Oregon State Yank Collection, 1942-1945
1.35 cubic feet

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of correspondence received by Elaine Kollins Sewell and Jane Steagall, editors of the Oregon State Yank, from Oregon State College alumni serving in the military during World War II with reports of their service activities, family news, and news of other alumni.


Arrangement and Description

All of the correspondence has been assigned individual item numbers. Most of the letters are arranged chronologically by the date they were written with the exception of about one hundred letters that are arranged first by the writer's name and then chron ologically. These latter items include correspondence from Richard B. Kennedy and his wife Dorothy as well as Bruce Reid, Robert Lefler, Ray Quinn, and Jack Floyd.

An item-level inventory including the item number, the correspondent's name and location, and the date of the correspondence was prepared by Elaine Kollins Sewell Jones and donated with the letters.


Forms

The primary format of the materials is hand-written correspondence. However, the collection includes about 70 pieces of V-mail, 50 postcards, and a few telegrams. These are indicated on the inventory with a V (V-mail), P (postcard), or T (telegram).

Approximately 225 items (numbers 729-958) consist of typescripts of correspondence for which the original materials are not available.


Provenance

This collection was assembled by Elaine Kollins Sewell Jones and donated (with an item-level inventory) to the Oregon State University Archives in 1991.


Historical Note

Elaine Kollins Sewell and Jane Steagall, OSC graduates, published the first Yank as a 4-page newspaper-style Christmas greeting with news and gossip about OSC men and women in the service. They received many letters praising the publication and asking for more. It was expanded to 16 pages and published quarterly through November 1945.


Related Materials

All 8 issues of the Oregon State Yank are available in the Archives' Publications Collections (PUB 10-15c).


Shelf Locations

Paper materials - SR 5/6/2/22-23; SR 5/6/2/51-52
Photograph - 2/2/9/11


Inventory
Items 1-599
Items 600-1072
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