Michigan – History
Governors
Jim Blanchard, 45th Governor of Michigan
Grand Valley State University. University Communications
University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03)
Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives
Jim Blanchard, 45th Governor of Michigan, speaking at the Press Club of Grand Rapids
Blanchard, Roy (Interview outline and video), 2007
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Michigan. National Guard. Infantry, 126th
World War, 1914-1918--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Roy Eugene Blanchard was a WWI veteran who served in the Michigan National Guard – 126th Infantry Regiment on the Mexican border and in Europe. Roy's son, Clark, is conducting this interview in memory of his father. At 15 years old, Roy managed to join the Michigan National Guard despite the fact he was underage. Soon after joining, Roy was sent to the Mexican border to stop the raiding of Texas towns by Mexican gangs. While in Mexico, WWI broke out and Roy's division was immediately shipped over to France. In this interview, Clark shares many detailed stories about his father's time on the front, including unique stories of mustard gas and barbed wire. Clark also discusses the time his father saw a fellow solider get hit by shrapnel and also the time Roy was blinded by mustard gas. Because Roy kept diaries of his time on the front, the stories Clark tells are very clear and truly give one a sense of the front lines. During WWII, Roy was an auxiliary policeman for Grand Rapids who policed many of the women's baseball games.
Blanchard, Roy
Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.)
In Copyright
Michigan State University
East Lansing (Mich.)
Football--Michigan
Football stadiums
Black-and-white photography
Black and white photograph of the empty rows of bleachers within Spartan Stadium on the campus of Michigan State University on February 1, 1961. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative.
Gilbert, Douglas R.
Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)
Bledsoe, Henry (Interview outline and video), 2005
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Air Force
Henry Bledsoe was born in 1951, in an Illinois farming community. He served in the Vietnam War in the Air Force as a medic. He spent several months in Vietnam, where he tested blood cultures and worked with a unit whose job it was to keep patients stable prior to shipment to hospitals.
Bledsoe, Henry
Bleecher, Arthur (Interview outline and video), 2008
Merchant marine--United States
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Arthur Bleecher enlisted in the Merchant Marine in 1944 and trained as a radio officer. He sailed to Asia and Europe in 1945 and 1946 and then returned to civilian life, only to be drafted for the Korean War. This time he served in the army, attended Officer Candidate School and trained as an anti-aircraft officer. He shipped out to Korea in 1952 and spent several months there on active duty.
Bleecher, Arthur
Bleil, Eugene (Interview outline and video), 2012
United States. Army Air Corps
Eugene Bleil was born in 1920 and grew up mostly on farms outside of the city. He was accepted to Eastern Michigan University, but dropped out after a semester, traveled with his brother looking for work, and wound up enlisting in the Army Air Corps. The brothers trained as Selfridge Field in Michigan and passed the tests for pilot training, but failed the physical, and trained as mechanics at Scott Field in Illinois. Assigned to the 17th Pursuit Squadron, Bleil shipped out to the Philippines in 1940. Based at Nichols Field outside of Manila, the squadron trained there until the war with Japan began, and then transferred first to Clark Field, and then to Bataan. When the aircraft were withdrawn, the crews became provisional infantry and fought off Japanese landing attempts along the coast until the surrender in April. Bleil survived the Bataan Death March and three years in labor camps in the Philippines before being sent to Japan to work in foundries. Bleil and some of the other prisoners developed a talent for sabotage, but were never caught by the Japanese. After the war, Bleil was told by Army doctors that he would not live very long or be able to father children. Even so, he went back to college, became a doctor, raised a family and is still around to tell his story. He has also published a memoir, Condemned to Death Six Times.
Bleil, Eugene
United States. Navy
World War, 1939-1945
Germany
Military education
Airplanes, Military--Recognition
Slides
Blenheim German light bomber aircraft used in the early days of WWII, CC-20.
Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)
No Copyright - United States
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Binding of Blennerhassett, or, The Decrees of Fate: A Romance Founded upon Events in American History, by Charles Felton Pidgin, published by C.M. Clark Publishing Co., 1902.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Pamphlet of blessings and prayers for mealtime by the Men's Club of Congregation Ahavas Israel, in English and Hebrew
Congregation Ahavas Israel, Men's Club
Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)
Ontario
Blind River (Ont.)
Black and white photograph of Blind River, Ontario, as viewed from boat.
Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955
Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222)
Grand Valley State University – History
College teachers
Universities and colleges – Faculty
Michigan
Binding of Blitzen the Conjurer, by Frank M. Bicknell, published by Henry Altemus Company, 1906.
Block, Kenneth (Interview transcript and video), 2018
United States—History, Military
Vietnam War, 1961-1975—Personal narratives, American
Kenneth Block was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1932 where he graduated high school before attending Wayne State University. Studying geology and accounting, Block graduated with a degree in accounting before a friend referred him to Selfridge Air Force Base due to his interests in meteorology. Just before the outbreak of the Korean War in June of 1950, he enlisted into the Air Force Reserve unit stationed at Selfridge. Block had no formal Basic Training and soon went to work in the meteorology department of the Reserve unit. By late 1951, he decided to enter the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Course in the hopes of placing himself into a better position to pursue a military career or a higher education after his seemingly inevitable time in the active-duty service. Block was then sent to Enid Air Force Base for a brief course in multi-engine repair and maintenance. In July of 1952, he agreed to take a physical at Selfridge and, to his surprise, was qualified to undergo flight training in San Antonio, Texas. Firstly, he underwent twelve weeks of Air Force Basic Training in addition to other formal classroom training courses. Block was then allowed to select where he wanted to be assigned, after which he was stationed back at Selfridge with the Air Force Reserve Training Center, attached to the 10th Air Force Division, as a clerk typist. During his time on the base, the Air Force was recalling former Second World War fighter pilots and Block, himself, participated in a few flight crews, but never fully became a pilot. Block also spent some significant time in the hospital for illnesses he contracted in his throat as well as for a severe dental ailment that caused him to lose several teeth on his jaw. Eventually, he was discharged from the Air Force and immediately resumed his education at Wayne State University for a master’s degree in business. Afterwards, he decided to stop pursuing further education opportunities since his children were graduating high school and would be enrolling in college themselves. Reflecting upon his time in the Air Force, Block believed the service helped him reorganize his life. He was also grateful for the benefits of the GI Bill, believing he received far more from his service than he had put into it.
Block, Kenneth
Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401.
Michigan--History
Local histories
Memoirs
Oral histories (document genre)
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Personal narratives
Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Grand Valley State University
John W. (Jack) Blodgett was born on May 24, 1901 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In addition to continuing the lumbering business of his father, he was a banker. John married Minnie Cumnock in 1895. Apart from the Blodgett Memorial Hospital in East Grand Rapids, they helped found the Clinic for Infant Feeding, the Association for the Blind, the Grand Rapids Child Guidance Clinic, and the D. A Blodgett Home for Children. Blodgett died on October 27, 1987.
Blodgett, John W.
Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23)
Lowell Blomstrom was born on March 22, 1893 in Grand Rapids. His father was an inventor and pioneer in the automobile industry. In 1904 Carl Blomstrom introduced the Queen Automobile produced in Detroit by the Blomstrom Motor Company. Lowell Blomstrom also worked in the automobile industry. He died in 1979.
Blomstrom, Lowell
Bloody Foreland, County Donegal, Ireland
Coastlines--Ireland
Donegal (Ireland : County)
Black and white photograph featuring a bird's-eye view of the Bloody Foreland coastal area in the County Donegal, a largely Irish-speaking region in northwestern Ireland that borders the Atlantic Ocean. Scanned from the negative.
Black and white photograph featuring an exterior view of a stone house located in the Bloody Foreland area of the County Donegal, a largely Irish-speaking region in northwestern Ireland that borders the Atlantic Ocean. Scanned from the negative.
Bloss, Lamar (Interview outline and video), 2011
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Lamar Bloss grew up in northern Indiana and was drafted into the Army in 1952. He trained as an infantryman and was sent to Korea. He participated in heaving fighting in early 1953, including the action at Pork Chop Hill. After the armistice, he served on graves registration duty until he was sent home.
Bloss, Lamar
Blough, Keith (Interview outline and video), 2004
Keith Blough was born on August 28th, 1925 in Freeport, Michigan. He was drafted in to the US Navy in November of 1943. After attending boot camp in Farragut, Idaho, he became a signalman on a ship. After the war, he was discharged at Great Lakes in Chicago, Illinois.
Blough, Keith
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Blough, Lloyd H. (Interview outline and outline), 2005
Lloyd Blough was born in Michigan on August 25, 1915 and drafted into the Army in 1941 when he was 26 years old. He went through training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan and was transferred to Virginia two weeks after Pearl Harbor was attacked. In Virginia, Lloyd went through advanced training to become an airplane mechanic, working with P-39s. Once he was finished training, Lloyd was sent to Africa where he worked on different planes in Algeria and Tunisia. He spent a total of two years overseas and also worked in France, Italy, and Ireland before he was sent back to the United States to finish the other two years of his service.
Blough, Lloyd H.
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan