible through the tent flap with a bucket at his side. The fifth sketch (undated) shows the fortifications at Aquia Bridge, Virginia, and the surrounding countryside. Two undated sketches depict women, one drawn in pencil with the title "Going By the Gate" and the other in black, blue, and red ink showing a woman with a striped hat. An undated pencil sketch, "The Signal Flag," shows soldiers atop a house waving the signal flag, an army encampment in the foreground, and soldiers marching in the background. A pen and ink drawing captioned "Near Cedar Mountain" shows three soldiers, one on horseback and two others cajoling a balking donkey. A dialog entitled "A Quaker on an argument" includes a pen and ink illustration of two men debating theology before a fireplace.

The last two items in this collection are printed items, a black and red print of Major General John C. Frémont torn from a letterhead and a Valentine containing an illustration of a man playing his guitar for a woman that includes the following poem:

"My song is mute, the strainWhich melodized each line,My sentiments conveyTo thee my Valentine."

The collection consists of hand-made sketchbooks and loose sheets of paper featuring drawings likely made by children Edith, Jennie, and Theodore Pond while residing in Syria (present-day Lebanon) with their missionary parents, Theodore S. Pond and Julia Pond. Prominent imagery depicted includes domestic scenes, women and children at work and play, and women tending to the sick. The Ponds rarely specified locations in their drawings, and while they may have been generic or imagined scenes some may have been made to reflect the Pond family's residence or experience while in Syria (present-day Lebanon).

The collection consists of hand-made sketchbooks and loose sheets of paper featuring drawings likely made by children Edith, Jennie, and Theodore Pond while residing in Syria (present-day Lebanon) with their missionary parents, Theodore S. Pond and Julia Pond. Prominent imagery depicted includes domestic scenes, women and children at work and play, and women tending to the sick. The Ponds rarely specified locations in their drawings, and while they may have been generic or imagined scenes some may have been made to reflect the Pond family's residence or experience while in Syria (present-day Lebanon).

The bulk of the drawings were done in pencil, but several were made using pen and ink, pen and wash, and pastels. A large portion of the images depict interior domestic scenes of women and young girls reading, sewing, dining, visiting, sleeping, and at play with toys in parlors, living rooms, and bedrooms. These drawings include details like clothing, accessories, furniture, and decorations. Several show women wearing the Christian cross as jewelry, head coverings or veils, and chopines (a platformed shoe), possibly representing adherents of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Several of the drawings feature women at work doing tasks like cooking, sewing, washing dishes or floors, sweeping, gardening, tending to the ill, or bathing children. Older women are represented alongside middle-aged women, young girls, and infants. Adult men and young boys appear occasionally in the scenes.

Several illustrations appear to show women laboring as domestic servants, and at least four of these images represent dark-skinned women. One additional drawing shows a family scene with three dark-skinned women knitting or resting in a hammock.

Outdoor scenes are also represented, showing women and children walking and travelling in the streets, playing games, visiting the beach, riding horses, shopping, sleighing, or picking fruit. One drawing depicts a family standing beside a sphinx with pyramids in the background. Other locales outside of the home are also featured, including a store, a church, a theater, a photographer's studio, and possibly a school.

Miscellaneous other topics were drawn, such as angels, Grecian women, a dream, a centaur statue, a shield with an American crest, and two singing girls who appear to be impoverished.

Only two of the drawings were signed, both landscapes by Theodore H. Pond, one dated 1882 shows a building in the countryside and the other depicts a village street scene leading towards a church. Two other unsigned landscapes are also present, one labelled "St. Augustines Canterbury." Two other illustrations -- one a portrait of a young woman and the other an interior scene with four children blowing bubbles-- have the name "Edith" inscribed with ink on the verso. Several of the drawings were labelled by a child in block letters. One of the drawings was made on a sheet of paper that had previously been used to write notes on the Letters of Paul.

The drawings were enclosed in an Upsala College envelope labeled: "'Drawings of Edith & Elsie Pond when they were little girls in Syria.' (Be Sure To Save These)"

This nineteenth-century album contains 46 once-bound pen-and-ink caricatures on heavy card stock, each card with or formerly with metal eyelets on one short edge. A pencil inscription at the back of the volume reads, "Mr. Albert L. Briggs, Providence, RI," and internal references to Providence, Rhode Island, further suggests that either Briggs or another local resident may have produced the artwork. The figures represented in the volume vary widely and some are more sympathetic or more disparaging than others. The illustrator relied heavily on exaggerated features, stereotypes, and jokes directed at people's physical appearance to provide social commentary especially on race, ethnicity, gender, and class.

This nineteenth-century album contains 46 once-bound pen-and-ink caricatures on heavy card stock, each card with or formerly with metal eyelets on one short edge. A pencil inscription at the back of the volume reads, "Mr. Albert L. Briggs, Providence, RI," and internal references to Providence, Rhode Island, further suggests that either Briggs or another local resident may have produced the artwork. The figures represented in the volume vary widely and some are more sympathetic or more disparaging than others. The illustrator relied heavily on exaggerated features, stereotypes, and jokes directed at people's physical appearance to provide especially social commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, and class.

At least seven of the illustrations relate to women, including drawings referring to women's rights and various women's roles as mothers, performers, physicians, and cooks. One, labelled "What is home without a mother," may be a reference to a song by the same name published in 1854, and it features a woman with a monstrous face. Another titled "HANNAH LONG" depicts a woman peddling "Quaker Bitters" (probably the Providence, Rhode Island, patent medicine by that name) and may be referring to Hannah Longshore (1819-1901), who graduated from the first class of the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1851.

Many of the caricatures focus on impoverished or working class people, showing individuals in tattered clothing or in lower-paying professions such as a farmer, a shoeshine, and a seeming gravedigger. A number of illustrations depict men in various stages of intoxication or alcoholism. Forms of social disorder are highlighted in caricatures of a convict and of a knife-wielding murderer labelled "THE MAN THAT KILLED JOHN GILPIN." Commentary on physical and mental disability are also represented, in drawings of a mentally ill man labelled "Luny" and a man with unaligned eyes and feet labelled "On exhibition."

Other caricatures reflect racial, ethnic, and religious stereotypes. Two racist caricatures depict African Americans, including one of a Black Congressman and one of an Uncle Remus character. Another caricature depicts a recent immigrant, while two are anti-Semitic (those labeled "The Torturer" and "NAME IT"). Two figures depict high religious figures, from Catholic or Orthodox Christian churches; one wears a robe, a fur-brimmed mitre, and snowshoes. The word "KAMSCHASA" is written near the bottom of the robe, likely referring to the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.

Other caricatures highlight people based on their height, weight, profession (such as a king, a knight, an editor, a lecturer), or social posturing. For example, attitudes like dignity, contentment, nosiness, and bashfulness are spotlighted. Others appear more innocuous, such as illustrations of someone reading the morning newspaper and another of someone taking "Rush's Pills," but underlying subtexts for many of the images likely have additional meaning.

The Ralph L. McElderry papers are made up largely of the outgoing correspondence of Sgt. McElderry during his World War II service in the 3226th Ordnance Depot Company and 421st Ordnance Evacuation Company. His stateside training, work as a stock clerk and typist, and service as a Supply Noncommissioned Officer in Europe are reflected in his letters as well as supporting documents.

The Ralph L. McElderry papers are made up 224 outgoing letters of Sgt. McElderry during his World War II service in the 3226th Ordnance Depot Company and 421st Ordnance Evacuation Company, plus three drawings by Maria McElderry for her father while he was away, 11 documents, and four war ration books.

Ralph L. McElderry's Correspondence is about his everyday life during his stateside training, work as a stock clerk and typist, and service as a Supply Noncommissioned Officer in Europe.

Ralph L. McElderry wrote from the following locations:

• Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma, between March 9 and 17, 1944 (2 letters)
• Camp Maxey, Paris, Texas, March 22-June 28, 1944 (17 letters)
• Camp Van Doren, Centreville, Mississippi, July 6 or 7-October 4, 1944 (25 letters)
• Camp Polk, Leesville, Louisiana, October 6, 1944-February 13, 1945 (42 letters)
• Camp Kilmer, New Jersey—Point of Embarkation, February 25, 1945 (1 letter)
• At Sea, March 3-6, 1945 (4 letters)
• France, March 13, 1945-April 10, 1945 (19 letters)
• Belgium, April 12, 1945 (1 letter)
• Germany, April 13, 1945-June 12, 1945 (43 letters)
• France, Camp Brooklyn, June 15, 1945-July 18, 1945 (9 letters)
• France, San Francisco, July 18, 1945-August 2, 1945 (8 letters)
• France, Delta Base near Marseilles, August 8, 1945-October 19, 1945 (42 letters)

The Marcia McElderry Drawings include three illustrations she drew and colored for her father while he was away in the service. One depicts a house beside four trees and a truck driving on a road; one is labeled by an adult as being a sergeant marching in his uniform beside mud and grass; and the third is a duck with a helmet on.

The Documents series includes the order for him to report for induction (September 20, 1943); his identity, education, and immunization verification, a commissary card, and papers related to his discharge in November 1945.

The four War Ration Books belonged to Iola, Andrea, and Marcia McElderry. Each of them contains remaining stamps.

Rd. Kraker created this 20-page handwritten booklet titled "Little Girl's Own Book," with an introduction dated April 1, 1864. The manuscript was "Brilliantly Illustrated by Darling" and identified as a first edition in the "1st Series of Confederate Primers," "printed" by the "Southern Emesis Book and job Printing Office." The booklet contains a story, with added notes on proper behavior. According to Kraker's introduction, the content was gleaned from conversations in the "Lager Bier Saloon of Hanns Kroftler" and its earnestness and sentiment was adapted to the "comprehension and bias of mind of the female children of the south." The author told the story of a Northern and a Southern girl, in which the girl in the north became tired of living on a farm and eating onions, so decided to travel to the warmer climate of the south and visit her friend. Upon arriving by train, she witnessed a battle and fell in love with a Confederate soldier. After he returned to the battlefield, she gained solace from her southern friend, through listening to music, by singing and writing, and by seeking treatment for sadness from a physician.

Rd. Kraker created this 20-page handwritten booklet titled "Little Girl's Own Book," with an introduction dated April 1, 1864. The manuscript was "Brilliantly Illustrated by Darling" and identified as a first edition in the "1st Series of Confederate Primers," "printed" by the "Southern Emesis Book and job Printing Office." The booklet contains a story, with added notes on proper behavior. According to Kraker's introduction, the content was gleaned from conversations in the "Lager Bier Saloon of Hanns Kroftler" and its earnestness and sentiment was adapted to the "comprehension and bias of mind of the female children of the south."

The author told the story of a Northern and a Southern girl, in which the girl in the north became tired of living on a farm and eating onions, so decided to travel to the warmer climate of the south and visit her friend. Upon arriving by train, she witnessed a battle and fell in love with a Confederate soldier. After he returned to the battlefield, she gained solace from her southern friend, through listening to music, by singing and writing, and by seeking treatment for sadness from a physician. One of the songs referenced is Charles Carroll Sawyer and Henry Tucker's "When Will This Cruel War Be Over?"

• A moving train, "ye adventurus maid going to the Sunny South."
• A battle scene, with firing cannon, and a freestanding chimney beside two men (one laying on the ground, the other standing), "Findeth ye home desolate."
• Boxes and barrels of goods, "Tobacco &c Tar & Turpentine" and "Pine Trees" beside a jug marked "apple jack."
• Barrels, with a pitcher and glass atop one of them marked "Buorbon" [i.e. Bourbon], "ye Stapels continued."
• A woman in a rocking chair weeping into a handkerchief while a man in a soldier's uniform walks away.
• A piano.
• Four people walking; the two in front are a man and a woman.
• A woman standing, holding what appears to be a fan.
• A farmhouse beside a fence, animals, a birdhouse, and a tree with gourds hanging from its branches (as homes for Martins).
• A woman seated, knitting.
• A woman playing the piano; another woman stands beside her with a hand on her shoulder. They are singing, "When this Cruel war is over-!"
• Vision of injured soldiers, one leg amputee standing with crutches.
• A woman seated and writing a letter.
• A physician seated at a tent opening, reading a letter.

The text includes a parody of physician's explanation and prescription to the disconsolate young woman. The instructions read:

"The exostotic exudation overcoming the endosmotic implication in the peri and endocardium, pluviates the sanguinious, and decalorificates the systemic platitudes. The circumambient exoteric disintegrates the envelope and allows the exoteric functions to retrospect the perihelion of animal deficiancies. The pia mater interconvoluted with the [?] covering and becomes simultaneously congested by contact with the [?] substance. Hence retrovision becomes duplicated and prevision imparalelized. The remedy is equally perspicuous and followed earnestly will inevitably effect a cure..."

The volume includes several lines and paragraphs written in German Kurrantschrift. The most robust is the final page, headed by the text "The Soldier's Lament" and "Der Betrübte-lammantiert Soldadt," followed by a poetic description of snow-capped mountains and remarks on girls' behavior, i.e. "Wie schön wäre es [wenn?] die kleine Mädchen immer die Wahrheit sprächen" (How nice would it be [if?] little girls always spoke the truth), etc.

This collection consists of 883 letters, documents, an orderly book, printed items, and other materials concerning revolutionary conflicts in Cuba and the Philippines, American involvement particularly, dating largely from the 1890s-1900s. This collection's contents include detailed information from Cuban and Philippine revolutionaries at home and in exile; U.S. Army activities related especially to the Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and postwar occupations; American, Cuban, Filipino, and Spanish consular and governmental officials; and civilians (including families of U.S. Army soldiers' and sailors' family members) involved in the events.

This collection consists of 883 letters, documents, an orderly book, printed items, and other materials concerning revolutionary conflicts in Cuba and the Philippines, American involvement particularly, dating largely from the 1890s-1900s. This collection's contents include detailed information from Cuban and Philippine revolutionaries at home and in exile; U.S. Army activities related especially to the Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and postwar occupations; American, Cuban, Filipino, and Spanish consular and governmental officials; and civilians (including families of U.S. Army soldiers' and sailors' family members) involved in the events.

