320 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6eb47be5e6911f4579cc101f4f6a93d9.pdf 1bb1d85a054bdbfbc793e3b0e3206736 PDF Text Text ������ https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/328f42f68b4f3aa42782fb075cbfa4a3.pdf cc5666bb91ab35c1a59da38a5271352f PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1945-02-11] [Page 1] February 11, 1945 My dearest Darling, Received your latest letter of Jan. 21st, and must say it was very welcome. It was almost two weeks since I had one. I sure do miss your letters, and appreciate it when I do get one. I think of you very much “darling” and sure do miss you very much too. I’m looking forward to the day when you’ll be home again to stay. We’ll just have to be patient like we have been in the past, even if it is hard. I just got through making out my income tax, and I’m glad that’s over. [Page 2] You sure do enjoy keeping me in suspence, don’t you “darling.” I think you’re a big tease. I’m just wondering what that souvenir is. I got a 12 page letter from Helen yesterday. Can you imagine that? I enjoy getting her letters. I agree with you “sweets” that you’d be a lot better off if you were sent home, but if you had to go back again, it would be a lot worse. Don’t you think so? Remember darling, that all things work out for the best to those who love God. When I get discouraged and blue, I always think of that. [Page 3] I get so lonesome and depressed at times that I don’t know what to do with myself. But I always think there’s better days coming. I hope someday we can have a new little home of our own, and furnish it just the way we want it. I know this will all take time and money, but if we’re careful I think we’ll be able to do it. If we were together there’s so many things we could plan and talk about. Jenna’s [?] husband is home this week. He hasn’t been home for a year, even if he is in this country. [Page 4] She would live with him, but her mother is ill most of the time, so she takes care of her. If you came back to the states and were stationed out here somewhere, would you want me to live with you? A lot of girls do it now. �I shall close for this time “darling” and write soon and as often as you can. Yours forever With all my Love Agnes P.S. The family are all fine, and send their love. [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS FEB 13 3:30 PM 1945 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Det. of Patients 4152 U.S. Hosp. Plant A.P.O. – 63 c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. [Envelope back] {Postmark} U.S. ARMY 1 BPO 7 MCH CONTROL SECTION � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1945-02-11 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-02-11 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, February 11, 1945 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated February 11, 1945. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated February 13, 1945. In the letter, Agnes discusses her happiness over receiving Joe's latest letter and how much she looks forward to the day when he finally returns home and they can build their life together. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cbf12131bf98dc3aa87eb5dacf3f9bcb.pdf 67e51a26146e36e1fc932f8321933f6a PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6af1e5494e953269c3199f2c1ed8dde1.pdf b12e8832b3e6bdda7ee990f8619c4155 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1945-01-30] [Page 1] January 30, 1945 My dearest Darling, I haven’t received any mail yet this week, but I’m patiently waiting. Yesterday was my day off, and I didn’t get any and was I ever disappointed. I was almost too blue to go downtown with Mom, but I did though. I bought some material for a couple spring dresses, a blouse and 3 pairs of slacks. Now I’m almost broke again. I’ve got an income tax bill coming up too. They took almost $5.00 a week out of my pay last year, and now I still have to pay $35.00. The people back home are earning good money in this war, but they’re [Page 2] paying it out too. Socks that I paid 10 cents a pair for before the war I pay 50 cents for now. Gloria and Beatrice have gone to a basketball game outside of town tonight, and it’s snowing hard and below zero. Nothing stops those two. Honestly, “darling” you’ll be so surprised when you see the kids. They’ve grown and changed so. I’ve even changed I guess. I’ve been trying to take pictures every Sunday and Monday, the only two days I get a chance, but the sun is never out. Mother said she wrote you a letter today. I’m glad she did. She sure likes the pin she got from you {red lipstick imprint} [Page 3] for Christmas. The baby has got quite a bad cold, and I hate to see him sick. I still love you as much as ever sweets and think of you all the time. I sure will thank God the day you step food in this house! I’ll be so happy, I’m afraid I’ll cry. I’m getting so I don’t know what to do with myself and the suspense is getting me down. There are millions more just like us though. I shall close “darling” and write soon and often. With all my Love Your future wife Agnes �{red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS FEB 1 4:30 PM 1945 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Det. of Patients 4152 U.S. Hosp. Plant A.P.O. – 63 c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. No Record 4152 H. P. A.P.O. #63 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1945-01-30 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-01-30 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, January 30, 1945 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated January 30, 1945. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated February 1, 1945. In the letter, Agnes updates Joe on how her family are doing as she awaits another letter from him that winter. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7a036d3ebc4692a991056c6daae0132c.pdf 6cf292e43ab27809525aa825c8fa1dc7 PDF Text Text ����� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/843007e13f3096aac3fd69611d1ef79d.pdf 62f91815cab98965d9d74c384535f4c4 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1945-01-24] [Page 1] January 24, 1945 My dearest Darling, {red lipstick imprint} Received your letter of Jan. 15th and I sure was tickled to get it. Your writing is still so nice “darling.” Especially when you write with ink. I got a letter from Janice yesterday and one from Helen today. Everything is fine in Detroit. I feel so sorry for Helen because Gaylord has to go to the Army. I really think it will do “Gay” good though, because he’ll appreciate Helen a lot more. I guess he appreciates her but he just doesn’t show it. So many people tell me I’m going to be disappointed [Page 2] after I’m married awhile because I expect so much. By that I mean, I think marriage is wonderful, and if two people are really in love everything goes smoothly for them. I suppose I have a lot to learn, but I know you’ll make a grand husband for me, and we’ll understand each other. I sure hope they let you come soon, at least that’s what I’m praying for. I’m sure your nervous condition will be alright soon “darling.” When you get blue just think about our future, and all the [Page 3] things we’ve got to look forward to. We took some pictures up at Helen’s and I look terrible on them, just like I do on all the other pictures your folks take. Just when I want them to come out good they never do. I sure could stand some hugging and squeezing now so I’ll let you all you want when you get here. I’ll shower you with all the kisses I’ve got in me. All stored up for you to. I love you with all my heart “sweets” and miss you so much. Some {red lipstick imprint} [Page 4] �times I get so lonesome I could scream, and that’s bad. I’m getting so sick of movies! Movies! Movies! That’s about all there is for a decent girl to do. The last picture I saw was “Hollywood Canteen” and that’s the best one I’ve seen for a long time. I shall close for this time “darling,” and write as often as you can. Yours always With all my Love, Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS JAN 25 [?] PM 1945 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Det. of Patients 4152 U.S. Hosp. Plant A.P.O. – 63 c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. No Record 4152 H. P. A.P.O. #63 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1945-01-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-01-24 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, January 24, 1945 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated January 24, 1945. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated January 25, 1945. In the letter, Agnes expresses her feelings on marriage and her hopes for her future with Joe, while consoling him on his nervous condition and reassuring him that there are brighter days ahead for the couple. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/359e5d2b375a0be6dbb9355cb1e29c65.pdf 9b4c24094dad1373b3356394179d1d7d PDF Text Text ������ https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2ecb0cd734b01fce6a36230940b928ac.pdf 7fe0a258fb0d9b29e0973aa8eef4d0c1 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1945-01-18] [Page 1] January 18, 1945 My dearest Darling, Received a letter and V-mail from you, and its nice hearing from you. Now that I’ve got your address again, I’ll be able to write. I’m glad to hear you are coming along fine, and I hope you continue to feel better. I imagine if you didn’t get any of my letters you don’t know I spent my vacation at Helen’s house. I had a grand time there, and it was a nice trip, [Page 2] even if I was all alone. I also got the money you sent just before you went to the hospital. I can’t help but worry about you “darling” because I love you so much, and if anything ever happened to you, I think I’d die!! I keep thinking about our future, and of all the things we’ve got to look forward to. I sure do miss your hugs and kisses, and how swell it will be to get them again. Its been a long [Page 3] time, hasn’t it “darling.” Sometimes I just sit and wonder how much longer its going to be. I wish you could see Dad’s pipe, he’s smoking it now, and some fellows in the shop painting it about three or four different colors. They do that to everyone’s pipe that they find laying around. Its really cute. I bought some nice plaid material for a skirt today and it came to over 5.00 just for material. A ready made [Page 4] skirt costs at least 8.99. Isn’t that terrible. Its almost time to file income tax again and what a headache that is. I liked that picture you sent of me and Masie. Its really very nice. Everything is going fine for me at the store, “darling” and I still enjoy my work. I do get sick of people grumbling about rationing and shortages though. �I shall close “sweets” and write as often as you can. With all my Love Your future wife Agnes {signature accent mark} [Envelope front] 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS JAN 19 3 PM 1945 MICH. S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Det. of Patients 4152 U.S. Hosp. Plant A.P.O. – 63 c/o P.M. N. Y., N. Y. No Record 4152 H. P. A.P.O. #63 [Envelope back] S.W.A.K. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1945-01-18 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-01-18 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, January 18, 1945 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated January 18, 1945. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated January 19, 1945. In the letter, Agnes is relieved to hear from Joe again and describes what he may have missed in her other letters such as her vacation at Helen's and the money she received from him. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/46dca7aea119e4775a692999d85ba865.pdf 260e11a0c0e0ab1f159fa6f00d7763ea PDF Text Text ��� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5e99bc9b63755183d5d89ad5d48a7181.pdf 2d946136657417fbfd974dc23667fb7a PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-12-12] [Page 1] December 12, 1944 My dearest Darling, I haven’t heard from you for sometime and again I’m worried. I hope I get some mail soon. This suspence drives me crazy. I’m writing this small because it’s the last piece of paper I’ve got “darling,” but I wanted to get out a few lines tonight. I still think of you all the time “honey” and miss you very, very much. I still love you with all my heart and happy days when you’re home again to stay. We sure will have to make up for lost time. And I hope everything will go quite smoothly for us. [Page 2] I think two boys and a girl will be nice for us “sweets,” but I like the way you said in your letter “and of course a girl.” I’d be awfully disappointed if I didn’t have a girl. I hope our first child is a boy, and I want him to look just like you. I sent you a birth announcement darling but evidentally you didn’t get it. The baby is a boy and his name is Paul. I also received the 125.00 you sent and put it in the bank. I’ll tell you again I also got the $180 you sent while you were in the hospital. I shall have to close “sweets” and write soon. With all my Love Agnes {signature accent mark} [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS DEC 13 8:30 PM 1944 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL �S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1 c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. 130th Gen. Hosp. APO #652 JAN 2 - 1945 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-12-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-12-12 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, December 12, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated December 12, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated December 13, 1944. In the letter, Agnes tells Joe how much she misses and loves him and dreams of their future children. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cdfe52aa19cbf72420dcd0e1c7013dbf.pdf 0854752cfc7c04ef4b8622d1c53c0a6c PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/57c23f9059e6bbcd92751070a8fe21cf.pdf 6044bfa556757721afa16ae8765b57fe PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-12-03] [Page 1] December 3, 1944 My dearest Darling, Here I am again, and I hope you got all the mail I sent to you while I was at Helen’s. Oh! darling I had a terrible trip home. I had to stand up on the bus 50 miles from Conewango to Buffalo. I rode into Buffalo with Roger, Betty and Dorothy. Roger’s train left at 11:30 P.M. and then I had to wait until 4:05 in the morning for mine. I almost went nuts. Then when I did get on the train it was so crowded it was terrible. Ray was glad when we pulled into Grand Rapids. I had a grand time while I was at Helen’s though. She is a wonderful sister Joe, and she has a heart of gold. Gaylord is a lucky fellow and he doesn’t half appreciate what she does for him. [Page 2] Of course “darling” this is just between you and me. She’s a grand cook and she makes so many different kinds of dishes and everything she does is grand. We get along swell. I also made a hit with Miles and I think he likes me a lot. Gaylord took me around and showed me the country. All in all “darling” I was treated swell. I didn’t meet Janice until the last day. I didn’t like her at first because I thought she was tough and loud but then after I got to know her better I like her a lot. She was real sweet to me. Ollie makes me sick at times. He thinks he knows everything and has such a big mouth. I’m glad you’re going to be my [Page 3] husband “darling.” I think your the sweetest person on this earth “sweets”, and I love you with all my heart. I miss you so terribly, and how I wish you were here now. I met Jenna [?] last nite and when I met her she had already had seven shots. She was in pretty good condition though so I took her home, and we had a lot of fun… Well, “darling” I think I shall close for this time, and write as often as you can. God bless you always. Yours forever With all my Love Agnes �{signature accent mark} [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS DEC 7 3 PM 1944 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1 c/o Postmaster New York, N. Y. 130th Gen. Hosp. APO #652 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-12-03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-12-03 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, December 3, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated December 3, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated December 7, 1944. In the letter, Agnes describes her trip from Conewango Valley back to Grand Rapids, Michigan with family and friends and expresses appreciation for Joe as her future husband. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b665807702861354749b332dc3c81d5c.pdf a7ed6cab4cd4560262154df3c7eb4115 PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/376f27ce32d5a2616acbc66fd32d67f4.pdf be66d20d58cf55c7afc4ac80c1b2b65c PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-22] [Page 1] November 22, 1944 My dearest Darling, I sure do miss your letters this week and I hope if I get any, my mother will send them to me. Last night Gaylord, Helen and I went to Jamestown to the movies, and saw the picture “Doughgirls.” It wasn’t a bad picture, but it was terribly crazy. We’re going to Jamestown again today shopping, and Roger and Dorothy are going along too. Just think tomorrow is Thanksgiving again, and [Page 2] this is your third Thanksgiving overseas. We’ll be thinking of you anyway “Darling”. Even if you aren’t here. At least I know I will. I love you with all my heart “sweets” and still miss you very, very much. I just hope and pray that you’ll be home very soon, and that this terrible war will be over too. We’ve got so much to look forward to, and plan on I know we shall be {red lipstick imprint} [Page 3] very happy once we have adjusted ourselves to each other. Yesterday afternoon Roger and Gaylord took us all around the country looking for turkeys. Every farmhouse we went to they didn’t have any, but I saw the country anyway. We’re going to get one today though. I’m wondering if your ears are ringing at all because we’re always talking about you. Gaylord’s always kidding me, but [Page 4] it doesn’t bother me anymore. He told me about the time you stayed at Ennis’s [?] and cut wood. He also told me what a good worker you are, but he didn’t have to tell me that. I shall have to close “darling” and write as often as you can. Yours always �With all my love Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-22 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-11-22 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, November 22, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated November 22, 1944. In the letter, Agnes describes her adventures with Helen and Gaylord in New York, going to the movies and exploring the countryside in search of turkeys while looking ahead to Joe's third Thanksgiving overseas. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e0246ac8b469e2ecd1c7edcd741fa1bf.pdf c96e23fa80cb7de7b2e5043e505d224a PDF Text Text ����� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c1a6ec79900fd17dbad8b73c8dfe6f5a.pdf 12f58ee752bb971006204eb5168aaeaa PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-20] [Page 1] Conewango Valley November 20, 1944 My dearest Darling, As you can see I arrived here safely, and I’m planing on spending the whole week here. Helen and Gaylord met me at the station in Buffalo yesterday, and then we went to Johnny and Lillian’s [?], and had dinner there. I like it out here in the country a lot but don’t know for sure if I’d like it here all the time. I sure do miss you [Page 2] “sweets” and what I would do to have you here with me. I love you with all my heart, and wait patiently for the day when we shall be together for good. I’m going to squeeze you with all my might and I don’t think I’ll ever let you out of my sight. I got two lonely letters from you written Nov. 1st and 2nd. I sure was tickled to get those just before I left. {red lipstick imprint} I’m going to try and [Page 3] send you some stamps tomorrow. I have to get them first thought. I hope you get the package I sent with the stationary in it. I’ll tell you again “sweets” I got the money you sent me. You probably know that by now though. Gaylord’s brother Roger is home, and his girlfriend is staying over to Ennis’s [?] too. How I envy them “darling” I just wish that was you and I. But I’m happy for them just the same. Ollie and Janice will [Page 4] probably be here for Thanksgiving. �The ground was covered with snow this morning. The first snow we’ve had. Well “darling” its almost time for the mailman to be here, so I shall close with all my love to the best fellow, who’s the grandest soldier in the Army. All my Love Your future wife Agnes {red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} CONEWANGO V. NOV 20 1944 P.M. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1 c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. 130th Gen. Hosp. APO#652 12-3-44 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-20 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-11-20 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, November 20, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated November 20, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated November 20, 1944. In the letter, Agnes writes of her journey taking the train to Buffalo, New York, and spending the week in Conewango Valley with Helen and Gaylord while experiencing their first snow fall for the year. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0e27941e48a257ff7b9879773d90215f.pdf c8f17d9f9a1eaac7b4ce75da925dfa66 PDF Text Text ������ https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/427e96bc8416f26e79a68642ba839b21.pdf d99374636a0f83e150c852086473c153 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-14] [Page 1] November 14, 1944 My dearest Darling, Didn’t receive any mail from you this week, but nevertheless here I am writing. I’ve got your picture in front of me, and I know that will give me some inspiration. “Darling,” I just wish you were here right now, so I could squeeze you, and give you all the kisses I promised. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it. I sure like to be loved, and I miss it very much. I can remember so well the first time you kissed [Page 2] me. It was on New Year’s Eve, and you were the first fellow who ever kissed me. You could probably tell that ha! ha! Last nite I bought my train ticket to go visit Helen. I’m leaving this Saturday nite November 18th. I’m so excited I can hardly wait. I think I told you that I don’t have to have my tonsils out, but I’m getting four shots for colds [?]. I had the last one yesterday. {red lipstick imprint} You’ll have to excuse this terrible scribbling, [Page 3] “darling”, but I’m so tired, and I’m writing this in bed, so I’m sure you’ll understand. I bought a pair of new brown slacks last night. They’re 100% wool, and that’s something that’s hard to get. They cost me $9.00. Isn’t that terrible!! I bought a pair of pajamas that cost $4.00. Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen, if these prices don’t go down pretty soon. Of course wages are high too. I love you with all [Page 4] my heart “sweets” and I long for the day when we shall be together for good. I pray for your safety every day, and may God richly bless you and bring you home soon. I pray that this terrible war will end soon. �I shall close “darling” and write soon and often as you can. Yours always With all my Love Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} P.S. I’m sending a snapshot my cousin took of me last spring. Its different than the other one I sent you. [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS NOV 15 3 PM 1944 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. # 1 c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. 130th Gen. Hosp. APO#652 12-4-44 [Envelope back] S.W.A.K. {Postmark} U.S. ARMY 1 BPO 17 MCH POSTAL SERVICE CONTROL SECTION � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-14 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-11-14 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, November 14, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated November 14, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated November 15, 1944. In the letter, Agnes expresses her affection for Joe and reminisces about their first kiss on New Year's Eve. She also mentions her recent purchases including a train ticket to visit Helen and new clothes, while hoping the war will end and bring Joe back home soon. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0667b0ace1aab184639bba2abc2e82d4.pdf e735772824876e3605e7440fb9a8bc1c PDF Text Text ������ https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7f334bc14777bd69a188ca9ce32cc9f4.pdf eb57ced1cdb96e34b2ec04929b9e2aa0 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-12] [Page 1] November 12, 1944 My dearest Darling, Received two of your letters written October 28th and 30th. I was so pleased to get those nice letters “honey”. It was two weeks since I had heard from you, and it was quite a relief to get those letters. I’m getting all ready to go visit Helen and Gaylord next week. I’m leaving here Sunday November 19th. I’m rather anxious to go, and it sure is grand to have a week’s vacation with pay. I don’t like to travel alone so well though [Page 2] because I get lonesome. When I went to Detroit the last time I just sat and daydreamed about you and myself and our future. I imagine I’ll do the same thing this time. Darling! I love you with all my heart and miss you so very, very much. I pray for your safety and may God always bless you and keep you close to me, even if we are separated and so far apart. The Lord knows all our needs, and I know if {red lipstick imprint} [Page 3] we trust him, we shall be very happy. I’m anxiously waiting to get that package you sent me. It was sweet of you to send me those things darling. I’m sorry you haven’t got the package with the watch and pen in. I sent it to the address you have now. Just a few days after I mailed it, I got your letter saying you were in the hospital. Evidently it got lost somewhere! I got the $180 you sent “honey”. It only took a [Page 4] short while to get here. You must not get all my letters because I wrote it in several letters. You asked for the address of that fellow who sent me the bracelet. I finally came across it. (Sgt. George Parker 6905924) 93 Station Compliment [?] Squadron A.P.O. – 635 c/o P.M. [?] N.Y. N.Y. �I shall have to close “darling” and write as often as you can. Yours always With all my Love Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] Agnes Van Der Weide 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS NOV 14 4:30 PM 1944 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1 c/o Postmaster New York, N. Y. 130th Gen. Hosp. APO#652 12-4-44 [Envelope back] S.W.A.K. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-11-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-11-12 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, November 12, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated November 12, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated November 14, 1944. In the letter, Agnes talks about her upcoming week's paid vacation to visit Helen and Gaylord, comparing it with her last trip to Detroit, Michigan where she daydreamed of her future with Joe. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0bc03260bfe04620d49c87dba7936606.pdf f058c915c434824e43d9702d766ce58b PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/86b045f366a3a0b8f4426e8e0de225ca.pdf e187faba0104287d8847461bd7a5f006 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-10-24_02] [Page 1] October 24th, 1944 My dearest Darling, I haven’t had any mail yet this week, but here I am again “darling.” I never have much news for you because I don’t do much of anything. One thing I can always tell you how much I miss you and love you. I am patiently waiting for the day to come when we shall be together again, and for good. Oh! “Darling” we’ve got so much to look forward to. Our love for each other never growing old. I imagine it will take a little time at first to get adjusted and to get used to each other. I know I have changed some in the past two years, and I imagine you have too. Its quite different around the house without Mom, but we’re managing, and pretty good at that. I’m anxious for the baby to come home though, so I can cuddle it. {red lipstick imprint} [Page 2] Boy! Am I ever getting razzed for buying a fur coat. They kidded me all day about it in the store. They seem to be just as tickled as I am. The butcher made me eat a raw oyster today, and honestly I felt so queer. I never saw such a crazy bunch. Of course I’m just as bad. I can still get those laughing fits. Remember that one night when you were tell me crazy things the boys did in the barracks. We both laughed so hard. I often think of that. So Punchy still with your outfit. You never mention him anymore. I shall close for this time sweets, and write soon. Yours always With all my Love Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS OCT 25 �3 PM 1944 MICH. S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. #1 c/o Postmaster New York, N. Y. [Envelope back] S.W.A.K. {Postmark} U.S. ARMY 1 BPO 17 MCH POSTAL SERVICE CONTROL SECTION � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-10-24_02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-10-24 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, October 24, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated October 24, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated October 25, 1944. In the letter, Agnes confides that she never has a lot to say in her letters and focuses her writing on how she will never tire of telling Joe what he means to her. She also describes what it has been like at home while her mom is away in the hospital and the response she received regarding her new fur coat. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/583c848951739fd51f878926f9e91234.pdf b5d31bd63eb6670b3923bc06bf0deade PDF Text Text ��� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/55ac1cc9624e4f268d0e746a15368d16.pdf b9747b79f298dc3f3538f9f96bc44f89 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-10-24] [Page 1] [Card front] SHHH! Our new Baby’s Asleep! [Page 2] Sometimes we’ll tip-toe ‘round the house Just as quiet as a mouse But then we start to feel so proud We can’t help bragging long and LOUD Because it’s a Boy name Paul Delano who arrived Oct. 20th weighing 9 lbs 4 ½ oz. Mr and Mrs B. Van Der Weide [Envelope front] 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS OCT 24 12 PM 1944 MICH. S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1 c/o Postmaster New York, N. Y. Both Gen. Hosp. APO#652 12-3-44 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-10-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-10-24 Title A name given to the resource Birth announcement from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, October 24, 1944 Description An account of the resource Birth announcement and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated October 24, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated October 24, 1944. In the card, Agnes announces the birth of her baby brother named Paul who arrived on October 20th, 1944. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ce5357c014253f8fd3e389096e952023.pdf 0611880a29e329ba77cfb2a5299e385c PDF Text Text �� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c2f27e6a7f363992660d2d398affe0c4.pdf 2b63078c6d63929ea23cd55ee8898a5a PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-10-23] [Page 1] October 23, 1944 My dearest Darling, A lot has happened around here since I wrote to you last. Mother had a nice baby boy Friday afternoon. They are both doing fine. I just wish you could see the baby. Its the sweetest thing. The nurse shows it to us through a window. Dad is so proud. Honestly, everyone says you would think it was his 1st! I went downtown tonight and bought a fur coat. Its beaver dark brown. I haven’t got it home yet because I haven’t got it all paid for. Boy does it look nice. I’ll be glad when you can see it, and I hope you’ll like it. I paid $1.20 for it, {red lipstick imprint} [Page 2] including the tax and all. I went to the movies the other night and saw Mrs. Steffinson. It was a pretty good picture. Have you seen it? By the way have you ran into Roy since you’ve been back with the outfit? I wonder how he is. I never hear anything about Carolyn, and it don’t bother me any either. I still miss you very, very much “darling” and I love you with all my heart. I hope and pray this war will be over soon, and we’ll be happily married and live a normal life like other people do. I shall close sweets and write soon. With all my Love, Agnes P.S. Thanks for the German money. {red lipstick imprint} � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-10-23 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-10-23 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, October 23, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated October 23, 1944. In the letter, Agnes shares her family's good news of the birth of her baby brother, along with her excitement for a new fur coat and a recent trip to the movie theater. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d22d27967274f78cbd102b079739d7ea.pdf 1d4cd5ba5a18674f630e824c91059ef5 PDF Text Text ��� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b6b73c314f0956d0af5fca28eb22a8c6.pdf c42e584ff6cc438b5e636833a9d92a7c PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-08-27] [Page 1] August 27, 1944 My dearest Darling, Received a couple of your letters yesterday, and the one with the money orders in. The money is already safe and sound in the bank. I put it in with my little bank account. I’m so glad you got the pictures because I sent those quite a while back. Evidentally you didn’t get the picture I sent of myself with the pup. I sent that one before I did the others. On that picture I’ve got my hair fixed the way you like it “darling.” This other way is so nice and cool in the summer. Did you get the card I sent you from Grand Haven? I could tell your morale went up when you got those pictures and letters because you sounded so happy in your letter. I can always tell by your letters what kind of mood you’re in. {red lipstick imprint} [Page 2] I sure will give you two years’ worth of hugs and kisses when you get back. I sure do miss them ever so much and I keep looking forward to your coming home for good. We’ll eat watermelon and do all the things we’ve always wanted to do. There’s [sic] so many places we could go, and I know we shall be very, very happy. I love you so much “darling.” It will be a grand day when we’re married, and we shall be able to share our lives for life. Won’t it? We’ve got so much to look forward to. When I see you, I think I’ll fall into your arms and stay there forever. I wonder just how we’ll act when the day really comes. What do you think of Paris being liberated. [sic] Isn’t it great? We just heard a broadcast from there, and we could hear the people yelling and there was some shooting yet. Yours always With Loads of Love Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] After five days return to �1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS AUG 28 2 PM 1944 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “K,” Det. of Patients 4167 U.S. Hosp. Plant A.P.O. – 514-A [?] c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-08-27 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-08-27 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, August 27, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated August 27, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated August 28, 1944. In the letter, Agnes expresses her happiness in knowing Joe received her photographs, her affection for him and an eagerness for their marriage someday. She closes her letter mentioning Paris' liberation from Nazi occupation while inquiring about Joe's thoughts on the major world event. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/503f2ac37cb03193bb4e3304e4e23153.pdf 7b05e22c1ef3a7dc25ec7296d37e06dd PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/13ce6182b8bef3c210683f3ddf148b33.pdf a5ca076c61f47523d9c3d55fe160dbf5 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-08-17] [Page 1] August 17, 1944 My dear Joe, Didn’t receive any mail from you today, but am writing to let you know that everything is fine, except that I’m terribly lonesome for you. Sometimes I don’t know to do with myself when I get so lonesome. I think of you all the time sweets and miss you so much. Gloria has gone roller skating with Venna tonight. I can’t roller skate very good so I didn’t go. Can you rink skate at all! I’m going to the beach at Grand Haven this weekend. A couple gals from the store are vacationing down there for a weekend and some of the rest are going to stay with them for the weekend. Elaine and Beatrice and a couple of other girls are sleeping in the {red lipstick imprint} [Page 2] backyard in a tent. Its rainproof, so it won’t be so bad if it rains. Someone asked me today if I got a new bracelet, so “darling” you can see what good care I have taken [text strikethrough] {care} of it. Its over two years ago that you gave it to me. Tomorrow is Friday, a busy day at the store, and I really hate to think of it, if it’s going to be hot. I still love you very much “darling” and pray we shall be together soon, and for good. I shall close and may God Bless you always. Yours always With Lots of Love and Kisses, Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] After five days return to 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. �{Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS AUG 18 2 PM 1944 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “K,” Det. of Patients 4167 U.S. Hosp. Plant A.P.O. – 514-A [?] c/o P.M. New York, N. Y. [Envelope back] S.W.A.K. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-08-17 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-08-17 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, August 17, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated August 17, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated August 18, 1944. In the letter, Agnes expresses how lonesome she becomes when she hasn't heard from Joe, while focusing on weekend plans spent with girlfriends at the beach in Grand Haven, Michigan and her love for the bracelet he gave her years ago. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a840a7bbaf69387ebf1ce1ca60bb2bd9.pdf 8fc4ec3f30acd6634d70ec99ae3a1bc5 PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9333d051cfa88a241001e6172e35b934.pdf c3a4794faac60fad76833543c6c0e98a PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-07-04] [Page 1] July 4, 1944 Hello Darling, Received a letter from you written June 14th, and I must say it was a relief getting it. I’m so happy that you are safe and sound, and I’m praying that you still are at this time. Alice arrived here Sunday from Mass. and we sure are having a swell time. We went to the movies a couple of times, and today we went to the beaches at Grand Haven and Holland. We took some pictures, and I’m going to send you some, as soon as I get them. Even if they aren’t much good, I’ll send them to you. We were going to the amusement park, but we were dead tired so we changed our minds. I guess we’ll go tomorrow night instead. Gloria and Junior are going back with her, and they’re going to stay there a couple weeks. I would like to go back for a visit sometime, but I figured we might be able to go together sometime when you get home. {red lipstick imprint} Alice told Carolyn that we were [Page 2] engaged, and Carolyn and her mother laughed, and said they didn’t believe it. What do you think of it? I bet Carolyn is pretty jealous. A girl that works in the store with me, has a brother who just came home from the South Pacific. He has a 30 day furlough and got married last Saturday. It only took 3 days for their blood tests and license. Of course he had his blood test in the Army. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about waiting so long in case you don’t get a long furlough. Anyway, we can think about it as time goes along. I still love you very, very much “darling” and I’m getting so anxious to see you, I’m ready to burst. Well, I shall close for this time and write soon. With all my love, Agnes {signature accent mark} {red lipstick imprint} [Envelope front] After five days return to 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} �GRAND RAPIDS JUL 5 2 PM 1944 MICH. VIA AIR MAIL S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1 c/o Postmaster New York, N. Y. DET. OF. PAT. U.S. Army HOSP. PLANT [?] #4187 APO #152 8-9-44 [Envelope back] S.W.A.K. CONTROL SECTION {Postmark} U.S. ARMY POSTAL SERVICE 1 BPO 12 NOV 1944 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-07-04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-07-04 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, July 4, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated July 4, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated July 5, 1944. In the letter, Agnes describes her relief in receiving a letter from Joe and tells him about her summer adventures going to the movies and the beaches of Grand Haven and Holland, Michigan. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/43f4da5b5307a5040e14ba441499c3e9.pdf 4b939fc56f8c02b2555531b194e55bf4 PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d046731a8d69e8285188c8ff1db623af.pdf 3c2b27ed6999f6c848e6807c080caf71 PDF Text Text [RHC-93_Agnes_1944-06-27] [Page 1] June 27, 1944 Hello Darling Have been thinking of you a lot today, so thought I’d drop you a few lines again. Its [sic] terribly hot here tonight, it was 99 degrees all day, and that sure is hot weather to work in. I stood it though, although it made me dizzy a couple of times. The weather here is so different than in Mass. I just got through taking a bath, so I’m cooled off a little. “Darling”, I’m so anxious to hear from you and get some of your latest letters. The suspence [sic] is really getting me down. I’m praying that you are safe, and I’m sure the Lord will answer my prayers. I made some cookies for you, and am sending the box tomorrow morning. I don’t know if you’ll like the cookies or not, but remember “sweets” I’m just learning. I found you a fountain pen, and also hope that is alright. The watch and gum [?] is from Ollie as I told you before. I wanted to send you a can of pineapple, but it {red lipstick imprint} [Page 2] made the box overweight. I went to a girl’s house for dinner today. I work with her in the store. I sure had some nice Chop suey. Do you like Chop suey sweets. I hope you do, because I love it. Alice, from Mass. Is coming out here to visit me for a week. She should be here for this Sunday. I’m very anxious to see her again. I wish you were coming home to see me “darling”. I love you very much “darling” and my love for you grows deeper and deeper everyday way down in. I think about you constantly when I’m working, and whatever I’m doing. I got a letter from Ollie, and he kidded me about living on a farm after (you and I) we’re married. He knows I hate farms. Well, “darling,” I shall have to close for this time, and write soon. {red lipstick imprint} Yours forever With all my Love Agnes {signature accent mark} [Envelope front] �After five days return to 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W. Grand Rapids 9, Mich. {Postmark} GRAND RAPIDS JUN 28 5 PM 1944 MICH. S/Sgt. Joseph P. Olexa (12016893) Co. “L,” 26th Infantry A.P.O. - 1 c/o Postmaster New York, N. Y. DET. OF. PAT. U.S. Army HOSP. PLANT [?] #4187 APO #152 8-24-44 [Envelope back] S.W.A.K. CONTROL SECTION {Postmark} U.S. ARMY POSTAL SERVICE 1 BPO 30 OCT 1944 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Joe Olexa letters Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olexa, Joseph P. Van Der Weide, Agnes Description An account of the resource Collection of letters between Joseph Olexa and Agnes Van Der Weide, dating from 1941 to 1946. Olexa fought in the U.S. Army 26th Infantry Division, Company "L", and eventually attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. Over the course of World War II, Olexa was engaged in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy, the liberation of Belgium, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. While deployed abroad, Olexa maintained regular correspondence with Agnes Van Der Weide, a young woman he met through mutual friends. Agnes was the daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Ter Meer) Van Der Weide. The Van Der Weide family lived in Jamestown, Michigan and Ashburnham, Massachusetts until moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. While the letters do not contain details relating to Olexa's military activities, due to heavy censorship of soldiers' correspondence by the U.S. Army, the letters do depict the daily activities of an infantry soldier and illustrate the blossoming romance between the two. Joseph and Agnes were married July 23, 1945, and lived in West Michigan until Agnes's death in 1993. Joseph Olexa died December 3, 2000. They were survived by their son, Karl Olexa. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1941/1946 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence (RHC-93)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93 Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-93_Agnes_1944-06-27 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Van Der Weide, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944-06-27 Title A name given to the resource Letter from Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, June 27, 1944 Description An account of the resource Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated June 27, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated June 28, 1944. In the letter, Agnes describes the hot weather conditions she is experiencing while anxiously awaiting to hear from Joe and details the gifts she will be sending him on the following day. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th World War, 1939-1945 Soldiers -- Michigan Correspondence Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href=" https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/543">Joseph P. Olexa WWII memoir and correspondence, (RHC-93)</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href=" http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a504811e89a273a10fa7e10f0aca097a.pdf 34d859f62d470eb57cc5c25df33d09e9 PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Luis “Tony” Baez Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 8/23/2012 Biography and Description Luis “Tony” Baez arrived in Chicago from Barrio Borinquén of Caguas, Puerto Rico in 1969 and soon became Minister of Education of the Young Lords. Barrio Borinquén is the first rural community just outside of Caguas on the same road that leads to Barrio San Salvador. Dr. Baez comes from a Puerto Rican cuatro playing family, and he also plays guitar. In Puerto Rico, Dr. Baez was also active with the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), the electoral component of the broad movement in Puerto Rico, fighting for Puerto Ricans to regain back control of their nation. By 1970, Dr. Baez moved from Chicago to Milwaukee and set up a Young Lords chapter. They maintained a community office and distributed the Young Lords Newspaper (that Dr. Baez had also helped to publish while in Chicago), focusing primarily on neighborhood organizing, community-based programs, and bilingual education. During the same time, Dr. Baez continued his studies and some years later earned a Ph.D. Today Dr. Baez is Executive Director of the Council for the Spanish Speaking, Inc. The organization was established in 1964 and is the oldest Latino community-based organization in Milwaukee. The Council serves more than 15,000 individuals, including at risk youth, working families, adult learners and the elderly via subsidized elderly housing. They also assist with foreclosure counseling, health education, and civic engagement and mobilization. Dr. Baez is the former Provost and Chief Academic Officer of the Milwaukee Area Technical College in Wisconsin. He has served as Assistant to the President, Associate Dean of Pre- �College Programs, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Director of Research, Planning and Development there as well. In the Bronx, New York, Dr. Tony Baez also ser served as Vice-President and Dean of Faculty at Hostos Community College. �Transcript JOSE JIMENEZ: (inaudible) Testing, one, two, three. Testing, one, two, three. LUIS BAEZ: Testing, one, two, three. Testing, one, two, three. Can you hear me well? (break in audio) JJ: Okay. Tony, if you can give me your name, your date of birth, and where you were born? LB: I was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico in 1948, and in the Caguas, it has a number of barrios, and I was in a barrio called Borinquen, close to Salvador, and Salvador’s, where Cha-Cha Jiménez is from. JJ: Okay, San Salvador. LB: Yup. JJ: [San Salvador?]. And what was the date that you were --? LB: September 3, ’48. JJ: September what? LB: Third. Third. JJ: [Third, okay?]. Okay. Okay, so, Borinquen. What was that like? Give me a description of that. LB: Barrio Borinquen in Caguas was a neighborhood that was very active in [00:01:00] the 1960s because of a lot of things that were happening on the island that were very political in nature. And I was recruited at that time by groups of people that were involved with the Puerto Rican Independence Party to be a part of the youth organizations that were in the area. We were also involved, at that 1 �time, in takeovers, land takeovers, where people were desperate for housing, and there were large lands that were being used for sugar canes -- fields and for cattle. And, as sugar cane was dwindling, coming down, those big, huge areas became empty, and we -JJ: What year was this? LB: This was in the 1960s, 1966 to ’69, more or less. And so, I was recruited -- JJ: So, there was sugar around there, in --? LB: Yeah, there was a lot of sugar in that neighborhood. There was a lot of [00:02:00] cattle in that neighborhood. The (Spanish) [00:02:02], they produced milk. They sold milk to the city. And so, there was economy based both on the sugar cane, tobacco, and cattle. Okay? And my grandfather was the owner of a piece of land that produced a lot of sugar cane. JJ: What was your grandfather’s name? LB: [Emilio?] Baez. Emilio Baez, who had been a politician involved in another barrio of Caguas before he came to Borinquen, and my father was -- JJ: What kind of politician? LB: A local politician. He was a city councilor. JJ: City counselor. LB: And he lost an election -- he was very disappointed -- in Barrio (inaudible). And then, he got this piece of land in Borinquen and came over, and he grew a family there, and my father was the first member of that family out of nine people who [00:03:00] made it to the Army. He enlisted in the Army, and the family was not 2 �happy with him because he enlisted in the Army. To my fortune, when he came back because he -JJ: This is in World War II, or...? LB: World War II. JJ: Okay. LB: Because he had been a soldier, and he had been around, and he had traveled, and, you know, he had more aspirations for us. There were four boys and one girl in my family, and he also took us back and forth from back inBarrio Borinquen to New York as a worker. My mother and he would come and work in the different industries in New York City, and then they would go back, and it was almost like an annual thing, so -- JJ: Like factories, or --? LB: Factories and the needle industry. JJ: The needle industry. LB: A lot of the needle industry. JJ: In New York. LB: In New York, yeah. And -- JJ: What were their names? LB: [Bernardo?] Baez was my father, who died in [2004?], [00:04:00] and my mother, who’s still alive, [Maria Isabel?] (inaudible) Baez. And so, they -- JJ: Your siblings, what were their names? LB: Oh, my siblings. One was [José “Tito”?] Baez, who is a cuatrista and pretty well known in Puerto Rico for a master cuatro player. 3 �JJ: Tito Baez, mm-hmm. LB: Yeah. And my other brother is [Eduardo?]. JJ: And what does Eduardo do? LB: Eduardo is a guitarist. Okay? And a worker ’cause they’re all workers. Tito -José -- for example, who follows me, was working in the public schools and taking food to the cafeterias, these school cafeterias. (Spanish) [00:04:44], as they call them. And my sister, [Yolanda?], who was also a laborer. She lived in [there?]. She lived in New York. She lived in Chicago too. And one brother who was very active. [00:05:00] We called him [Papo?], and he disappeared one day during the political process, and we found his body later. JJ: Disappeared, and you found his body? LB: We found his body in the -- JJ: So -- LB: -- beach in (inaudible). Yeah. JJ: But, I mean, you know that it had to do with political reasons? LB: The suspicion is that it did. Okay? Some people say that maybe he went for a swim and that happened. Well, he used to work as a swim guard in one of these places, so that’s unlikely, but my brother was known for his political activism (overlapping dialogue; inaudible). And he was among the couple people that stood on the Lares celebration in 1960 -- 1970, actually. Yeah, 1970. And burned an American flag on top of the US post office. And, after that, he was the subject of a lot [00:06:00] of persecution, and he came to Milwaukee for a bit, and he went back, and then he died. So, he died at the age of 26. Okay? So, 4 �my family was sort of like well known in Barrio Borinquen because my father set up a little store there and a little country bar, and I used to work there with him, and we went back to Puerto Rico for [a certain point?] when I was in sixth grade. JJ: Right there at the entrance, that country bar? LB: Yes. It was [just that street?] going into Barrio Borinquen. And the activities of the family were sort of like well known, and my father -- JJ: Are they still there? Are there any family members still there? LB: Yes. Everybody’s there. Everybody’s there except me. JJ: (inaudible). LB: Yes, and my father that died. But my father was, you know, more conservative. He had been a soldier, and he was member of -- he was sort of like a follower of the Republican party in Puerto [00:07:00] Rico, so I had my disagreements with my father, and I had very strong disagreements, like most people in Puerto Rico. JJ: Yeah, my father was (overlapping dialogue; inaudible). LB: Exactly. In the same house, we have people who are Republicans, Populares. In my house, my father was Republican, my mother was Popular, and I was Independentista, you know? And we used to have these discussions about party lines and our own ideological lines because that’s the nature of Puerto Rico for a long time. Since the Americans came in 1898, there has been this whole movement around either becoming sort of stabilized as a colonial state, like the Populares did, particularly since the ’40s and the ’50s, or become a state of the United States, like they are still trying to make Puerto Rico a state even though 5 �the US doesn’t want us. And then, the groups [00:08:00] that were pushing for Puerto Rico to become an independent island from the United States. JJ: What do you mean, the United States doesn’t want us? LB: The Congress of the United States has repeatedly stated throughout the years the Puerto Rico, for them, is a major dilemma, and it’s a problem, not just along racial lines, as many of us know, but, because of the density of the population, we would probably have more representation in Congress than many states in the Union. However, the representatives in those states would have to vote in a referendum to make us a state, and becoming a state of this Union is extremely difficult to do. So, the politics of it is that -- why would you want to vote in another territory that will bring in more representation in the Congress of the United States than many -- and I really mean many -- states will have? Okay? And, on top of that, people of color and [00:09:00] that have been saying for many years that they want to remain bilingual, and they want to -- and they insist on Spanish being the national language of Puerto Rico as opposed to English. So, yeah, being from Borinquen, having had those experiences, participating in land takeovers, and then going to the University of Puerto Rico and the -- JJ: So, you participated in -- you went to the university, but you participated in the land takeovers? LB: Yes. JJ: But were there people arrested in that or anything like that, or --? LB: Yeah, there were people arrested, but it was a different time. It was not like here. I mean, these were Puerto Rican policemen, many of whom themselves needed 6 �houses, and they participated in land takeovers in other places on the island. Okay? So, it was a time in the island where people were just taking over land -JJ: What year was this? LB: This is from ’66 to ’68. Okay. People were doing this. I mean, 1968 is a big [00:10:00] year of people rising all over the world. Okay? There’s books written about this stuff. As the (inaudible) of a particular year where people had enough, like people are having enough today, and people go into the streets to exercise, basically, democracy. And, in Puerto Rico, that was reflected in the [strong?] movement to take over lands. And so, you were affected. I mean, you’re in the same barrio, and, all of a sudden, somebody comes to the little store of my father and says, “(Spanish) [00:10:33].” And then, “We’re getting people together to --” And then, you go with him. You participate, and, all of a sudden, you find yourself as a speaker, you know, in events like that, and I remember, in one of these events, I was asked by the people in the area -- said, “Well, you speak well. Could you speak for us?” And the city council -- this was my first time before the city council in Puerto Rico, in Caguas, okay? [00:11:00] And I go there, and these people are distinguished folks and councilmen, you know, (Spanish) [00:11:06], right? And so, for me, it was a little bit weird to have to do that, but, you know, we were young folks. We saw what was going on in the neighborhood. We didn’t think it was fair, and we became involved. Then, we got affected by the war. JJ: What wasn’t fair? I don’t understand. You’re taking over somebody’s land. 7 �LB: Well, what was fair is that people were living in little huts all over the place that didn’t have their own homes, and their houses were attached to the land of others. So, like, my grandfather, who had a piece of land, I used to remember the (inaudibleChito?) who used to take care of a lot of the maintenance of the land. He had a little house right next to the (Spanish) [00:11:58], right? [00:12:00] Smelling all that cow stuff and all that stuff with a big family, and some of these family members used to be my friends. I used to go, “Why do they have to live like that?” So, these are people that became part of a movement of takeovers. And then, on top of that, you had the war, and then you had the ideological battles, and the Puerto Rican Independence Party, the Puerto Rican Socialist Party at that time, in Puerto Rico were very adamant about the whole thing that a very energetic youth had to be included and had to be a part of a change in the island and resisting the war, the war in Vietnam, because the war in Vietnam was becoming a household word for people in (inaudible). So many Puerto Ricans were being recruited by Servicio Militar Obligatorio to go to the war to fight in foreign lands in wars that we had nothing to do with. Okay? [00:13:00] Wars that we had not begun, that were began by other corporate interests. So, we were sort of part of a resistance movement in the war. We were part of land takeovers. We used to march a lot. I mean, the schools where I went to. I mean, people demonstrating -- JJ: In (Spanish) [00:13:21]? LB: No. In Barrio Borinquen, no, but I went to the school in the city. Okay? So, there was a little bus that used to take us to the city, and, (Spanish) [00:13:34] 8 �was a high school, and (Spanish) [00:13:38] was a middle school. Kids were very involved. We had demonstrations, and we used to march, and all this kind of stuff, and sometimes we’d wonder why we were marching so much, but we did it anyway. And then, we heard about these demonstrations at the University of Puerto Rico, and these students were (Spanish) [00:14:00] because they didn’t want to go to the war. And then, the movements like the Sixto Alvelo movement. Sixto Alvelo was a Puerto Rican student that went with a group of students to Vietnam to see what was going on over there, and he was in a school with a group of other students from other Latin countries. And, when the US bombed Vietnam -- and he was in one of those places where the bombs fell, and he was killed, and Sixto Alvelo had nothing to do with it. So, there’s a big movement. I became, later, the vice president of the youth movement in the -- what was called Sixto Alvelo Movement in Defense of the Juventud Puertorriquena. And so, we were all affected by all this stuff that was going on, and I was right in the middle of all of that because I was an emerging young kid among the kids in the neighborhood who took positions, [00:15:00] and PIP, for example, the Puerto Rican Independence Party, had an office in town, and they made the office accessible to me and a bunch of other young kids. And I was sort of like the young leader of that group that would represent the group in different events. I remember there was other folks that were doing likewise, young people that went out teaching in the schools, and the Puerto Rican Independence Party had a huge convention in 1968, and two of us were selected to argue against established leaders in the party that had been to prison with Pedro Albizu 9 �Campos for other kinds of things in the ’50s. And here we are, these young kids, debating them on the sort of procedure of things in the party and in conventions because we wanted more voice. The youth movements wanted more [00:16:00] voice in the party. So, within the party, there was all that debate. How do you make the party more democratic and sort of move towards [the real time?]? When they were sort of behind the times, as we thought, because they were still following the (Spanish) [00:16:17], the whole Albizu Campos movements, and all of that stuff, and (Spanish) [00:16:27] [Rivera?], and others, who we saw as good leaders who had done good things, but they belonged to another generation. We were the new generation coming in. So, yeah, we were involved in all of that stuff. I remember speaking in Bayamón before a mass of people and going like, “Wow, I’m speaking to this mass of people about members of the party who are old members of the party, and now the young people are taking over.” And Rubén Berríos was president of the party, and, for us, that was like, “Wow, he’s such a good speaker.” [00:17:00] He was such a good presenter, an economist, a doctor, you know. [In economics, he?] went to Oxford and Princeton, and we were impressed because we had sort of like a youthful leader that was taking the party in another direction, and it was a direction that was a little bit more aggressive, and it was going more to the streets, and there were demonstrations, as opposed to the old [guard?] that was negotiating -JJ: So, [it was?] (inaudible) as the old guard, or --? LB: No, he was a new guard. JJ: He was the new guard. 10 �LB: He was the new leader. He was young. He was energetic. He spoke so well, and, for us, every time he made a speech, it was like, “Wow.” So, I was affected by all this that I saw around me and people like him, who were remarkable role models for us as people that, when they grab a microphone at a podium, they mobilize masses, and I’m talking [00:18:00] about masses. You know, you’re talking 40, 50 thousand people, demonstrations like that. So, when I finished high school, I went to the University of Puerto Rico on a scholarship because we were too poor. I didn’t have money to really go there. And so, I would work at my father’s store and then go to the University of Puerto Rico, and I had to take a little (Spanish) [00:18:25], as we call them, (Spanish) [00:18:27], public transportation, every day. Had to get up at five in the morning to (inaudible) Barrio Borinquen -- JJ: (Spanish) [00:18:36] is what? Like a van, or --? LB: Yeah, it’s like a van, and it’s a public transportation van, and -- JJ: Versus a bus. LB: Versus a bus. And these things were out in the street since early, so, at five o’clock in the morning out of Barrio Borinquen, I took one of those. I took it to Caguas. And then, from Caguas, take another (Spanish) [00:18:56] to Río Piedras, and then, Río Piedras -- [00:19:00] they left you at the plazas, and you had to walk to the University of Puerto Rico. And when I went to the University of Puerto Rico is the first time I’ve seen a university. I didn’t know what that was. I heard a lot about it, and I heard about the demonstrations and all of that, but I didn’t really know what that is. And you had to do it between five in the morning 11 �and four o’clock because that’s when the (Spanish) [00:19:19] stop rolling. Okay? So, your classes had to be during the day. And then, at night, I’d work at the store, but I had to travel. I didn’t have money to stay, like many children of privilege did when they went to the University of Puerto Rico. They had their dorms and all of that. No, I lived in Caguas. I could take transportation and then go there. And, when I got to the University of Puerto Rico, I started to see some incredible things around me. I was already politicized enough that I had a sense that I had to join these movements. JJ: So, you were going there to study what? What was your major? LB: When I went to the University of Puerto Rico first, I was the general [00:20:00] studies, but I [had a concern of?] becoming a math teacher. I wanted to be a math teacher, so most of my work was in mathematics, and, actually, after two and a half years -- JJ: My worst subject. LB: Yeah. When I was at the University of Puerto Rico, they assigned me as a substitute teacher in the country, in (Spanish) [00:20:21], and the first one was in [Cidra?], Puerto Rico, and in (Spanish) [00:20:26], and I was teaching mathematics. I was teaching the new algebra, okay? In high school. But I was a substitute teacher. I wasn’t a certified teacher yet. It’s just that the system needed a lot of substitute teachers ’cause they didn’t have enough teachers. But, when I went to the University of Puerto Rico, I met a lot of young folks that were extremely brilliant people. The University of Puerto Rico at that time was sort of like a center of very bright young folks because you had to have above a 12 �3.5 GPA average to get [00:21:00] into the university, and you had to test among the top 10 percent on the SAT, you know, and I happened to do that, so I got a scholarship, and I went in. And, at the University of Puerto Rico, you were surrounded by the activism of thousands of people, and the student movement that was becoming increasingly large, and people like Florencio Merced from the Puerto Rican Socialist Party or people from the -- what it’s called the JIU, la Juventud Independentista Universitaria. These were amazing speakers. These were students of law. These were students of journalism, more advanced than us. They were older than us young guys, but they were models, you know, and you saw them standing on top of cars and doing these incredible speeches, and you would learn from them. As a matter of fact, I heard a chancellor, Puerto Rican chancellor, speak one day here in Milwaukee, [00:22:00] and, when he finished, I went up to him and says, “You sound very much like me. Where did you learn this from?” He says, “Well, I went to the University of Puerto Rico in 1966.” [I says?], “Me too.” But it was so large that you never got to meet people. We had the same models. JJ: You had the same what? LB: The same models. We learned from the same people. JJ: The same people, yeah. LB: We learned from the same people, but we never met. JJ: So, what were some other names of some of the people -- LB: Florencio Merced, [Miguel Ángel?] -- [I forget?] his last name. But they were people who -- student leaders at that time. And then the party leaders, 13 �(inaudible), people like Rubén Berríos and others, and they were there all the time, participating with us on issues because it was the Vietnam War, the ideological battles, trying to make Puerto Rico an independent country. And then, the larger issue of -- in the context of the university -- of the university’s independence [00:23:00] from the political [groups?] and the political process. And, at that time, we used to argue that the university should be a place of study and for people learning and not to be controlled by government. You know, at that time, it was a -- (Spanish) [00:23:18] didn’t matter. It didn’t matter who was in power. The issue is the university should have that independence. Unfortunately, like right now, the university doesn’t have that independence because it’s controlled by the party in power. And then, this whole movement towards accountability has become an excuse for parties to take over universities and crush the whole issue of academic freedom. JJ: Can you describe what a movement towards accountability -- what is that? LB: Well, this accountability really begins at a -- stronger during the Reagan years. Okay? And it’s about the notion that America’s [00:24:00] failing because of people like us, people in the street and people in schools, et cetera. So, you vilify the small folks, and you glorify the people at the top, the one percent that makes the money and the corporate folks. Business is always right. Nonprofit organizations are always wrong. That kind of thing. People in the community are always wrong. They just want to take and take from government, and they want government to work for them, and these corporate people, they made it on their own. It doesn’t matter that it was us that built the roads that create their 14 �revenues and their richness or that [it was?] working people that created the infrastructure that allows them to make all that money and become international. They seem to forget that. Okay? But we, in the ’60s in Puerto Rico, were being slightly affected then by this accountability thing, and we stop it, [00:25:00] and we develop movements to promote the idea that the people need to have a seat at the table. And they use what government had at that time, and they still use it today -- the police [have separate purpose?] too. And so, the police at the University of Puerto Rico were highly involved in crushing youth movements, and I remember being arrested at the University of Puerto Rico once at the School of Social Sciences with some other folks because there was a huge demonstration at the university, and the police came, and, boy, they grab us. They throw us to the floor. They kick us. They took us into a police station, and, with phone books, they beat the heck out of us and that kind of stuff, and we had to be -- the person that bailed us out was the dean of the law school at the University of Puerto Rico, who was more into equity and into [00:26:00] a university that was protecting the students at that time. So, we went through all of those experiences, so, after the beating, that’s when my parents said, “You got to get out of here,” you know, and, finally, I ended up here in Chicago. JJ: This is after you got arrested -- LB: Yeah. JJ: Your parents said, “Let me get you out --” LB: Yeah. JJ: “Out of here. We don’t want you arrested again.” 15 �LB: Exactly. And, “You’re putting yourself in danger, and this is not for you.” My father was very embarrassed. For example, my father was extremely embarrassed that policemen beat me up and slapped me around. JJ: So, he wasn’t angry with the police? He was embarrassed? LB: No, he was embarrassed, and he was angry at me that I was espousing ideological positions and things like that to have these policemen beating me up and all that stuff, and that was embarrassing. He felt that I shouldn’t do that, that I was not deserving of that kind of treatment if I was on the right track. Okay? So, his position was always a little bit different from [00:27:00] mine in that regard. Later, when my brother disappeared, he never let go of the feeling that he was responsible for not protecting his kids from the police and from repression in Puerto Rico, but that was later. See? So, as he got older, he started to rethink his positions. So, yeah. You know, my mother raised money, and they sent me to Chicago, and I came here. JJ: Did you know people in Chicago, or...? LB: I knew some people in Chicago where I used to live at -- they were from the barrio. Okay? And I had just got married at that time. I was living with somebody, and she had come here -- JJ: What year was this? LB: This was in late ’69, and I arrived here in 1970. I arrived in Chicago in February of 1970. [Used to remember the?] (overlapping dialogue; inaudible) -- JJ: ’70 or ’69? 16 �LB: ’70, yeah. [It was?] ’70, and it was cold like hell [00:28:00] outside. And, as I arrived in Chicago, the family I was staying at, which was on North Avenue and [Oakley?], that area, themselves, were Independentistas, and they were aware of everything that was going on, and they told me about, you know, these young kids took over People’s Church on Armitage. I didn’t know what the heck Armitage was or what was going on here, but it [smelled?] consistent with what I was doing in Puerto Rico, right? And so, I was -- when I left Puerto Rico, I left, really -- my whole heart was destroyed because I wanted to be a part of that movement, and I remember that all these people from the Puerto Rican Independence Party went to say goodbye to me at the airport. And so, coming to Chicago and finding out that people were doing things here against a system that was not working for people in general -- then, [00:29:00] the people in the house said, “There are some people that are meeting about this issue at People’s Church, and these kids are inside with weapons and protecting the church, you know? You should go in and talk to them too. Be a part of this.” And I said, “Yeah.” Made a lot of sense to me. So, that’s when I went to People’s Church, and you guys were inside already, and when I met Cha-Cha Jiménez for the first time there, and I met Omar López, and I always tell this story, that I felt a little bit odd because Omar was the first person I met from the Young Lords, and he was Mexican, you know? Not Puerto Rican. I thought this was a Puerto Rican movement. So, my idea of a Mexican was different, not involved in something like this, and we’d sort of joke about it and all that stuff, and I became involved, and I was introduced to Cha-Cha Jiménez, and I was sort of recruited right there. 17 �“Can you help us out? [00:30:00] You were involved at the University of Puerto Rico. Can you get involved here and help us organize an educational movement?” Because the Young Lords were talking about education. They had been doing educational stuff. They had been educating themselves and the community around them. So, the more of us that had some educational experience, the better, and, because I was from a barrio, not a child of privilege, it sort of made me be closer to people from the street. Okay? That had been in the street, doing things and struggling in the street as opposed to privileged kids that have this ideological [bent?] for a little bit, and then they go off to become lawyers somewhere else. Okay? JJ: So, you were asked to kind of set up some kind of classes or -- LB: Yes, I was -- JJ: -- some training. LB: I was asked, particularly by Omar López, who [00:31:00] I became very close to - and Omar, at that time, was living, I think, at Association House in the upstairs, and I was close enough, so I could just walk over there, and we would talk about how to further the education of the Young Lords. And Omar had been involved in the student movement here, so, for me, that was very impressive, that both him and his wife at that time, Ada, had been sort of like students in this movement too. So, we were able to talk in the language we knew, the language of students. The other members of the organization were more from the streets of Chicago. They had taken a number of political actions to stop repression, and that repression was in the form of government coming in, and taking over land, and 18 �not providing certain services, like free health clinics and things like that that needed to [00:32:00] happen. But everything moved around the fact that the Puerto Rican community in the Armitage area and Halsted area was being moved, was being pushed. I remember we used to talk about urban removal. Okay? So, how do you fight a system like that? You need to fight a system like that with good education and people who can speak and can present before audiences, so to be a little bit more participatory and more convincing. Okay? And then, Cha-Cha was a good speaker. And so, for me, when I got to the Young Lords, I was inspired also by the fact that there were people like Cha-Cha, and Omar, and [Alberto?], and others that were connecting to a larger understanding of a movement, and that movement [00:33:00] was affected by what the Black Panthers were doing, what the Brown Berets were doing, what people were doing in New York in the takeovers, what people were doing in California [and the?] Southwest, and you sort of heard about all of this because you were networking. And then, in the networking, you understood much better that this was not just us in Chicago -- there were more people doing this -- and that what was happening in Chicago is that people were a little more aggressive about doing certain things, more daring. You know, daring to be arrested, daring to go to the street, daring to have demonstrations. I participated in those demonstrations. I marched in those groups. I found myself with the Young Lords and before the UN in New York, marching and demonstrating. [I said?], wow. I would have never done that in Puerto Rico. And marches down Division Street and -- so, you’re surrounded [00:34:00] by the grandeur of movements of people 19 �resisting and fighting back and people talking about what they had just done, and the death of Fred Hampton, and the marches, and the riots in Chicago, and all of that. All of that talk, that discourse, was sort of affecting me personally because, now, if I had certain skills and education, I had to put those skills to work, and I had to work with others to identify the literature that was being read by folks in the movement to better understand what was going on everywhere. Okay? And that’s where I started to read more economics and read people like Marx, and I had touches on Marx at the University of Puerto Rico, but now, it was a little bit more formal, or reading (inaudible), or reading the others -- you know, Ho Chi Minh -- not because of who they [00:35:00] were as much as because they gave me additional tools and tools to understand the contradictions, these things that were going on. And so, I set up with Cha-Cha, and Omar, and others. I set up courses. It was like what I knew then. It was like formal courses at the University of Puerto Rico to teach young people about some of these folks, to get people to read more and to read more, and I was like a pain in the neck because I was telling people, “You got to read. You got to read,” because I was a reader, and I read everything that came my way. So, I wanted people to do that. I remember that, with the young women in the movement, I had these discussions one time because we were not doing -- yeah, sort of, we were not intellectuals trying to produce papers and all that kind of stuff, but they were sort of angry at me because I was pushing too much because, you know, I wanted them to read, and I wanted them to understand [00:36:00] things. And I kept on saying, “But you got to. You got to because we have to depend so much on people’s intellect 20 �in a movement like this and our ability to convince other people in the community.” And then, we had an idea of a newspaper and how to use the newspaper as an organizing tool, you know, that we would build into that newspaper news about the community, news about what was going on in all the country, and get it to people in our community in a bilingual fashion. Then, the idea that it had to reflect more what Mexicans and Puerto Ricans were going through, so we had in the paper, you know, little things with Zapata on one side and [Albizu another?]. The whole format had to be like that, but it took a lot of thinking. It took sort of a good understanding of what was going on in the movements, but we were not technicians that we knew how to do a newspaper, so we just imitated what other [00:37:00] people were doing, and doing layouts, and writing things in Spanish -JJ: What do you remember of some of the layouts? LB: Oh, yeah. Yeah. JJ: What do you remember [of it?]? LB: I had to do layouts. Yeah, and I had to figure things out, and these machines that we haven’t used before to type with two fingers, and do the little strips, and then the papers, and the columns because we had to be economical in how we put the columns in and all that kind of stuff. It costs money to do all of that stuff. And so, then we had to organize around that and get people to sell the newspaper and raise some money so that we could produce the next copy and the next copy. JJ: So, it was self-produced, or...? 21 �LB: It was self-produced. We did the whole thing. We work at it, and then Omar López was the minister of information, and he was responsible for the paper. I was the minister of education, and I was responsible for a lot of the content. And then, [00:38:00] Cha-Cha, you were mostly sort of like an inspirational piece, and you help us think about some things, and I remember we had many discussions about what kinds of things should we cover, and what kinds of things should we say? The next movement, how do we use the newspaper as an organizing tool? So, we were very much personally affected by what was going on, going to meetings. I remember that, once, they wanted you to speak. They wanted ChaCha to speak in some event, a student event in Carbondale. I didn’t know where Carbondale was. Cha-Cha said, “Well, you go,” and I didn’t know enough English. I said, “Oh, my God. How am I gonna do this,” right? Speak before a student body that I didn’t know how large. And the people that were involved was [Bernardine Dohrn?], who was gonna be speaking there, and then, she was a fugitive at that time. [00:39:00] I didn’t know. And (inaudible), who was her friend. And then, a group of people took me in a car with these fugitives, quoteunquote, to Carbondale, Illinois, and then they took us to the back door so that we could speak to the student movement. And, when I got up there, and I look at [it, I?] couldn’t see the end. There were masses of students. And I says, “Oh, my God. What do you say here?” And you spoken English, and you try your best to be as clear as possible, and you made the point in favor of a Young Lords movement that was emerging as a strong political force and that from becoming a street initiative, now, you had all this other activity and all this involvement that 22 �we could be a part of and present in a major student demonstration in Carbondale, Illinois. That, for me, was like, wow. That was very big. And then, getting into a car and sneaking you out, you know, [00:40:00] to Chicago. So, that was my sort of involvement in Chicago at that time. And then, I decided to go to Milwaukee. JJ: Before [you get to Milwaukee?]. Okay, so, now, you’re in Lincoln Park, and [there’s a Young Lords there in the church?]. You’re the minster of education. What was your impression of some of the Young Lords that hadn’t gone to school at all, that were just from the streets, from -- you know, ’cause we came right from the gang into the group without -- LB: That’s a very interesting point. My initial impression was that you had young people that were eager to do things, and they were daring because they had been in the streets. They would do things that I had not thought about doing before. You learn from that, and then you let them take the initiative, and you participate in it, but they were [00:41:00] daring acts. Okay? But they were not very well educated. They were people who were volatile, and they were individuals who were -- JJ: Volatile? LB: Volatile, and they were sort of -- [not?] very disciplined. Okay? You will call meetings, and people will [show or not show?] depending on that kind of stuff, or you would try to give some more structure to the organization, and you had to spend a bunch of time tracking people down and stuff like that. And it was different from being an organizer at the University of Puerto Rico, where the 23 �discipline was very high, and the kids that were at the University of Puerto Rico were very smart, and even those that came from poor neighborhoods were people who were very well prepared. And so, when you had a demonstration, you could count on 50 thousand people to go into the streets, and it was highly organized. Everybody was very responsible about different kinds of things. [00:42:00] When you come to Chicago, it’s not the same thing, but you have the passion. You have the people that are daring, and you want to be a part of that, so you have to get closer to the folks that are there, which I did. I got close, and I was part of the discussions and things like that, but I was always viewed as being more educated than other folks, and I was not different from them because I was also from the street but from a different place. JJ: And you were a member, right? LB: Yeah, I was a member, but I was, you know, from (inaudible) Puerto Rico, not the streets of Chicago, so I had to make my points, and Omar made his points, and you, and others, and what we learned in that process is that education was critical to everything we did, and we had to educate people to be a part of that movement. So, I had to find a way of taking people that were very undisciplined [00:43:00] and getting them to sit put for a little bit to do some reading. And then, we had to prepare modules that were not too long, you know, that were short enough so that people could read [it then?] and get into it. You could not expect people to read books, whole books. Some of us had to read the whole books, and we had to summarize it for others. So, we had classes to do that. And what my impression of that group is that, while it would take a long time because we 24 �had this vision -- we’re gonna be here doing this for the next 30 years, that kind of thing. Well, we had this vision of a movement that would continue to grow, very much like the movement in Puerto Rico had grown from something very undisciplined in the ’40s and ’50s to something very disciplined in the ’60s, that we could get there. And so, we had to develop tools to do that, and that’s -- the newspaper did that. The courses did that, and a bunch of thinking, [00:44:00] planning meetings. Boy, we came up with these planning meetings all the time, and we would sit around, and talk, and argue, and think about what’s next because that was part of our growth. Okay? And we would discuss what the Black Panthers were doing and the other party was doing, but we all learned through that process. JJ: And [were you?] using some of the Panther newspapers and films, or --? LB: Yeah. We were using some of that. We would look to, you know, the (inaudible) [of this world?]. We would look to the Angela Davises of this world and others as sort of like models that would teach us some things, and then we would read about them [raising up angry?], and they’d publish a newspaper, and we would read their paper. And we had a number of students that used to come around from the University of Chicago and other places to volunteer and help out, and we learned from those folks [00:45:00] too. Like, I remember I wrote a paper on the history of the Puerto Rican independence movement, and I wrote it in Spanish, and then it had to be translated into English, so the students from the University of Chicago help us translate that article. Okay? And it got into different kinds of things, like another version of the article got into the Journal of 25 �Puerto Rican Thought, and that’s when I met people that were editing sort of a scholarly journal of Puerto Rican intellectuals all over the country, and I found myself -- an article that I wrote -- in there, and you were like, “Wow.” But it came from a street movement, and people were recognizing that we can contribute to the sort of philosophizing and intellectual knowledge of our communities as they were growing. JJ: Okay. Okay, you said Milwaukee, and you moved to Milwaukee. [00:46:00] What was the reason for that? LB: I moved to Milwaukee because I felt the movement was changing here. Okay? Cha-Cha [had left. We were underground?]. There were more internal battles within the organization, and I thought at that moment that I had been to Milwaukee already. They had brought me to Milwaukee to speak to a group, and there was a very -- you know, a good movement in Milwaukee. It was very Puerto Rican, Mexican, everybody mobilizing in that community, and -- JJ: Did you know people there at all? LB: I knew a family. My family was there. I had an aunt who was married there. [I had that?] uncle, and I had cousins. And then, I was taken there by a group of folks because students and people from the community took over the University of Wisconsin, and they took me [00:47:00] over to a -- sort of like it was a consultation, you know? And a number of us went, and we discussed the takeover. Then, I came back to Chicago, and they took over [in?] Wisconsin. And then, right after that, I was asked to go to Milwaukee to speak, and I decided that Milwaukee would be a place for me to move to, mostly because Milwaukee 26 �had been a socialist community for many years. They had had socialist mayors until the 1960s, so Milwaukee was just coming out of a socialist stage. It’s a social democratic stage. There was a lot of community-based organizations and movements. It was really different from Chicago. You had (inaudible) asking people that -- shoot to kill and very extremely repressive, very nasty. People scatter all over the place, underground, running away from what was really a very [00:48:00] oppressive movement. The Milwaukee activity was a lot -- flourishing. Okay? Developing. People coming from the southwest of Milwaukee a lot, from Puerto Rico, and there were all kinds of organizations -- civil rights organizations -- following mostly Father Groppi at that time, who was an icon of the desegregation movement in Milwaukee. And I remember finding myself in some of these [things?]. I remember sitting in a meeting, and, on one side, I have Jane Fonda, and the other one, you know, I had some of the people from Father Groppi and that kind of stuff. So, I felt that I was being a part of something very significant there, and why I moved there -- I didn’t want to leave the Young Lords’ idea behind. I thought that it was a good thing. How do we bring it to other cities? Okay? [00:49:00] How do we expand the Young Lords from being a Chicago-based group that’s gone through up and downs but that needs to continue also in places where some of us that were in the Young Lords went to? So, I started [in our?] chapter in Milwaukee, and the newspaper that was being published here, then, I took it to Milwaukee with me because I got connected to a local newspaper in Milwaukee called La Guardia, and La Guardia was a Chicano newspaper. They needed a Spanish editor, and I could be the Spanish editor, so 27 �I became Spanish associate editor of La Guardia, and Lalo Valdez the English editor of La Guardia. And then, other people that were in the movement -Milwaukee, at that time, connected to Crystal City, Texas, where a lot of things were happening. JJ: What part of Milwaukee were you based? LB: I was in the South Side of Milwaukee and based -- the work I did was in that newspaper, and that [00:50:00] offered me the opportunity to bring the Young Lords into that setting. And then, the community-based organizations that were very close to what we were doing -- I ended up directing a community-based organization and doing the same thing that I was doing with the Young Lords. JJ: [At that time?]? LB: Yeah. JJ: During -- LB: During 1971. Doing the same thing that I was doing with the Young Lords in Chicago, sort of transferring that to Milwaukee, creating study groups. People will sit around, all these young people, you know, and they used to have, like, 20 people, and I was in the middle of these 20 people, discussing what is to be done [by learning?] and what is -- having people read different kinds of things. And then, I (inaudible), you know, [when I did?] the political stuff because I had an interest in literature, and I had done a lot of literature when I was in Borinquen. We had a literary circle, and we read Latin American literature [00:51:00] and all of that, and, in Milwaukee, I had the opportunity because, mostly, they were students. They were students in high school and students in college, unlike gang 28 �members in Chicago for a while that politicized themselves. Okay? So, I was able to say, “We got to read Gabriel García Márquez, and we got to read something from Guatemala, and we’re gonna have (inaudible) or the antiimperialist novels (inaudible),” and all of that stuff. I was able to do that and assign people to read these books that we had not read in Chicago but that people were now getting involved in writing about it and things like that. And the movement in Milwaukee as we saw it was we come in also more politicized, okay? In a different way from Chicago. It was just -- more community organizations [00:52:00] were sprouting everywhere, and they were growing, and I was running -- at the age of 24, I was running a community-based organization, and, for me, that was like, wow, you know? JJ: What was the name of that? LB: Yeah, Centro Nuestro. JJ: Centro -- okay. LB: Centro Nuestro, which I remember because I use as a base when Cha-Cha came to town and other Young Lords came to town, and people that were involved with the Young Lords nationally, we could come to town and now had a place to meet. I had a facility, so I could engage people in different kinds of meetings [allowing?] more of the larger thinking, the intellectual stuff, [where?] I keep on doing the basics (inaudible) community. I mean, welfare reform, health, those kinds of things that were affecting people the most, connecting people to jobs and things like that. And that helped me grow a lot. Because of that network, I met people that [00:53:00] were involved with the university because 29 �of the takeover at the university, and I became co-chair of something called the Council for the Education of Latin Americans with Roberto Hernández. There’s a center now in Milwaukee named after him because he died of a heart attack some years ago. And I was creating structures within the university to help increase Latino students to go to college, and we created a center there. And then, I started working with parents in the community because they were mobilizing, and there were these mass meetings about bilingual education in the schools. We need to get more bilingual services in the schools. Our kids are going to these schools that don’t understand them. And, all of a sudden, I found myself in front of these massive movements, and I remember going -- there are articles in La Guardia in Milwaukee and in the newspapers in the Historical Society, where I appear, [00:54:00] speaking before the school board and surrounded by this mass of parents and saying, “We’re not gonna go anywhere. We’re gonna take over the school district unless you do this, and this, and this, and that,” and reach an agreement with them on that. And that sort of prompted me to a position of friendship with people that were concerned about the university structures, and I was recruited to be part of a group that put together some alternative schools in Milwaukee, alternative schools for Latinos, and for whites, and for Blacks, and it was a form of integration, even though we had our own schools. And the university hired me to do some of that under a project that they had and sent me to school. So, my studies were being paid while I continued to do community work because it was a more progressive university system. There was a [00:55:00] progressive dean there, and there were people 30 �that -- sort of helping you, like Ricardo Fernández, who is now the president of Lehman College. JJ: Which college? LB: Lehman College in the Bronx in New York. So, he was -- JJ: Okay. He was working with you there? LB: Yup. At that time, he was in the school of education, director of the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute, and sort of extremely helpful and sort of like a mentor, you know, saying, “You got to go to school. You got to take those credits from the University of Puerto Rico and bring them here, the credits you did, and I’ll get you connected to some of the people in the school to see if you can get a degree.” And then, I completed a bachelor’s degree, and, when I completed a bachelor’s degree within the university and they sort of saw you in the community, and moving in the masses, and stuff like that, they said, “Can you teach courses regarding that movement and what you’re doing?” I said, “Yeah, sure.” So, I started teaching courses at the University of [00:56:00] Wisconsin. I [had to be?] teaching courses at the University of Wisconsin. And then, Dr. Fernández and Dr. Adrian Chan, who were at the university at that time, said, “Somebody like you shouldn’t do a master’s degree. You should go right to the PhD.” And I said, “How am I gonna do that?” They said, “Well, challenge the university.” And I became the first student to challenge the University of Wisconsin on the issue that I didn’t have to do a master’s degree to go into a doctoral program. And so, there were all kinds of meetings, and arguments, and discussions about -- but these people stood behind me, and I was sort of like the 31 �poster boy, you know? [You sort of like to?] push, and I kept on saying, “I can do it. I can do it.” And they had me take these exams and all these exams, and I passed them all, and they were interesting because the questions they gave me were about union movements and -- so, I knew that stuff. I was able to write extensively about it. And [00:57:00] then, I went directly into a PhD program and finished a doctorate degree, but it was totally paid for. I mean, I wrote the proposal that brought the money to the University of Wisconsin. JJ: [The what?]? LB: For five people to go into a doctoral program to become bilingual educators, and I was one of them. I wrote myself into the proposal. So, everything was paid through that proposal, and the federal government provided resources to increase the number of Latinos that went into bilingual education, and I was one of them. So, that’s how I managed to get a doctorate degree. JJ: When was this? When --? LB: This was in the 1970s, late 1970s, and I finished -- you know, it took me about 15 years to finish a PhD because I was active in the community. So, I started, in the ’80s, doing the courses. I did all the courses in a couple years for the PhD, but then, to complete the [00:58:00] dissertation took me longer because I wanted to do -- I had this community thing in me, so I wanted to do a community-based dissertation, and my advisor kept on saying, “You’re crazy. No. Do something fast and get it out of the way.” I said, “No, no. I want to interview people in different parts of the country about educational movements in the communities and what people did. So, as part of my dissertation, I went to California, 32 �interview people that were in street movements of parents changing the schools, and I went to Texas and did the same thing, to New York, to Boston, here in Chicago. That took me all over the country, raising money so I could -- getting inside an old car, and driving all the way to New York, and going to the South Bronx, for example, and meeting Evelina Antonetty, who, at that time, had taken over the New York Board of Education, and this lady was like a [big mama?], you know. She was like the South -- there are streets named after Evelina [00:59:00] Antonetty in the South Bronx now since she died, but she became like a mentor, you know? She would call me, “Oh, you little [communist?], shut up,” and she would tell me what to do and all that kind of stuff. And then, I would go -- I remember, met with a group of parents in Boston, and they asked me to go out of the room for a little bit. They needed to talk among themselves, and it was to check me out. Okay? And then, some people talk -- “Is he a parent? Does he know something about parents? How come he talks that way? You’re a student at the university.” And, no, they [arranged?], and they brought me back, and they said, “Okay.” And then, I became part of parental movements, educational movements, university movements -JJ: Parental like PTA, or...? LB: No, we organized our own organizations. They were different from PTAs in the sense that they were community grown. They were moms and pops, Latinos that [01:00:00] were concerned about the education of their kids, and we had committees all over the place, and we went all over the country, doing that. I remember coming to Chicago to meet with some parent groups here and 33 �meeting people in Cleveland, Ohio that were involved in educational stuff, and having people in Cleveland, for example. There were two women, [Nati Pagan?] and Daisy Rivera, who were extremely involved in educational issues since their time in Boston. They were involved in the Boston desegregation case with Harvard University law students of Puerto Rican descent. And, you know, now, these universities had Latinos, and you got these Latinos involved, and they became very sophisticated, so they developed a bilingual movement in Cleveland, and they asked me to go to meet with the parents about the strategies that we used in the Milwaukee case. Okay? Because, in [01:01:00] Milwaukee, we had to reach agreements with the school district on bilingual education. And so, that helped me a lot because I knew, through this network, people that were really, really smart and who were grassroot. They were people from the street. They were people who had built movements, not because they were members of PTAs or PTOs. They were people who believed in community control of the schools, and the community control movement was something that had been big in the ’60s. Well, in the early ’70s, it was really big in many of our communities all over the country. So -JJ: And what did that mean, community control? What was that? LB: Well, it meant that, even in communities like Milwaukee, where we were less in numbers, we were growing faster. We knew something about data, about evidence. We knew that our kids were gonna really be part [01:02:00] of that power structure at some point, and we wanted to humanize them so that they wouldn’t be part of the corporate world, you know, smashing us when they got to 34 �the top. And the movements that evolved to do that had to be people’s movement, a democratic movement, and we had to argue that, if the schools didn’t do certain things for us, we had to do it for ourselves. So, that’s why we created [alternative?] schools. That’s why we created education movements in the community. We used to write for grants and seek foundation money to create institutes of parent growth, parent development, and things like that, and that sort of put us in a situation of a lot of community power. So, when I went to the school board, for example, in 1974, I appeared before the school board to argue what we came up with in terms of a bilingual [01:03:00] movement in the school district that we felt would empower the parents in the community, and there would be a closer link between community and the schools where the kids went to. And then, they told me that they didn’t think that they could do that, and I could stand before a school and say, “Well, if you can’t agree to this, next week, at this date, at 10 o’clock in the morning, we’re gonna ask all Latino students in all of the schools of Milwaukee to walk out. Okay?” And they look at me like, “Eh,” you know. That day, they had these parents organize with (Spanish) [01:03:38] and all this stuff in the parks, and, at 10 o’clock, the doors opened, and all the Latino kids from all the schools came marching out. We had this big event. [The workers were a part?], and the parents were serving food to their own kids, and the police came, but why would they attack kids? It was like they had to be careful about that because the press was [01:04:00] there. And so, we saw that as a great victory. We told the public schools, “You see? When we want, we tell kids to walk out. They’re gonna walk out, so you’re gonna sit at the 35 �table with us.” And they sat at the table with us, and, three days later, we came up with a bilingual plan in Milwaukee, and the bilingual plan became the base for parent groups all over the country to say, “They did it in Milwaukee. We can do it here too.” JJ: And what’s the basis of the bilingual plan or education? LB: It’s taken an interesting in number of years. We reached an agreement with Milwaukee Public Schools in May 7, 1974. ’74. Okay? Then, we increased the population of Latinos working in the public schools and the level of parental involvement and parental participation. And, whenever you do that, you know, the people you bring into these positions at the [01:05:00] university or at the community level -- you have a number of people that become more comfortable and don’t become part of a movement, but you have a number of people that stay with it, and we stayed with it over the years, and we’ve reached a point, after almost 30 years, where, now, we can go to the public schools and say, “Milwaukee, Wisconsin was always supportive of the idea of language education because of us, okay? Because we created a consciousness, and we had German immersion schools, and French immersion schools, and Italian, and bilingual programs for Hispanics, and all of that. Why don’t we go to the next step now? Why don’t we rebrand Milwaukee as a city that embraces the idea that everybody should be bilingual?” And you have a superintendent of schools that says, “That makes sense. That makes sense.” You’re no longer dealing now with the resistance that you would find before. You have a school board that says, “That makes sense,” [01:06:00] and you appear before a committee of the 36 �board, and you tell them about this idea, and you get a unanimous vote by a school saying, “We should do that. We should try to move all of the schools in our system to become bilingual schools. Let’s start somewhere.” So, we’re at a point right now where bilingualism and the idea that kids in this country, poor kids, kids from the community, like rich kids, whose parents send them to other countries for immersion in another language, or their schools teach them multiple languages, now we can say poor kids, when they go to a school, their language doesn’t need to be suppressed, their native language. They can retain their language, grow that language, and become bilingual, and a global economy, that needs bilingual folks. Okay? And so, we’re at that point in the Milwaukee movement. Now, we can coordinate with the [01:07:00] city council, the superintendent of schools, with the school board, with community groups, parent groups, the bilingual teachers, you know, who are now looking at us as -- they’re not that crazy. This makes sense. So, the Wisconsin Association for Bilingual Education creates something that they call the Tony Baez Leadership and Advocate Award for the state of Wisconsin so that only people that do what I’m doing in education can get that award. Those are significant things. That’s not about me. It’s about the fact that you stay with it through these years, and people recognize that your involvement was really about humanizing how we do things here and taking our time so that, now, we can say, because of our population, the size of our population now we’ve grown, you know, it makes a lot of logical sense to [01:08:00] have this kind of stuff. But there’s been a growth, and people are also more educated about it, and now, we have more educators. 37 �I mean, the University of Wisconsin, Marquette University, Cardinal Stritch, they all want in it. Milwaukee Area Technical College [has scholars, see?]. And these scholars are saying, “Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Can we be part of this [committee?]? Can we be part of this effort?” So, we develop a memorandum of understanding so that all these institutions can sign to it and say, “We’re gonna grow the number of Latinos teaching in these different areas so that we can support the idea that Milwaukee should be a bilingual town.” JJ: Now, is that related to -- you were talking earlier about -- LB: Absolutely. JJ: -- the alderman --? LB: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. It’s related to the idea that -- JJ: Someone just got elected or something? LB: Exactly. It’s related to the idea that -- JJ: Who got elected? LB: José Pérez got elected alderman in the 12th District in Milwaukee. [01:09:00] But all I’m saying is that you sort of start somewhere. You develop an understanding, a commitment, a passion for doing certain kinds of things. You grow, and you affect other people around you, right? And the people that are around you start doing things. So, José Pérez is the son of (inaudible), who used to be the principal of one of our two language schools. And so, he’s part of a second generation, so you saw him grow since he’s little, and his commitment to community is more along the lines of, you know, “I care about this. I grew up here. My mom was involved in these movements.” Okay? And his mom worked 38 �closely with who today is the president of the teachers’ union. Okay? So, you have all these connections, and everybody knows everybody, and the person that’s on the school board right [01:10:00] now was a member of -- his wife was the movement that organized from 9to5. JJ: Who is this person? LB: Larry Miller. His wife was Ellen Bravo, who wrote a book about women working from nine to five and developing a national movement, and she appears in 60 Minutes, and NBC, and all that stuff. So, you have all these people who were part of movements in the ’60s and ’70s, were affected by it, developed the passion for it, and are now sort of friends, and connected, and coming together, and you can say to José, “Not only is your district going to be affected by this bilingual plan, but there are people as high as the White House [that will be?] part of your kitchen cabinet to help you think through this.” Okay? And people that are connected in political circles all over the country [01:11:00] are going to be part of that thinking. JJ: Okay. Any final thoughts? LB: I think that the lesson that I’ve learned from all of this is that, when you become part of a movement in your youth, if you are not participating in that movement sort of from the outside, when you’re part of it, you’re in it, you grow with it. And the movements in this country change. They have to change because of the circumstances, and the population, and how we become involved, and, as we become older, we also get connected to jobs because we have to live and work, and you have kids, and now I have grandkids and children, and all of that -- 39 �JJ: What are your children’s names? LB: They’re in Milwaukee, and -- JJ: What are their names? LB: The older one is [Luis?], who is [01:12:00] very involved in the whole thing of health. Okay? [Pablo?], who is highly involved in the Milwaukee community, works for the American Society for Quality, has two beautiful girls that are Chicano (inaudible), you know, and Luis has married to an African American woman, so he married African American, my other son married a Chicano, and my daughter married African American, and she has children too. And so, all of these kids are connected to what they see their grandfather doing, and, even though they don’t follow what you’re doing, they’re generating their own flow of things, and I think that what happens too is that, when you are part of a movement, you want to leave that with other people, so I mentor a lot of people. A lot of people. And, throughout the years, you learn how to be more [01:13:00] sensitive, more understanding, but still pushing positions of more community empowerment, community control, developing leaders who don’t look at how deep their pockets are, but how they’re connected to communities. So, if I get involved in succession training, I take to my home people who I know