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The Raymond family travel and portrait photograph album contains approximately 315 items (including photographic prints and illustrated postcards) related to the family, acquaintances, and travels of Francis J. Raymond, Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri.

The Raymond family travel and portrait photograph album contains approximately 315 items (including photographic prints and illustrated postcards) related to the family, acquaintances, and travels of Francis J. Raymond, Jr., of St. Louis, Missouri. The album (25 x 34 cm) has black cloth pages and is largely disbound. The majority of photographs have printed or typewritten captions. Many images are posed individual and group portraits of men, women, and children wearing fashionable clothing in a variety of settings, including on porches, patios, indoors, and beside trains. Several photographs appear to have been taken at the Antler Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, over a number of years, including images taken of a children's party on the hotel lawn replete with a group of Native American performers wearing war bonnets and carrying drums. Francis Raymond, Jr., is also shown visiting Charles L. Raymond and family in Detroit, as well as the Keelyn family and other friends in Los Angeles and Riverside, California. Other images show a golf outing; numerous cats and other animals; attractions in Colorado Springs, including the Cheyenne Mountain Lodge; scenes from Hawaii, including colored commercial prints of Mt. Muana Loa and a portrait of "Phillip Abdul" playing a ukelele on a Honolulu beach; several photographic silhouettes; a beach scene at Northport Point, Michigan; and a cottage at Topinbee, Michigan. Laid in images include two photographs of children's parties in 1917 and 1919, and two family groups from the same period.

The Walter Crane papers contain 88 letters, 2 postcards, and 1 Christmas card written by Corporal Crane to Ruth Backof, a former high school classmate, while he served in the Machine Gun Company of the 138th Infantry Regiment during the First World War. He described his experiences in training at Camp Clark, Missouri, and Camp Doniphan, Oklahoma. Crane also reported extensively on his involvement in combat along the Western Front, including his service in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and on life in the trenches.

The Walter Crane papers contain 88 letters, 2 postcards, and 1 Christmas card written by Corporal Crane to Ruth Backof, a former high school classmate, while he served in the Machine Gun Company of the 138th Infantry Regiment during the First World War.

Crane wrote his first letters while training at Camp Clark in Nevada, Missouri, in September 1917. He inquired about mutual friends and reminisced about his time at McKinley High School in St. Louis, Missouri. After moving to Oklahoma's Camp Doniphan in late October, he discussed his fellow soldiers, training exercises, and leisure activities. On December 25, 1917, he copied lyrics to a soldiers' song entitled "When Our Machine Guns Are Starting to Roar (for Me and My Gal)," and mentioned that his unit played sports in their spare time. Several envelopes bear the skull-and-crossbones insignia of the 138th Infantry Regiment's Machine Gun Company.

In April 1918, Crane moved to Camp Mills on Long Island, New York, and made final preparations to travel overseas. A May 14, 1918, letter provides an account of the trip. He first wrote from France on May 25, 1918, describing his journey across England. The remaining letters contain his impressions of France and news of his military engagements. Crane's vivid war letters mention both simulated battles (July 30, 1918) and real engagements. His stories of life in the trenches include several featuring trench rats. Between August and October, he wrote about his experiences in combat along the front lines just before and during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive -- the letters dated August 18, 1918, and October 6, 1918, are especially detailed. After November 1918, Crane’s company stayed in training near "Grimaucourt," France, despite the armistice. He continued to describe his daily life and on December 12, 1918, he copied three pages of poetry written by Sergeant S. F. McElhiney, a member of his company. On April 23, 1919, he wrote his final long letter while aboard the USS Kroonland, and, after he landed in the United States on the 29th, he sent Ruth a brief telegram.

The two French postcards are dated October 9 and December 21, 1918, and the Christmas card (1917) bears the insignia of Crane's unit. These three items are filed with the correspondence.