Please see the box and folder listing in this finding aid for extensive, detailed descriptions of items and groups of items in the Revolutionary Cuba and Philippines Collection.

This collection consists of two variations of a 1912 yearbook for members of the 1915 co-ed class of Rochester High School in Rochester, Pennsylvania.

This collection consists of two variations of a 1912 yearbook for members of the 1915 co-ed class of Rochester High school in Rochester, Pennsylvania. These yearbooks include pencil and pen-and-ink portraits of students, faculty, and sports teams, as well as caricatures, cartoons, and humorous drawings. Several poems are also included. Their content touches on humor, social affairs, class members' personalities, curriculum, athletics, and gender. The content is very similar between the two volumes, with some variations of student descriptions and introductory matter.

The first volume, titled "The Nightmare," includes an introduction stating that "the only excuse for publishing this book is because the rest of the bunch have one apiece . . . [and] merely aids one in passing some idle hours in school . . . this book is strictly 'Entre Nous,' so don't tell anybody outside of America." One page, headed "Familiar Quotations" quotes Bunny Amos Rex as having said, "Aw fellows let's git together and do some devilment." On the opposite page of the "Quotations" section is a drawing of the Rochester High School with the label "Agony Building." Accompanying the student portraits are humorous descriptions of said students: Armin Barner is described as an elegant musician, politician, electrician and magician of the lowest rank.

The second volume, titled "Freshmen Class Book 1911," includes a preface claiming the book "touches on such topics as Elementary Science, Natural Science, Natural Phylosophy, Orthography, Uranography, Geodasy and Wireless Telegraphy" to emulate "when all writters chiseled out dedications for a book thereby showing their originality." It further states that the class has attempted the same "because of our first class solid ivory domes." Many pages feature illustrations or descriptions of the school's sports teams. It also contains croquet scores for the women's team, who apparently gave the class "the thing we need to brag over," as they "mopped the valley clean" in their season.

This volume is midshipman Roger Perry's workbook, kept while aboard the U.S. Frigate Brandywine, after leaving Hampton Roads, Virginia, for the Mediterranean. It contains a list of officers aboard the vessel; detailed series of watch, quarter, and station bills; and notes and essays on seamanship. Notably, Perry's documentation of the watch includes illustrations showing the placement of specific seamen on the yards.

This volume is midshipman Roger Perry's workbook, kept while aboard the U.S. Frigate Brandywine, after leaving Hampton Roads, Virginia, for the Mediterranean. It contains "two introductory pages, one with a sketch of the Brandywine and the second serving as the notebook's cover page; three pages listing officers aboard the frigate in 1830; 99 pages of detailed (and in seven cases illustrated) series of watch, quarter, and station bills, showing which stations the men filled during various evolutions; and 118 pages of notes on seamanship. These last include instructions on preparing a ship for departure, on operating it at sea, and for returning it to port.

Inserted in the book is a separate sheet containing on one side a 'Table of Masts and Spars for all Classes of Vessels in the U.S. Navy' (ships of the line, frigates, sloops, brigs, and schooners) and on the other side 'Proportions for Tops, Trestle trees, Cross trees & Caps'" (David P. Harris, "Midshipman Roger Perry's Workbook for the U.S. Frigate Brandywine, 1830," general description accompanying the Roger Perry Workbook).

This collection is made up of letters that Lieutenant Russell G. Schlagal wrote to his wife Margery while serving in the United States Army during World War II. Schlagal discussed his experiences in India and on the island of Tinian, and he often illustrated his letters with ink sketches and watercolor paintings.

This collection is made up of letters that Lieutenant Russell G. Schlagal wrote to his wife Margery while serving in the United States Army during World War II. Schlagal discussed his experiences in India and on the island of Tinian, and he often illustrated his letters with ink sketches and watercolor paintings.

Russell G. Schlagal regularly wrote letters home to Margery, who remained in Dayton, Ohio, during the war. He responded to news of family members and acquaintances, and shared his love for Margery. Most letters concern Schlagal's daily experiences with the 28th Air Service Group in India (December 1944-April 1945) and on the island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands (June 1945-March 1946). In India, he occasionally mentioned his encounters with local residents, and he described the wildlife, the scenery, and local customs. He frequently attended USO shows and movies. Schlagal later discussed his life on Tinian, where he remained until the spring of 1946. He continued to attend performances and films, and also participated in underwater sightseeing. After the end of the war, Schlagal wrote about the possibility and timing of his return home.

Schlagal illustrated some of his letters with ink sketches, ink drawings, and watercolor paintings. These depict buildings, objects, and scenery from India and Tinian. Occasionally, he used stationery with pre-printed scenes, and his letter of December 29, 1945, has a manuscript map of Tinian. On February 24, 1946, Schlagal composed a partially pictographic letter about his anticipated return home. He alternated words with pictures of animals, his wife, himself, and the island of Tinian.