are promising leaders in the community, young folks, and I feed them. I cook for them, do all of that stuff, and put the food away and say, “Now, we’re gonna talk.” And you spend time talking with them, and they sort of think of you as this grandpa that was involved in some of these things, and now, I was trying to [leave with them?] before I disappear so that the next generation, you know, 40 �carries that forward. So, we have to think time-wise that this is something that’s not gonna end now and that all of us that [01:14:00] were involved in the ’60s and the ’70s, we lived experiences that we have to share with others, and those experiences made us stronger, and more passionate, and more responsible, and having the community integrity. And so, we have to pass that on to other people because the people today did not live the civil rights movements and these community struggles that we lived. Okay? They’re living something different. Now, the movements are about a different kind of civil rights. They could be about schools, but they’re also about undocumented people, and about how do we build solidarity with the African community, and how do we continue with those struggles? So, I learned a lot about that, and I think -- I’d write about it. I speak to people. I became more [techy?] about it, and, in my presentations wherever I go, I try to inspire others to do likewise so that [01:15:00] people continue, and I think that’s the big lesson, that these are things that are gonna change over time, and we change over time, but we have to give to others so that others start doing the kinds of things that we believe in because making change and transforming a society like this one takes a long time. That’s what you learn. It takes a very long time. Okay? So -JJ: Now, you’re talking about getting income (inaudible) for survival and all that. LB: Mm-hmm. JJ: Where do you work now? LB: Right now, I’m the executive director of the Council for the Spanish Speaking in Milwaukee. The Council is an organization that is the oldest Latino-serving 41 �organization in the state of Wisconsin. Okay? And it’s best known for having developed, since the ’60s, an agenda with poor and working-class people. And so, that was closer to me. Not organizations that wanted to build [01:16:00] a Latino middle class or to engage more Latinos in the corporate sector, you know, or in corporations and professionals getting up there somewhere else on boards and things like that. No, this organization was about poor people, and poor people’s movements, and mobilizing to improve the lives of people. Okay? And I was a provost at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, and -JJ: [What is provost?]? LB: Yeah, provost is a vice president of academic affairs, and there are co-provosts in many universities because, by legislation, they are independent from presidents. Okay? That means that you control the academic agenda of a university. Okay? And the president will try to tell you what to do sometimes, but the only way he can get around that is by firing you. Because you have [01:17:00] protection, you can -- the academic freedom is there. And I was provost of the Milwaukee Area Technical College, which is the third largest technical college in the country, so I had 160 partners under my supervision, and that was huge. You know, a kid from the Barrio Borinquen that goes through this process in the streets and marching, and, all of a sudden, he’s inside a university, a two-year college at that point, and then also teaching in four-year colleges and university systems, and you earn a certain level of respect when you enter a position like that. At one point, I was the highest-level Latino educator in the state of Wisconsin. And so, you get into circles with white folks 42 �that are in these other committees and things like that, and you can argue your point, and you can humanize curriculum that affects a whole state or that affects the education of [workers in?] [01:18:00] the whole country. Okay? You can do that. So, the White House has a Latino education excellence agenda, and they have staff related to that, but they know that, when they call Milwaukee, they can call me because I was a provost. I have legitimacy now. Okay? And I am involved in educational circles. So, they will call me. He says, “What do you think about this? What do you think about that?” And it’s government calling you, or somebody from the Department of Labor who called me just yesterday, and he says, “Look. I’m with the Department of Labor of the United States, and when --” Because I call him back in the evening, and I said, “Excuse me for calling you back so late. I was in a meeting.” He says, “No, no.” Because, when you call people that work for the president of this country, “[We need to?] hear you, and we wanted to reach you, and we are gonna have some officials coming to Milwaukee. Can you handle that?” So, now, government is sort of [01:19:00] respectful of the position you play in a particular community, and they call you for things. Not that they agree with you. It’s not an issue of agreement. So, if the White House invites me into a meeting that they have for Latinos in the White House with 150 leaders nationally, you can go into that meeting, and you can argue with the lawyers from Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, and I could say things like -- (inaudible) [this week?]. “No, that’s irrelevant, Dr. Baez, because we’re not discussing this.” “No, no, no. No, no. That is relevant.” Okay? And they go, “No, no. That’s not relevant. We’re lawyers.” I said, “I don’t 43 �care if you’re lawyers. Okay? That is relevant. I’m not gonna go back to the Latin community and say that they have to put pressure on what they’re doing, stop doing this, stop doing that, to save money, and you guys are not suing those rascals that are going away with 50 million dollar bonuses. Okay? You know why you’re not suing them?” I says, “I can tell you [01:20:00] why. ’Cause they have better lawyers than you do. So don’t pull the wool over our eyes.” Now, we can say -- in the White House, we can say that. Okay? Before, we were in the street, fighting in demonstrations. We haven’t given that up. We still do that. We still demonstrate and march. Like, the last immigrant march in Milwaukee was 80 thousand people, and I was there, marching with everybody else. But we also have standing because of our preparation, and the way we talk, and the way we read. We know what’s going on. We know the economics of Wall Street. We know the political systems and things like that. And then, you’re gonna have a university inviting me to speak before chancellors and the Department of Economics of a major university about how the economic, financial crisis is affecting Latinos. And you didn’t have that before, you know. So, they are now listening because they know that we are [01:21:00] growing as a Latino community. In the 1970s, we had no idea how big the Latino community was gonna be, but, as we see it growing now, and we see the immigration movements, and we see that the majority of the growth is because of Latinos that are citizens, that live in this country, and that, you know, the media and others are making it sound like it’s just immigrants, and stuff like that, and undocumented people, and it’s not. It’s because we are part of a change, and 44 �we’re changing the face of America, and, therefore, we need to have people that can speak and raise issues on our behalf. I remember going before the city council once, and there was somebody raising some other issues, and, “Well, he doesn’t represent the Latin community,” and one of the aldermen said, “Oh, no, no. He does. He does. He is one of those --” And an alderman said this [in there?]. He says, “He is one of those people in the community who earned, [01:22:00] throughout the years, the respect, and we have to hear what he has to say. He may come here and say he doesn’t represent the community, but he’s here because he’s a Latino, okay? So, you listen to him.” And that’s sort of like, wow, somebody’s understanding on the other side that you don’t represent everybody in the community, but you can speak with a certain level of authority about the history of a community [in exchange?]. JJ: So, final thoughts, but the Young Lords -- what do you think their contribution was to this whole --? LB: Growth that they helped me develop a passion like I never would have had if I hadn’t been part of that movement. I was at the University of Puerto Rico, developed a certain type of passion there. Okay? But, when I came to the Young Lords, I developed a sort of -- I built upon that passion. Okay? [01:23:00] Now, from student bodies, I saw community folks trying, and working, and developing, and you go like, “Wow. All these people that died because of this and the people that tried their best in spite of the fact that they didn’t have all the tools available to them --” So, as you acquire more tools and you diversify, you go like, “Wow. I’m growing because of a perspective, you know, a way of looking 45 �at the world that I developed when I was a member of that organization,” and the Young Lords helped me do that because I became active in that. So, for example, while in the 1960s and the early 1970s, I didn’t play the guitar or sing. When I started doing that -JJ: I remember your guitar. LB: Yeah. When I started doing that and developing that, in my own barrio, I’m a nobody because people there -- my brother’s a master musician, so, you know. But, [01:24:00] in Milwaukee, there was nobody doing songs of social political content. Okay? And I had that perspective because of the movement and the Young Lords. So, when I started developing that, and playing, and appearing in a concert -- all of a sudden, I’m in a concert, doing a concert before a whole mess of people, and then being invited to do a concert in [New Orleans?], and California, and New York, and places like that -- you are singing before large masses of people and crowds, and I sang before masses of three, four thousand people, like singing before the mariachi festival in Tucson, Arizona in the late 1970s. When I did that, there were thousands and thousands of people there, listening to mariachis, but they heard the singing of this lone guitarist, you know, conveying a message of transformation, peace, of revolution. [01:25:00] And you now have a forum, but you developed that. I could have gone into salsa, and (inaudible) stuff. Other people were doing that. No, I had to do something different that pertained to what I knew, and that was because of how I was affected by the Young Lords movement, by a community movement, and, throughout the years, staying with it. Yeah. 46 �JJ: Okay. Any final thoughts? LB: I think I said it all. [Thanks?]. JJ: All right, Tony. Thank you. END OF VIDEO FILE 47 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4306fb22aa487da3aa251cd6801a0d0f.mp4 1e0c6029a26f559db9f4bf7cd4d439b8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Luis "Tony" Baez vídeo entrevista y biografía Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Puertorriqueños--Relatos personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Puerto Rico--Autonomía e independencia movimientos Activistas comunitarios--Wisconsin--Milwaukee Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65_Baez_Luis Title A name given to the resource Luis "Tony" Baez video interview and transcript Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baez, Luis Description An account of the resource Luis "Tony" Baez arrived in Chicago from Barrio Borinquén of Caguas, Puerto Rico in 1969 and soon became Minister of Education of the Young Lords. In Puerto Rico, Dr. Baez was also active with the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), the electoral component of the broad movement in Puerto Rico, fighting for Puerto Ricans to regain back control of their nation. By 1970, Dr. Baez moved from Chicago to Milwaukee and set up a Young Lords chapter. They maintained a community office and distributed the Young Lords Newspaper (that Dr. Baez had also helped to publish while in Chicago), focusing primarily on neighborhood organizing, community-based programs, and bilingual education. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Puerto Ricans--Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Puerto Rico--Autonomy and independence movements Community activists--Wisconsin--Milwaukee Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-08-23 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Young Lords collection (RHC-65) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/001e60633bbd1a10edac8374daab1977.jpg c729fedc27e23abdde7a60689531d55e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-VanOss_Tara-Fire-1975 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 Title A name given to the resource Tara Fire 1975 Description An account of the resource A photo of a fire fighter and two police officers looking at the burnt remains of a building. A firefighter exits the building. All of the building's windows have been shattered, and there is obvious fire damage. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Fires Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/312f91229f11d9c6265f510d8a80bf13.jpg cba519e940994626b1d6739f6d4ba3d9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-VanOss_Tara-Fire-1975-Continued Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 Title A name given to the resource Tara Fire 1975 Description An account of the resource A photo of several firefighters battling the fire at the Knight's Lounge. Smoke billows from the building and the roof has collapsed. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Fires Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dcb1b1c5c5b29f93d70b9b7a9f7422ea.jpg c9521f0779563113337972fc3ea11470 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-VanOss_Tara-Fire-1975-Continued-8 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 Title A name given to the resource Tara Fire 1975 Description An account of the resource A photo of the damage done to the Knight's Lounge. A woman stands with a fire hat in front of it. A hose is seen in the foreground of the image, and the roof of the building has collapsed, Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Fires Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cfe432622ed63e75979468b8156b6e50.jpg 0ba22dc0c55e7769cbe25d74601472bc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-VanOss_Tara-Fire-1975-Continued-7 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 Title A name given to the resource Tara Fire 1975 Description An account of the resource A photo of the burnt Knight's Lounge. A firefire stands in the front and speaks to a woman. Several others gather in various spots around the building that still has smoke billowing out of it. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Fires Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3252f23fc1262fa78619eef77e43d304.jpg 7ecd30e690ea39738b4c396479a117c9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-VanOss_Tara-Fire-1975-Continued-6 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 Title A name given to the resource Tara Fire 1975 Description An account of the resource A photo of the Knight's Lounge. There is obvious fire damage, and the roof has collapsed on the top of the building. A firefighter props a ladder on the building, and smoke is still seen from the back of the building. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Fires Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/107c738fee05d92974f8e3581011ed0c.jpg d89a5d9344dd52cfa98ab12b990dca8d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-VanOss_Tara-Fire-1975-Continued-5 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975 Title A name given to the resource Tara Fire 1975 Description An account of the resource A photo of two firefighters. One uses a stick to push up the roof of a fire-damaged building while the other stands next to him and looks up. There is obvious fire damage, and the top right corner is partially obscured. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Fires Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives