424 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f13d7b308530b46b33cb3ba9e2209b86.pdf dc059bb3f649dd4db1db72d942a42680 PDF Text 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/. Title A name given to the resource Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</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 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 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-45_CW1-9501 Title A name given to the resource J.G Ramsdall from A.B. Markham Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1865-03-05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Markham, A. B. Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Inauguration Day United States Capitol (Washington, D.C.) Washington (D.C.) Baltimore (Md.) Pittsburgh (Pa.) Ohio River Description An account of the resource Letter describing Abraham Lincoln's second Inaugural Address, the celebrations, and his impressions of Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburgh. The letter is accompanied by an envelope addressed to Mr. Claude Hamilton from the Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. with images of Lincoln and his birthplace. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 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/e7d4d859d6d319a5c67c467f9b672f97.jpg 9ab2b00e71ce1ec66e4e35f34acaa1b1 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 Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 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 RHC-183_N013-0002 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-01-26 Title A name given to the resource J.R.R. Tolkien, Merton College, Oxford Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a portrait of writer and philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" and regarded as one of the most influential authors of all time, as taken in his study at Merton College in Oxford, England. Tolkien was a scholar and professor at Oxford University, in addition to a member of Oxford's Inklings literary group, and after his retirement in 1959 and his wife's later death in 1971, he moved back to Oxford and took up residence in a set of rooms provided by Merton College as an Emeritus Fellow, where he lived until his death in September 1973. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 Merton College University of Oxford Oxford (England) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/309a4729f57a6cbc87edfbfa3ede7fed.jpg 766209b00578078a6488ca04b7f55f71 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 Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 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 RHC-183_N013-0004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-01-26 Title A name given to the resource J.R.R. Tolkien, Merton College, Oxford Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a portrait of writer and philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" and regarded as one of the most influential authors of all time, as taken in a hallway at Merton College in Oxford, England. Tolkien was a scholar and professor at Oxford University, in addition to a member of Oxford's Inklings literary group, and after his retirement in 1959 and his wife's later death in 1971, he moved back to Oxford and took up residence in a set of rooms provided by Merton College as an Emeritus Fellow, where he lived until his death in September 1973. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 Merton College University of Oxford Oxford (England) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/d31ef6748aed966ad2e2e45f58d9604e.jpg 87d95a83cccef324cc5c5949900a8649 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 Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 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 RHC-183_N013-0006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-01-26 Title A name given to the resource J.R.R. Tolkien, Merton College, Oxford Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a portrait of writer and philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" and regarded as one of the most influential authors of all time, as taken in a hallway at Merton College in Oxford, England. Tolkien was a scholar and professor at Oxford University, in addition to a member of Oxford's Inklings literary group, and after his retirement in 1959 and his wife's later death in 1971, he moved back to Oxford and took up residence in a set of rooms provided by Merton College as an Emeritus Fellow, where he lived until his death in September 1973. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 Merton College University of Oxford Oxford (England) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/25c67dcde8e7d5d3b1361f3272571f17.jpg 4ac42499da87080d3c84c34e308d84f6 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 Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 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 RHC-183_N013-0019 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-01-26 Title A name given to the resource J.R.R. Tolkien, Merton College, Oxford Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a portrait of writer and philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" and regarded as one of the most influential authors of all time, as taken in his study at Merton College in Oxford, England. Tolkien was a scholar and professor at Oxford University, in addition to a member of Oxford's Inklings literary group, and after his retirement in 1959 and his wife's later death in 1971, he moved back to Oxford and took up residence in a set of rooms provided by Merton College as an Emeritus Fellow, where he lived until his death in September 1973. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 Merton College University of Oxford Oxford (England) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/7433b48b2a7410335075c24f1d176143.jpg a29a72f4dccd78704132310d42c9e06f 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 Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 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 RHC-183_N013-0020 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-01-26 Title A name given to the resource J.R.R. Tolkien, Merton College, Oxford Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring a portrait of writer and philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" and regarded as one of the most influential authors of all time, as taken in his study at Merton College in Oxford, England. Tolkien was a scholar and professor at Oxford University, in addition to a member of Oxford's Inklings literary group, and after his retirement in 1959 and his wife's later death in 1971, he moved back to Oxford and took up residence in a set of rooms provided by Merton College as an Emeritus Fellow, where he lived until his death in September 1973. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973 Merton College University of Oxford Oxford (England) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/e9cce1b014b5e9d6460a0dedddc9bbd6.jpg 397a575f7c644678477bc033159a62d8 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 Grand Valley State University Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Aerial photographs Universities and colleges Michigan Grand Rapids (Mich.) Allendale (Mich.) Building Facilities Dormitories Students Events 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Description An account of the resource People, places, and events of Grand Valley State University from its founding in 1960 as a 4-year college in western Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource News & Information Services. University Communications Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. 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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 Jacalyn Collins, Education Studies student teacher Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01_UAPhotos_001614 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</a> Description An account of the resource Jacalyn Collins, Education Studies student teacher, talking with a student in class at Jeffers Elementary School. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Spring Lake (Mich.) Universities and colleges Education Students Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In copyright - Non-commercial use permitted.</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives black and white photo https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/641dcfd6b8c9a31a2811df46eaa3222a.jpg 02429dab15a925d93e9eb9a649e70ac7 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 Grand Valley State University Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Aerial photographs Universities and colleges Michigan Grand Rapids (Mich.) Allendale (Mich.) Building Facilities Dormitories Students Events 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Description An account of the resource People, places, and events of Grand Valley State University from its founding in 1960 as a 4-year college in western Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource News & Information Services. University Communications Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</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 2017-03-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s-2000s 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. Local Subject Subject headings specific to a particular image collection 1970s Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">University photographs, GV012-01</a> 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 GV012-01_UAPhotos_000928 Title A name given to the resource Jack Carter, son of the next president, Jimmy Carter Description An account of the resource Jack Carter, son of the next president, Jimmy Carter. Subject The topic of the resource Events Grand Valley State University Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities and colleges Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</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 black and white photo https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6f3ab5c2ab77ca63f201a8dce0cf9a59.pdf a68f11b155a762908cffa11458f4fc3c PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Jack Hart Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 3/1/2012 Biography and Description English Jack Hart was a primary assistant to Walter “Slim” Coleman during the Jiménez for Alderman Campaign of 1975. He continues to live and work in Chicago’s 46th Ward, primarily in the Uptown Community. In the 1970s, Hart was a member of the Intercommunal Survival Committee, a white group that supported the Black Panther Party. Members of the Committee worked with Cathy Archibald and Slim Coleman in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Information Center. They also helped Mr. Jiménez to layout, publish, and finance one of the original Young Lords newspapers, and worked closely with the Young Lords and Mr. Jiménez until Helen Shiller was elected Alderman and Harold Washington became the first African American mayor of Chicago in 1983. Mr. Hart joined Mayor Washington’s Administration as Assistant Commissioner. During that time he was responsible for administering all of the City of Chicago’s rehabilitation loan programs. He also helped to formulate and launch the Chicago Housing partnership, Low Housing Tax Credit, and the City of Chicago’s heat receiver programs. Today he is a licensed real estate broker and Chief Financial Officer of Affordable Property Management Specialists in Chicago. �Spanish Jack Hart era el asistente de Walter “Slim” Coleman durante la campaña de Jiménez para Alderman en 1975. Señor Hart todavía vive y trabaja en el Distrito 46 de Chicago que ahora es una comunidad más nueva y elegante. En los 1907s Hart era un miembro de la Intercommunal Survival committee, un grupo de gente blanca que soportaba el Black Panther Party. Miembros de esa organización trabajaron con Cathy Archibald y Slim Coleman en la el Centro de Información del Vecindario en Lincoln Park. También ayudaron a Señor Jiménez hacer, publicar y financiar uno de los periódicos originales de los Young Lords, y trabajo cerca con Jiménez y los Young Lords hasta 1983 donde Helen Shiller fue elijada como Alderman y Harold Washington fue el primer Afroamericano alcalde de Chicago. Señor Hart junto con la administración de Alcalde Washington, como Asistente del Comisario. Durante este tiempo era responsable de administrar todos los programas de prestemos para la rehabilitación de la cuidad de Chicago. El también ayudo formular y lanchar la asociación de Chicago Housing, Low Housing Tax Credit, y el programa de calefacción de la cuidad de Chicago. Ahora es un agente de urbanización y también el principal Oficial de Financias en Affordable Property Management Specialists en Chicago. �Transcript JACK HART: All right, I’m Jack Hart. I currently am the director of the Affordable Property Management Specialists which is a property management company which specializes in affordable housing. We currently manage 390 apartments on the south side, west side, and this is our -- 4040 N. Sheridan Ruth Shriman House, that’s where we’re at now, that’s one of our projects on the north side. I’ve been managing basically affordable housing since 1988, 1989, somewhere around there. Prior to that, I was the assistant commissioner of housing in the Harold Washington administration. That was from 1984 until 1989. [00:01:00] And then prior to that, I was the director of the Heart of Uptown Coalition Intercommunal Survival Committee going back to 1970. JOSE JIMENEZ: Back to 1970? JH: Yeah. JJ: What is your connection with the Young Lords, basically? JH: Well, that goes way back. In 1970, somewhere thereabouts -- well, I first met you when you were underground or something in Milwaukee. I think you were someplace like that. You were on the lam from -- JJ: What does that mean, underground? JH: That means you were hiding out from the law. Well, 1970, I think, the Young Lords had taken over the church on Armitage and -- what was that street? Dayton. Yeah. I was with Slim Coleman, and Cathy Archibald, and then what 1 �was called the People’s Information [00:02:00] Center. We were like two blocks away from the church there. At that time, there was a coalition -JJ: And who were they connected to, the People’s Information center? JH: I was going to say the coalition existed, but your Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton had basically espoused the idea that white revolutionaries or poor white people who were sympathetic to the Black liberation struggle at that time should be organizing in their own communities. So the People’s Information Center was a group of white radicals, so to speak, who were affiliated with the Black Panther Party. And our job was to begin to organize amongst poor white people with a clear connection between the political struggle [00:03:00] in poor white areas and the liberation struggle of both Black people and other people of color. The Young Lords organization had been involved with Fred Hampton in various kind of rainbow coalitions we called it back then. One of the things was to-you had what we called survival programs. So the Young Lords basically took over this church and were going to set up a health clinic there and various other community programs. So there was a natural affiliation between us, the Black Panther Party, and the Young Lords organization. JJ: So you were organizing in Lincoln Park? JH: Yeah, the first thing we were doing was, again, urban renewal in Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park, at that time, was a fairly poor neighborhood [00:04:00] particularly around Armitage and Halsted was mostly Puerto Rican. You go a little bit further south, I forget the name of the street now, but that was also Blacks, it was Puerto -- it was a concentration of Puerto Rican and Black, and hillbillies mixed in there, 2 �poor white people. So the struggle which was being developed by the Young Lords and other people was to fight the city’s plans to gentrify these areas -- to remove the people, the poor people, and to replace them with a more affluent -- I mean that’s really what happened. So Lincoln Park, if you went there today, you try to tell someone that was a poor area, they’d think you were crazy. I mean I remember we had an apartment, just as an example, on Halsted in 19-- threebedroom apartment on [00:05:00] Halsted in 1970 rented for about $95 a month. Now that same apartment today would probably cost you $3,000 a month. (laughs) JJ: What were some of the things that the Information Center did? JH: Well, we did pretty much whatever the Black Panther Party did. I mean we distributed the Black Panther party newspaper all over the city in white areas. We had various -- like a free breakfast program, and various kinds of educational programs for children, we had a health clinic which we sponsored -- free health clinic. And then we had various other food and shoe giveaways and various things like that. JJ: When did you begin your involvement? Kind of going back a little bit. JH: My first contact was in January of [00:06:00] 1970 which was shortly after Fred Hampton had been murdered. I responded to an ad in the newspaper -- in a seed newspaper it was called which was kind of like an alternative newspaper. They were looking for people to join the Venceremos Brigade which was -- at that time, it was illegal to go Cuba, so they were taking groups of college-aged students to Cuba to participate in the Cuban revolution by assisting them with 3 �sugar cane cutting and things like that. So every year, they put together a group from around the country of 40, 50 people who would then go to Cuba for three months. So I signed up to go on this Venceremos Brigade. And one of the requirements was in the six months preceding the trip, [00:07:00] which was supposed to be in July, you were supposed to be involved in active community organizing. So the people who were sponsoring us were from the People’s Information Center, so I started working with them in January of 1970. And as it turned out, I was dropped from the trip at the last minute and I just ended up staying. (laughs) JJ: And the reason that you were dropped was -- JH: They had cut the quota, there was some immigration issues with the U.S. government. You couldn’t travel to Cuba, so what you had to do was go to Canada, and then you got a visa from Canada to Cuba. And apparently the Canadian government could only take so many people, and so there were 15 of us who were dropped from the trip at the last minute, and I was one of them. JJ: Why would you answer an ad to go to Cuba? I mean (inaudible). [00:08:00] What was your development in terms of (inaudible)? JH: Well, I mean I guess the original thing goes back to -- I was pretty much fresh out of high school, but what was going on in the country -- JJ: You were in Chicago? JH: Yeah. JJ: Okay, so you grew up in Chicago? 4 �JH: Yeah, and Schiller Park was actually -- I was in Chicago until I was about fifth, sixth grade, and then we moved out to the suburbs which was Schiller Park which was right next to the airport there. I went to East Leyden High School in Franklin Park. At that time, in the country, because of the -- you know, the civil rights movement was going on, the war in Vietnam was raging, so there was a big anti-war movement, and it was a fairly active time for people who were seeking social change. [00:09:00] When I was in high school, I was enlightened to the point that I was participating in civil rights in various other things from a standpoint of justice, I guess. So I don’t know. I was just looking for some way to make a difference. I was sort of bored with college, and it seemed like something to do. I mean the consciousness in the country at that time was fairly high because there was a draft, so everybody, when you were 18 years old, graduated from high school, had to face the reality of either avoiding the Army or fighting a war which most people at the time were opposed to. So I think that was sort of the impetus to get involved. And then just one thing sort of led to another. (laughs) JJ: [00:10:00] So you’ve had involvement -- this was around ’68, ’69? JH: ’70. JJ: Around ’70, okay. So this was after -- JH: Yeah, Fred Hampton was killed on December 4th of ’69. JJ: Did you go to that? 5 �JH: That’s what sort of led me to the People’s Information Center ’cause there was a connection there between them and the Black Panther Party. In the process, they said, “Well, these same people are sponsoring this trip to Cuba.” JJ: So how long did you stay in Lincoln Park then? And did you live in Lincoln Park at all? JH: Yeah, we lived in -- I mean I lived there in various apartments all around Lincoln Park. We had an apartment on Lincoln and Little, 2400 North Lincoln, and we had one on Halsted. We moved around [00:11:00] that area. JJ: This was you or the Information Center? JH: The office was at 2154 North Halsted, so the organization, it started out, there was like six or seven of us. And then as it developed, we ended up with 15, 20 hardcore people, and three or four of us would share an apartment. 1972 is when we had a big event at the Aragon Ballroom. It was called the “Campaign to End Police Brutality and Establish Community Control” where we gave away 3,000 bags of groceries at the Aragon Ballroom. The idea there was to introduce the Black Panther party to the people of Uptown. So around late ’71, early ’72 we started circulating a petition door to door in [00:12:00] Uptown. Some still in Lincoln Park, but Lincoln Park, at that time, was already beginning to be gentrified. Uptown was more of a concentration of poor white people. (break in audio) JJ: Okay, (inaudible). 6 �JH: Okay, so what was I saying? All right, so we had this thing at the Aragon, and idea was to -- we were trying to establish a base amongst poor white people in Uptown which was a really a concentration of -- JJ: What do you mean by base? Can you explain that? JH: A political base, a place where we could establish some kind of political power. So what we did was we had this what we called this “Campaign to End Police Brutality and Establish Community [00:13:00] Control.” And we went around circulating petitions, and then all the people who signed the petition from this area, we then went to visit them at their house, and we offered them a subscription to the Black Panther Party newspaper, A, and, B, we invited them to come to the Aragon Ballroom for this rally where they would receive a free bag of groceries and they could listen to the leaders of the Black Panther Party speak. So that was our first foray into Uptown. At that time, one of the theories here was we wanted to begin to get involved in the electoral process on some level. So the first effort was to defeat Edward Hanrahan who was the state’s attorney who was responsible for the murder of Fred Hampton. [00:14:00] So the idea was to begin to get people to vote. In Chicago, at the time, everybody voted for the Democratic machine, and they controlled everything primarily because they controlled city services. So if you wanted city services, then you had to support your precinct captain and then you would get city services. And so we were trying to change some of that so people could begin to vote their conscience instead of just following the party lines, so to speak. So the idea was to begin to identify the people who we could pull into our overall program. So we used this 7 �petition, and then the idea was to visit them, get them involved in our programs, register them to vote, and get them [00:15:00] to vote against the Democratic candidate for state’s attorney who was this Edward Hanrahan who was the one who had killed Fred Hampton. JJ: So you had the food drive and then you did a voter registration drive? JH: Right. JJ: Okay, and this was in ’72? JH: It’s hard to remember exact dates. All this sort of runs together. I mean we were involved in various kind of voter registration efforts over the years. Cha, when you ran for alderman, what year was that? JJ: We announced, I believe, at the end of ’73. JH: ’73, okay. So this was this sort of Edward Hanrahan, “Defeat the Butcher” it was called, I believe that was ’72 or ’73, somewhere around there. That campaign was actually successful particularly in the Black community where people [00:16:00] in droves voted against Ed Hanrahan. In fact, the state’s attorney who was elected was Bernard Carey who was a Republican and that was like the first time a Republican had been elected in a Cook-county wide office in like 25, 30 years. We saw that success, and that people -- if the issue was right, people could be moved to go against the entrenched powers, so to speak. We opened up an office at 1056 West Lawrence around 1973, May of ’73. And then we continued to establish programs in the Uptown area. I think at this time, and the Young Lords -- JJ: That’s the [00:17:00] Heart of Uptown Coalition? 8 �JH: Yeah, we went under various -- the parent organization, the cadre organization which was the hardcore people was called the Intercommunal Survival Committee. That was a committee of the Black Panther Party. We were answerable directly to the Black Panther Party. JJ: So you had a core group called the Intercommunal Survival Committee? JH: Right. JJ: And then this was more like a mass (inaudible)? JH: Yeah, the Heart of Uptown Coalition was sort of like our public arm where anybody who shared our political viewpoint, which was basically that the people should control their own communities, they could join the Heart of Uptown Coalition which was a much broader thing. The Intercommunal Survival Committee were really hardcore revolutionaries. We saw ourselves as hardcore revolutionaries. We [were involved in?] armed struggle [00:18:00] to overthrow the government. (laughter) And there was probably an inner core of maybe 20, 25 people who were actually -- we were run sort of like a military organization. I think at that time, Cha-Cha, who was the head of the Young Lords, had just gotten out of -- JJ: So you ran a military organization, but you actually were more focused on organizing? JH: Yeah. I mean it was the idea of -- JJ: Military discipline but you were focused on organizing. JH: Right, exactly. We weren’t really -- I mean I don’t want to get into all that other shit, but (laughter) -- 9 �JJ: (inaudible). JH: The focus, of course, was organizing the community for political power. The significance of the hardcore group was that these are really dedicated people that are involved in this 24 hours a day, [00:19:00] 7 days a week, and really believed in what they were doing. So I think at that time we still had visions of this rainbow coalition which was -- JJ: Because you actually were kind of living together and everything, right? JH: Yeah. Well, we would share apartments. I mean there’s like three or four of us in an apartment. JJ: So you were really tightly knit? JH: Yeah. I mean we were on call 24/7 and involved in various -- I mean there were other things going on just other than the political organizing. Like I said, we were involved in covert activities for the Black Panthers and various other things, but that’s a whole ’nother discussion. JJ: You went to the campaign? JH: So Cha-Cha of the Young Lords had just gotten out of jail, or just returned from being underground, or something like that. I don’t remember exactly what it was. So they announced [00:20:00] that they were re-establishing an office, I think it was on Wilton and Grace. And as part of that, Cha-Cha announced that he was going to run for alderman of the 46th Ward. Given the nature of the 46th Ward, I’m not sure we ever really believed that we were going to win this election because 60 percent of the ward are fairly affluent people on the lakefront. But the idea was to use the election as an organizing vehicle to A, tighten the 10 �coalition between Hispanics and poor white people, and continue to develop this model of trying to take over the political power of this particular area. One of the theories that Huey Newton had at the time -- who was head of the Black Panther Party -- was sort of modeled after Mao’s Long March. [00:21:00] In other words, the idea was to concentrate forces in particular areas. So like the 46th Ward in Uptown, this is an area if we could take over and be the political -- take over politically, that would give us a base to then move on into broader actions. And that was sort of the springboard, was the 46th Ward. And the first attempt was when we ran Cha-Cha for alderman. And that was one of the very active political campaigns where we would give a lot of actions related to drawing attention to urban renewal, and how the area’s being gentrified, and coalitions amongst various poor people -- Hispanics, and Whites, and Blacks, and Hispanics, and so on and so forth. So the idea was to continue to develop our programs [00:22:00] and get people involved in the political process. JJ: Continue to develop the health clinic and other programs that you had? JH: Yeah. Eventually we -- JJ: What programs did you have at that time? JH: Again, time sort of runs together here, but eventually we moved our office from Lawrence over to Wilson Avenue, and Wilson Avenue’s a real large facility. And there we had a legal aid clinic, we had -- help people get on public aid, welfare assistance, we had a health clinic, we had a prisoner visitation program, we had a magazine that was published on site there, Keep Strong Magazine, and I think we had -- well, all kinds of various food cooperatives. We used to have a 11 �monthly meeting at the hall for -- sort of replaced church, where people would come and we’d discuss the events of the day. [00:23:00] And sort of the springboard for various campaigns. The main thing going on in the city at the time was certain neighborhoods were being gentrified, and people were being moved out, and Uptown was one of them. And it was a fairly [insidious?] thing. There was a lot of arson, and places being burned down, and people being moved out, and them building new condos, and so on and so forth. JJ: I remember they had a -- 20/20 did a piece, arson for profit. So you’re saying there was a lot of arson, can you name -- JH: Well, for instance, Truman College is one example in Uptown. Truman College wasn’t there. That was all housing, same type of housing as the rest of Uptown which was -- and the buildings were one by one vacated. When the owners were resistant to selling to urban renewal, [00:24:00] they were burned down. They eventually took over the whole -- from Wilson to Sunnyside, Clifton to Magnolia, that whole area was wiped out and that’s where they built the college. And there was a lot of various low-income buildings that were closed down and either torn down or re-habed but not for the benefit of the people in the neighborhood, but a new class of people being moved in. JJ: So arson was one method to get rid of some of the buildings, but any other methods used by city? JH: You would get an owner who was in cahoots with them, and they wouldn’t fix up the building, and the city would come in and close it down. Or places would 12 �become so unlivable [00:25:00] that people would have to move. So eventually they cleared out the whole area. JJ: So now you got the Cha-Cha Jiménez campaign. How did you kind of restructure? How was that done? JH: Again, it was coalition -- JJ: I think that was a change, so I’m trying to see how it changed the group that you were working with (inaudible) Uptown? JH: We broadened our base, so to speak. In other words, the Heart of Uptown Coalition became a bigger organization, but we pulled in a lot of various affiliated groups. JJ: How did you do that? I mean what was the process? JH: Gee, I don’t know. (laughs) JJ: How did you directly do that? What (inaudible)? JH: Our main operation that we constantly were involved in was door to door. What we did was on a weekly basis [00:26:00] we would have a list of people who were either sympathetic or in the middle on every block in the community, and every week we would go to their house and we would bring them a Black Panther Party newspaper, and get into an argument with them over what was in there, A, and B, we would then ask them if they needed any kind of services, if they had any problems, if they had any legal problems, any other issues. And then the person who was (inaudible) would make what we called a follow-up list, and he would say, “These people need legal help,” and then we would send somebody else behind them to provide them with whatever legal -- hook them into the 13 �resources that we had developed to get them the assistance they needed. The idea being that people would then turn to us for assistance rather than the precinct captain, [00:27:00] that is you’re trying to change the focus of the politics. The same thing would be true for, say, if you had a [block club?], and they were interested in an issue on the block, say they needed a particular abandoned building torn down because it was a problem with drugs or something, then we would adopt that as one of our issues, and then pull all of the people who were involved in that into our umbrella group, and it just went on from that. I think the first thing was in ’73, ’74 when Cha-Cha ran for alderman, but I think he ended up getting 25 percent of the vote or something like that. And then I think in ’77, Helen Shiller -JJ: Thirty-eight percent. JH: Thirty-eight, okay. Thirty-eight percent. I don’t mean to sell you short. [00:28:00] (laughter) We had a good showing in our particular base areas, but if you took the ward as a whole, like I said, it was a more difficult proposition. I think we then ran again in ’77, Helen ran, lost that election. JJ: Helen Shiller. JH: Helen Shiller. Then in ’79 or something like that, we ran. We kept running in the elections, and, eventually -- and then as this particular movement which started in the 46th Ward and other places began to develop on a city-wide basis. So voter registration and trying to involve people more in the political process particularly in the poorer areas, that whole thing sort of culminated with the election of Harold Washington in 1983. 14 �JJ: So there was a direct link between -- JH: Oh, definitely. I mean maintain that without the [00:29:00] ground work that we did here that Harold Washington would’ve never been elected mayor. That was really the significance of it. I think when Harold ran for mayor -- I forget what year it was, ’82 or ’83 -- I mean we ended up registering that year something like 260,000 people to vote on a city-wide basis. At that time, in order to register to vote, you had to go downtown to register to vote. And they had one day, just like 30 days before the election, you could register to vote in your precinct; but other than that, the only way you could register to vote would be to actually go to city hall. So we used to bus people from all over the city every Saturday down to the city hall to register to vote. In that year leading up to Harold’s election, we registered I want to say about 250,000 people which [00:30:00] without those 250,000 people we never would have won that election. We started out going door to door in Uptown, and basically as you expand that, it eventually became a city-wide movement and that’s -- ended up electing Harold mayor. JJ: Now, what was your role back in the Jimenez campaign? What was your role? I mean what was your position and (inaudible)? JH: I mean it’s hard to remember. I was always the person who was in charge of the logistics of the organization. In other words, I was sort of like the administrative director. So all the people who worked for us basically went through me. I was the overall administrator of the organization. JJ: And you remained in this post all the way through -- up to [00:31:00] the Harold Washington election? 15 �JH: I mean in terms of the cadre of hardcore people then, I was always their director. In terms of the campaign, when Harold was -- (break in audio) JH: Just to backtrack a little bit -- again, the roots of this movement go back to 19691970. It actually probably goes back further than that, but it’s sort of the history of the [I don’t know if you want to call it?] revolutionary struggles, but -- so a lot of this came out of the civil rights/student protest movements of the late ’60s early ’70s. And people, at the time, are looking for [00:32:00] a meaningful way to take it to the next step. So in other words, the root of it is the civil rights movement, number one, and the Black Panther Party who was espousing the position that the Black -- the movement for civil rights was the vanguard struggle, but particularly Fred Hampton had the idea that this wasn’t really a Black -- a struggle just for Black nationalism, but it was a class struggle and should involve all oppressed peoples. So he made an effort to coalesce with other communitybased movements which had their basis in the civil rights movement, but were also involved in some kind of community struggles for control of the community. Back in the late ’60s in most major cities in the country it was true that most [00:33:00] Black and Hispanic people had very little political power, A, and B, were subject to fairly oppressive measures by the police and other people. So police brutality was a serious issue and -- (break in audio) JJ: Police brutality. 16 �JH: So there was various things going on, sort of like grassroots type movements. In Uptown, there was this group called the Young Patriots who were trying to organize poor whites. And at the time, I think the Young Lords who originally started out as sort of a street gang had begun to develop into more of a political organization patterned after the Black Panther Party. And so the Young Patriots sort of faded away, but the Young Lords and the [00:34:00] Intercommunal Survival Committee -- there was another group of white revolutionaries called Rising Up Angry -- they all sort of -- since they were doing pretty much the same things in their own community, it was sort of a natural coalition. There was a particularly a push by Fred Hampton that we should be -- I think he used to say, “Black people should be organizing Black people, and Brown people Brown people, and white people white people.” But we all have the same -- let me turn this damn thing off here. We all have the same goals. So it was sort of natural that we would work together. JJ: So you started working with the Young Lords in Lincoln Park? JH: Yeah. Again, it was on and off, but we were basically involved on a [00:35:00] consistent basis with anybody who was organizing the community along the same means that we were. So the Young Lords, the Black Panthers, and us, pretty much, in Chicago that were -- those were the three groups that spearheaded the whole movement. JJ: After Fred Hampton was murdered, and Mark Clark, was there like a vacuum or something? And did this movement kind of a take a leadership role at that time? 17 �JH: Bobby Rush who was the minister of defense for the Black -- he sort of stepped right in after Fred was -- so Fred was sort of a dynamic person. His murder actually did a lot to heighten people’s consciousness, so to speak. Whatever the powers that [00:36:00] be had intended -- they thought that that was going to wipe out the movement, and it actually had the opposite effect. JJ: So the movement grew? JH: Yeah. I mean, again, the whole impetus for the first foray into electoral politics in Chicago which eventually ended up in the election of Harold Washington was the murder of Fred Hampton, beyond a doubt. It was that movement of getting rid of Ed Hanrahan which was the first serious effort to challenge the actual political process. Prior to that, it was protest movements and marches. JJ: And was there also an Oakland election going on also? JH: Well, yeah, Bobby Seale who was head of the Black Panther Party was running for mayor of Oakland. Elaine Brown was running for councilwoman. That was part of what I call like the grand march theory. In other words, the idea was -what the Black Panther Party [00:37:00] did was they closed most of their chapters all over the country and moved everybody to Oakland. And the idea was to establish a base of operations in Oakland to eventually seize political power in the city and to use that as a model to show the rest of the country that this is what we can do as revolutionaries. This will be the difference in terms of how people control their own community. They had a ten-point platform and various things -- people have a right to food, and clothing, and shelter, things like that. The Intercommunal Survival, we adopted a similar strategy, the idea was to 18 �pull in all various people from all over the country who were involved in this struggle with the Black Panther Party to work in Chicago, in the community, in the 46th Ward, and then try to use that as a base [00:38:00] of power. You know, one of the things with the 46th Ward, again, in this community, was it was a very diverse community. You had a concentration of Appalachian whites, but you also had a concentration of Puerto Ricans in northern Lakeview. So it was sort of a natural -JJ: It was sort of segregated then. JH: Yeah. I mean the city was tremendously segregated, always has been. It still is to some extent, but even more so back then. Uptown was the white ghetto, and Lincoln Park, Lake View, West Town were Puerto Ricans, and Pilsen is where Mexicans lived, and Black people lived on the south and west side, you know, certain [00:39:00] defined areas. And people didn’t mix very well. So part of the thing was you would organize your own community, but it wouldn’t be an isolated thing. In other words, Puerto Ricans should order Puerto Ricans but they shouldn’t only stay amongst Puerto Ricans. We need a place where we can come together and coalesce because we share the same problems. (laughs) JJ: What were some of the events of that campaign that you recall? Any specific ones? JH: The Cha-Cha Jiménez campaign? JJ: Yeah. JH: It’s hard to remember, that’s 40 years ago, but I mean I remember we used to -the guy who was running against him was Chris Cohen, and he was sort of a 19 �victim of our -- he probably didn’t turn out to be such a bad guy in the end. His daddy was the head of HUD or something. [00:40:00] We used to follow him around. Anytime he had an appearance, we would show up with 200 people. We had the anti-arson thing, I think that was during that campaign. I don’t know, I can’t remember. I remember following Chris Cohen around. (laughs) The main thing, I think, was the voter registration thing. It doesn’t seem like that’s significant now, but, again, you got to go back 40 years and see that the whole voter registration process was completely controlled by the Democratic machine. This was the first attempt to break that. They made it real difficult for anybody to register to vote unless you went through them. I remember every [00:41:00] Saturday we would rent six vans and each load them up with 15 people and we’d bring 100 people downtown to register to vote. That was a big deal back then. JJ: So there was this campaign, the Jiménez campaign, and there were other -- the Shiller campaign came after that? JH: Yeah, a couple of Shiller campaigns. JJ: Did you see any impact of all these campaigns and all this organizing? JH: I mean, again, ’79 is when Jane Byrne got elected mayor, so that was first time someone other than Democratic machine got elected in Chicago. That was sort of a fluke because it was based on the weather and other things. [00:42:00] I mean I think the grassroots organizing that went on culminated in, again, the election of Harold Washington in ’83. That was a real candidate who was based in the community. In addition to that, we won a number of aldermanic races all over the city. Bobby Rush was elected alderman of the 2nd Ward, Helen Shiller 20 �was elected in the 46th Ward, and Luis Gutiérrez was elected in -- I can’t remember the name of the ward -- 29th, maybe. Dorothy Tillman was another one. These were all grassroots people who were elected outside of the power that had existed prior to that. And that election, we basically, [00:43:00] with Harold Washington, took over the city government. In 1983 when Harold was first elected, he didn’t have a majority so the fight between the -- I think it was the 29 and the 21 -- there was 21 alderman who were with Harold and 29 who were with right white wing, mostly white, mostly racist. Interestingly enough, most of the Puerto Rican alderman sided with Harold and the Mexican ones with the white people and the white power structure. In the subsequent election which was ’87 -- I think there was a special election in ’85 where we were actually able to gain a majority in the city council. And the city was beginning to change directions. The machine was being broken up and there was real [00:44:00] political power in city hall, the people had a real voice. Unfortunately, Harold died and then the whole thing sort of fell apart. There was a time that even the reactionary Black politicians who had sided for the machine for so long, they even sided with Harold because that’s where the power was rooted. His power was really rooted in the community. Again, the political organizing that started in 1971 was really the basis of it without a doubt. (break in audio) JH: You can edit this if you want. I guess what happened here is that the -- when Harold was elected -- 1983, 1984 the Black Panther Party and [00:45:00] similar organizations who had been victimized for a number of years by the FBI, and the 21 �COINTEL Program, and drugs in the community -- I mean this was a concerted effort to demonize certain persons who were the leaders of the movement. Fred Hampton was murdered, but Oakland, California and the base of the Black Panther Party was inundated with drugs. Crack cocaine made its appearance in the ghettos in the early ’80s. This was not an accident. One of the problems in our community, in particular amongst poor people, has always been we’re susceptible to certain vices. Part of it is because of the difficulty of living in poverty. Drugs, alcohol that’s a natural -- [00:46:00] I’m not trying to make excuses for people, but this is a natural phenomenon. It seems that certain powers that be -- I’m not a great conspiracy theorist, but to me it’s factual that these communities are inundated with drugs. A lot of the leaders of the Black Panther party and Young Lords, other organizations fell into the trap, and got addicted to drugs, or got involved in drugs, or the money was alluring, or the gangster lifestyle, or whatever it was. But at the same time that the political movements are becoming more successful to some extent, a lot of the leaders of these various -- are being picked off, and the organizations are having a difficult time sustaining themselves. The Black Panther Party -- basically Huey Newton was continually arrested, and [00:47:00] harassed, and fighting trial after trial. And all the resources of the organization are going into defending the leaders, and, eventually, the organization begins to fall apart. After the last round of arrests and murders of various Panthers, the organization just sort of disintegrated so that by ’83, ’84 the model of these cadre type organizations is -were beginning to fall apart. In some places where they were able to achieve 22 �some political power it continued on other levels. I say that because by 1984 when Harold was elected, I pretty much dropped out of the movement, so to speak, but took a job with the Washington Administration as, the way I saw it, payback for all the years that I spent [00:48:00] in the struggle. So I went to work in the housing department, and went back to school, and got a degree in finance. Seeing this as sort of a victory -- in other words, all these years of struggling on the streets culminated in us now being part of the government. So we worked for the government for five, six years. And a lot of the people I had worked with all these years were now -- you know, all got government jobs in the city administration at some level or other. When Harold died, the struggle again was sort of bought off to some extent, and there was really no leaders to sustain the movement, so it sort of faded away. Most of us who were active took jobs in [00:49:00] various types of fields that were still of benefit to the community, but we could make a living. So I’ve been basically involved in affordable housing partly because I worked for the city for five, six years under Harold, and worked in the housing department, and so it was sort of natural that I would -JJ: What was your perspective when you were in there? I mean you said you were in a different level now. You’re working as part of the government even though you -- of course, you’ve always been progressive, (laughs) you’re still progressive. (inaudible) see any other type of perspective? (inaudible) activist? JH: The idea was that the resource of the government can now be used to directly benefit the people rather than -- so in other words, we’re not fighting the government, we’re now the government who was going to dole out the resources 23 �and that we would be able to come up with a plan that would really have an effect on the [00:50:00] community, which would improve the lives of the people. Now, you know, we were a little bit naïve because we didn’t realize how entrenched the political power was. So even though you took over -- nominally you took over the government, you didn’t really because the people who actually run things on the underneath are still there and they’re going to fight you tooth and nail. But, see, that whole movement has a lot of significance. Because we were so close to achieving political power, and there was a cultural change developing in the country, that caused a backlash. So what’s happening today with the Republicans, and the whole Reagan revolution and all that, that was a direct result of the push from the left that caused the right to push back. [00:51:00] In other words, the rich actually felt threatened by these movements, these attempts for people to seize political power, to seize the means of production. So they determined not to let this happen, and so this is -- the whole Tea Party movement and the whole Republican entrenchment of the right is a direct result of these movements of the ’80s and ’90s. So I don’t think I’ve ever really lost my perspective on this. I think part of the problem is we were able to get a certain level of community control, but we weren’t able to get to the next step. Part of that is because of the way the system is set up. We’re still in a class struggle, and the rich still control the means of the production, and even probably more so than was true 15, 20 years ago. [00:52:00] But to a large extent it’s still the same struggle. It’s still a struggle for community control, it’s still a struggle for control of 24 �the resources, to use the resources to benefit the majority of people rather than the chosen one, two percent. JJ: There was this housing plan, right? And there was like a 50-year housing plan, a master plan, for the city? JH: Yeah, Plan 21. JJ: Plan 21 and all that. Looking at it from that perspective of being within the government, you kind of mentioned that we still didn’t have any control. We still didn’t have any power. It didn’t change at all, did it? JH: Well, it changed to some extent, but, again, you see, one of the problems was it was a very small window here. In other words, when Harold seized control of the city hall, [00:53:00] he died four years or five years later and we were never really able to effect the change that we had wanted to effect although it did -- see, the original thing was -- I mean you can go back to the ’60s and ’70s in Chicago, the idea was to concentrate resources in the inner city and make that -- that was Chicago, downtown. Well, the neighborhoods were suffering, and all the resources of the city were directed at the inner city, the downtown area and immediate areas around it at the expense of the neighborhood. I think what the movement for community control represented was an attempt to shift some of those resources back to the neighborhoods [00:54:00] although it probably didn’t go far enough. You can see the difference between Richie Daley Sr. and Richie Daley Jr. Richie Daley Sr. didn’t care, “Screw all you, we’ll do it my way.” Richie Daley Jr. was able to buy off most communities because he did see the need to distribute some of the city’s resources back to the neighborhoods. 25 �JJ: What do you mean he bought them? How did he do that? JH: For instance, every alderman was given a fund of, say, ten million dollars a year to use in the community. That would’ve never happened under Richie J. Daley. That was a result of the community organizing. There was a certain attempt to listen to some of the local representatives, and give that money for streets and sidewalks, and there was housing developed [00:55:00] in the communities, you know, not for profits, low-income housing, the tax credit program, there was various use of various federal housing programs, an attempt to rebuild public housing. It was more -- JJ: But did the plan change at all or (inaudible) -- a new revamped plan? JH: I mean the essence of it probably didn’t change. I mean I think we slowed down the process. We were able to strengthen the neighborhoods to some extent, we probably didn’t go far enough, but I think without that movement no telling what would have happened. JJ: (inaudible). JH: I think the city’s probably much more open. JJ: They slowed it down, but there’s still (inaudible) -- JH: I mean the money [00:56:00] is still there. JJ: More poor people on the lakefront. JH: Well, that’s true, but that has to do with the whole focus of the country to a large extent. The class thing has become more pronounced than it ever has been. But, again, you could argue that that’s a result of our movement, not them winning, but there’s a pushback to what -- like I said before, the campaign for 26 �community control hasn’t ended. I think the government in the city is much more responsive than it was 30 years ago, but did we succeed? Probably not. But did we have an effect? Yeah, definitely. JJ: What about like today there’s a whole thing about foreclosures and stuff like that. How does [00:57:00] the past relate to today -- today’s housing situation? JH: I have a hard time making the connections between the movements back then and what’s going on today, but the thing there was that -- the part of the pushback was to deregulate, to give the banks and other people more power. That was the whole Reagan revolution. Greed was good. Greed is good. That’s the American thing, and no one should be ostracized for that. [00:58:00] The big bankers and stuff saw a way to make a lot of money and they used the people as ploys in a game. It was only a matter of time before -- it was like you’re building a house of cards, well, eventually, it’s going to collapse. The fundamental question we’re faced with now is not that much different than it was forty years ago: are the majority of people going to have any control over the political process or the use of resources in the community or is everything going to be controlled by the top one or two percent? And that’s really the same struggle that we had back then. We probably lost ground to some extent because that one percent is more entrenched and they own more resources than they ever did. I mean I see this [00:59:00] presidential election as pry the most critical election we’ve ever had in this country. And to me, the election of Barack Obama was the result -- that’s like a direct extension of what happened in Chicago with the election of Harold Washington. The people are dissatisfied, they’re looking for an 27 �alternative, they elect the alternative, and then the powers that be do everything they can to attack everything that he does and make sure that nothing he does can be successful, and then they go around saying, “Everybody see? He can’t do this. You got to stick with us.” And that’s sort of what -- we need to take this to the next step. I think what happened here was that we got there but didn’t know what to do when we got there. (laughs) In other words, we got political power to some extent, but now that we’re sitting there in the seat, “Now what do we do?” Eventually, we were going to figure this out, but the other side [01:00:00] pushes back on this and they will use every opportunity to attack, attack, attack. And since they control the media and other things, we’re up against it. The problem today is that people are more easily manipulated because the media and everything is so much more invasive. They’re bombarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a lot of the safeguards that were built in, protecting people from falsehoods and certain people controlling the media have all been removed. I mean you have Fox News, that has no journalistic value at all. They just say whatever the hell they want to say. You keep repeating the same thing over and over again, people will believe it. The whole idea of these super PACs where they can -- [01:01:00] one millionaire can put a billion dollars into Romney’s campaign and control the message. So we’ll see. We’ll see how gullible people are this year. Can people be manipulated to vote against their own self-interest or in the end will people -- we’ll see. (break in audio) 28 �JH: I guess the lesson here is that the campaign for community control was an important step. The problem was that maybe we didn’t take it far enough. And again, like I just said, I think where we’re at now is we’ll see what happens in this -- this presidential election will say a lot [01:02:00] as to whether or not we had any -- whether the movement was minimally successful, or are we going to continue to advance the rights of the people? Or are we going to go backwards? JJ: What you’re trying to say is that this presidential election is a result of all these (inaudible)? How is (inaudible)? JH: Well, I think it’s a culmination of where we started. In other words, this was a grassroot movement for people to seize political power, to allow people to have a voice in their own government, in their own communities, to make the institutions of government serve the people. I think we were able to get to a certain point and certain places in this country where that was successful. Because of the pushback by the right wing and other people, we basically regressed a little bit so people [01:03:00] had to retreat. People continue to have an effect through other means by being involved in housing, or healthcare, or other issues. I think on a national level, various progressive people that were put in place all over the country were able to elect a fairly progressive president, but, again, you can see the pushback over the last four years from the right wing trying to reverse that. So now we’ve come to the point -- are we going to step forward or are we going to allow ourselves to pushed all the way back into the pit again? Again, I’m sort of at the point where it’s sort of -- judgment is still -- the jury is still out on whether or not we were successful in what we were attempting to do back in the ’60s and 29 �’70s. [01:04:00] I know that one success was the -- I mean racism and the ability of people of different types of ethnic backgrounds to interact, a lot of doors were opened that weren’t open before, but, again, are we going to take that on to -- it really comes to the point are you going to wipe out the middle class in this country? Are you going to have a third world country where one percent of the people control everything and everybody else lives in crime and poverty? Or are you going to continue to build a movement where people have some control over their resources and are able to improve their lives? We’ll see. That’s sort of where we’re at. I think that’s where we started and we’re sort of back there again. If we can take the next step and continue to build a power base in the communities where people have [01:04:00] some control over their lives then we’ll be there, but maybe not. (laughter) END OF VIDEO FILE 30 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4fafc6bef264cec85a57843bfc1316a5.mp4 fd820427b039148751dd8f1378f322d6 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 Jack Hart vídeo entrevista y biografía Descripción Spanish language Description entry Jack Hart era el asistente de Walter “Slim” Coleman durante la campaña de Jiménez para Alderman en 1975. Señor Hart todavía vive y trabaja en el Distrito 46 de Chicago que ahora es una comunidad más nueva y elegante. En los 1907s Hart era un miembro de la Intercommunal Survival committee, un grupo de gente blanca que soportaba el Black Panther Party. Miembros de esa organización trabajaron con Cathy Archibald y Slim Coleman en la el Centro de Información del Vecindario en Lincoln Park. También ayudaron a Señor Jiménez hacer, publicar y financiar uno de los periódicos originales de los Young Lords, y trabajo cerca con Jiménez y los Young Lords hasta 1983 donde Helen Shiller fue elijada como Alderman y Harold Washington fue el primer Afroamericano alcalde de Chicago. Señor Hart junto con la administración de Alcalde Washington, como Asistente del Comisario. Durante este tiempo era responsable de administrar todos los programas de prestemos para la rehabilitación de la cuidad de Chicago. El también ayudo formular y lanchar la asociación de Chicago Housing, Low Housing Tax Credit, y el programa de calefacción de la cuidad de Chicago. Ahora es un agente de urbanización y también el principal Oficial de Financias en Affordable Property Management Specialists en Chicago. Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Narrativas personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Chicago (Ill.)--Política y gobierno--1951- Chicago (Ill.). Alcalde (1983-1987 : Washington) Discriminación en la vivienda--Illinois--Chicago Housing--Illinois--Chicago Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> 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_Hart_Jack Title A name given to the resource Jack Hart video interview and transcript Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hart, Jack Description An account of the resource Jack Hart was a primary assistant to Walter “Slim” Coleman during the Jiménez for Alderman Campaign of 1975. He continues to live and work in Chicago’s 46th Ward, primarily in the Uptown Community. In the 1970s, Hart was a member of the Intercommunal Survival Committee, a white group that supported the Black Panther Party. He worked closely with the Young Lords. Mr. Hart joined Mayor Harold Washington’s Administration as Assistant Commissioner and was responsible for administering all of the City of Chicago’s rehabilitation loan programs. 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.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Chicago (Ill.)--Politics and government--1951- Chicago (Ill.). Mayor (1983-1987 : Washington) Discrimination in housing--Illinois--Chicago Housing--Illinois--Chicago 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 2012-03-01 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/dd694b27a46f5c26312c278ea5e7dea5.pdf bc1380b77b47f9561489b13d78e87926 PDF Text Text 1 Grand Valley State University Special Collections Kent County Oral History collections, RHC-23 Mr. George Jackoboice Interviewed November 5, 1974 Edited and indexed by Don Bryant, 2010-bryant@wellswooster.com Tape # 43 (1:16:37) Biographical Information George Adolphe Jackoboice was born 17 June 1908, the son of Edward J. Jackoboice and Helen Matilda Hake. George was married to Helen Gast, the daughter of Peter B. Gast and Emily Alt. George passed away 10 January 1987 in Grand Rapids and is buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. He was the chairman of Monarch Hydraulics, Inc. Besides three sons and their families, George was survived by his wife, Helen, who died 31 December 2008, aged 98 years. George‟s father, Edward Jackoboice was born in Grand Rapids on 16 June 1864, the son of Joseph Jackoboice and Frances Rasch. Edward died 8 May 1935 in Grand Rapids. George‟s mother, Helen Matilda Hake was born in Grand Rapids circa 1873 and died 23 May 1952 at St Mary‟s Hospital in Grand Rapids. The parents were married on 12 June 1906 in Grand Rapids. The Jackoboice family is buried in Mt. Calvary Cemetery on Grand Rapids‟ west side. ____________ Interviewer: Now, I think we‟re getting somewhere because the dial is, is really working here, I just didn‟t have this thing, this is tricky, it doesn‟t plug in quite right…Back it up and play it back. I‟ll play it back and then we‟ll see if I, if that‟s what it was. I think it is. This is an interview with Mr. George Jackoboice in his residence at two thirty-one Park Hills Drive. It‟s raining out. Mr. Jackoboice, is an old time resident, although by far the youngest we interviewed so far in this series. He‟s a member of an old, German family, some of whom lived on the west side of the river in the early days. He is currently the, are you the principal owner George of the, you‟re the president of the Monarch Road… Mr. Jackoboice: Machinery. Interviewer: Machinery Company. And I‟m going to let Mr. Jackoboice, I‟m going to ask him to talk, about his earliest memories about his family, about his grandparents or any of the other relatives that he remembers vividly and, tell us about, growing up in Grand Rapids. Mr. Jackoboice: Thank you, it‟s a real pleasure to be interviewed by you this rainy election evening. You asked about my present place in Grand Rapids community as you have so well and correctly stated, I am and have been president of the Monarch Road Machinery Company for forty-three years, which means only that I haven‟t had a promotion in a long time. We are probably perhaps the oldest machinery business in this part of the state, having been in �2 continuous operation in the machinery business since 1856 or, as of now, for one hundred and eighteen years. We represent the fourth and the beginning of the fifth generation, both in the business and in Grand Rapids. Interviewer has asked if I can recall some of the more significant things connected with my boyhood and youth in Grand Rapids. I actually, believe I could ramble on for several hours, perhaps several days, under the right set of circumstances where one thought, would lead to another. I was born and raised on the west side of Grand Rapids, approximately on the corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Allen Street. This area has since been taken over by the expressway, however when I was a young man, growing up, this was one of the more significant and I might add, more beautiful neighborhoods in, on at least the west side of the river. I can recall many of the more famous families who were the nucleus of Grand Rapids society of that generation. To continue my, all of my grandparents were in Grand Rapids prior to eighteen fifty-three. Now this is no great tribute to me, I happened to be born into this, into these families. My grandfather William F. Hake was perhaps the earliest German or one of the early Germans at least to come into this area. He came from a town in Westphalia, Germany, sometimes remembered and called Westphallen by the older German residents. He came from a town, a village called Dunschede, D-U-N-S-C-H-E-D-E, which is near Attendorn which is in turn is northeast of Cologne, Germany. He came over here as an orphan boy, when he was somewhere between seventeen and eighteen years of age. His first position was in Detroit and he became a very close friend of the founder, I believe, of one of the early Detroit newspapers. I cannot recall whether it was the Detroit Free Press or the Detroit News. But he was a printer‟s devil and then later on he decided to go to Grand Rapids, Michigan and he walked the distance according to his diary. He lived in Lansing, Michigan for a very short time and he once laughingly said, but with some measure of regret, that he had an option on the land, there now stands the State Capital. He paid forty dollars for this option, which he later surrendered. He then moved to Grand Rapids and became involved with a man by the name of John Hanchett, who was a pioneer harness maker. The employment with this gentleman continued for a very brief time. After which he became involved with John Clancy who, history will recall, founded the first wholesale grocery in the Grand Rapids, or Western Michigan area. My grandfather married a lady, a very beautiful lady, I might add, by the name of Anna Maria Schettler, who was a native of Württemberg, province of Württemberg, Germany. Interviewer: Spell her last name for me. Mr. Jackoboice: Her name was S-C-H-E-T-T-L-E-R and her first names were Anna Maria. She came first to Chicago with her parents and I might add also, that her home city was Altensteig, which is in the Black Forest of Germany, not too far from Freiburg. I visited these places so I know where of I speak. She lived on a hill, and the significance that in her later married days, she �3 also lived on a hill, occupying a beautiful home which is now the site of the parking lot for Butterworth Hospital. It is on the southeast corner of Ransom and Crescent Street. She came, to get back however, she came from Chicago, and my grandfather and grandmother were married at St. Michael‟s Church in Chicago and it was said that one of the original Marshall Field family were in the wedding party. They came to Grand Rapids where my grandfather, because of his integrity and his thrift and his energy, was determined to be a success and I might add that he was. I can epitomize his career in this very brief statement that he came here as an orphan boy knowing practically nobody and when he died at 94 years of age, the City Hall flag was at half mast for three days. He was engaged during his lifetime in furniture manufacturing, lumbering, the wholesaling of liquor, he also had a wheelbarrow company and he was at one time treasurer of the city of Grand Rapids and placed into execution the bookkeeping system that was used until about oh, thirty, thirty-five years ago. Interviewer: When did he arrive here in Grand Rapids, George, when did your grandparents come after they were married? Mr. Jackoboice: My grandfather Hake arrived in Grand Rapids I would have to guess slightly but I‟m correct within three or four years, about 1850, I believe the correct date is 1847. Interviewer: Do you remember him? Mr. Jackoboice: Oh very, very vividly. He lived as I say, until he was ninety-four years of age. He was a very active man and right up until a week before he died he was, quite a stroller about town with his high silk hat and his gold cane. He was very meticulously dressed and a very popular and quite an interesting personality. He was known to have bet significant sums on whether it would, the temperature for example would drop to “X” degrees on a hot day or, if some candidate or other would win an election. He was nicknamed at times “Bet a Million Gates” in tribute to one of the more significant legendary characters of his generation. According to the stories that my mother and uncles told me, on two occasions he bet 15,000 dollars which was then a very high sum, on the outcome of presidential elections. Both times, fortunately he won. They had fifteen children, twelve of who lived to maturity, and the last one died only about two years ago. The last uncle was Louis F. Hake. His children were involved in their time with, merchandising, with coal, with insurance, with music, with medicine and practically all the facets of the business life of Grand Rapids. They were a very interesting family and they married into some rather well-known and well-established families. Currently one of the better known members in the local historical group is Dr. William F. Hake who was married to Clara Voigt, who was the lady, if you have gone thru the Voigt House, stands at the left as you enter and she is dressed in a bridal outfit as, at the entrance as I say of the parlor of their home. Interviewer: Excuse me; this is your Grandfather Hake? Mr. Jackoboice: This was his son. �4 Interviewer: No, I mean the man you started to talk about. Mr. Jackoboice: That‟s correct. Interviewer: Was your great grandfather; let‟s start over; who was the man who came here in the eighteen forties or fifties?Mr. Jackoboice: William F. Hake was my grandfather who came here in the early, prior to eighteen fifty. His son was also William F. Hake but he was a doctor. Interviewer: And he is the one who married… Mr. Jackoboice: He is the one who married the Voigt. To continue with my grandfather, William F. Hake, who should not be confused with his son who was also William Hake but who was a doctor and the doctor was the gentleman who was married to Clara Voigt. Continuing, however as I indicated with my doctor, with my grandfather William F. Hake, he was an inveterate athlete of sorts and until he was 93 years he swam every summer in Lake Michigan and by that I don‟t mean that he waded out up to his knees, he would go well over his height and swim for probably a quarter a mile along the shore line and up until the year before he died, this was his regular practice. He also would walk up and down Michigan Street hill because that led to and from his home; he had many friends along the route there including Mr. Kusterer of the Brewery. Kusterer was of an old Grand Rapids brewing family and was one of the persons who went down with the steamer Alpena as it was crossing from, I believe Grand Haven to Milwaukee, it was only by the most strange, strangest circumstances that William F. Hake did not make that trip, and that is of course another and very lengthy story. To continue with some of his children, and I cannot give, even a capsule history of all of the twelve surviving children because that would take far too many hours. But, Dr. William F. Hake was a very prominent physician and surgeon in Grand Rapids. They had no children and in each case they loved to travel. So they made frequent trips to Europe and at a time when travel was not as simple as in these days of jet transportation. He, among other things, donated all of his medical services to such charitable organizations as the Sisters of the Poor, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd which at that time had an institution which operated a laundry, and also took care of girls, who in the minds of many were delinquents; and also of Saint John‟s Home. His, in his medical career he amassed a reasonable amount of money and, of course his wife, Clara survived him and she became again, a resident of the old family home, the Voigt House on College Avenue. And the College Avenue home, of course has been so well recorded and documented that it probably should not be again mentioned her. My mother… Interviewer: Excuse me, when did Dr. Hake die? Mr. Jackoboice: Dr. Hake died of pernicious anemia about nineteen twenty-two, that‟s within, within a year or two either away. Interviewer: Did his wife live into the fifties, I think…. �5 Mr. Jackoboice; Yes, I would think well past the fifties. I often would have luncheon with her. She was very frankly, very, very fond of my wife, who was, whose maiden name was Helen Gast. And whenever we would meet down at any of the restaurants of the city, why they would always, she would always send a little remembrance over to my wife in the form of a friendly drink or equal. Interviewer: I just asked George about where Dr. Hake was buried because I had never found him on the Voigt lot. Now, you tell your story George. Mr. Jackoboice: Dr. Hake was buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery on the west side which is right off Leonard Street. Dr. Hake, it should be mentioned, was Catholic. His wife, Clara Hake was not. But at that time in history, there was a rule in the Catholic Church that non-Catholics could not be buried in a Catholic cemetery, so there was a little problem there which later was resolved in this way. Some time, some years after Dr. Hake had died, she, he was removed at her request, to a plot in Oakhill Cemetery, which is on the southeast side of the city, and it is, it was there that she later was buried. There was a huge granite cross placed on his grave by his widow at Mount Cavalry and ironically it was done by an outside stone mason and one of the uprights unfortunately was just a little bit off kilter. Now that has no real significance except perhaps one shouldn‟t patronize, especially in things like that, their own native trades‟ people. Interviewer: You were to talk about some other members of that generation of Hakes, besides Dr. Hake? Mr. Jackoboice: Yes…, there‟s one interesting story, if you don‟t mind, I‟ll go back to my grandmother‟s generation. Interviewer: Not at all. Mr. Jackoboice: My grandmother was, who was named, whose name was Anna Maria Schettler had a sister who was named Louisa. Now Louisa was a very, very beautiful girl. If you‟ve ever seen a picture of Southern Belle, which is a rather famous portrait, she was a very, she bore a very close resemblance to that person. Now, I never knew Louisa but Louisa lived in Chicago. She was first married to a man, I believe by the name of Miller. They had no children and Miller was very, very successful as a rathskeller operator in Chicago and this was certainly before the days of the Chicago fire, which really doesn‟t mean a thing except that it goes way back in early Chicago history. Louisa, as I indicated, was a very beautiful woman she had very, very many friends, she was very vivacious and vital and, suddenly Miller died and left her with a than considerable amount of money. Louisa then married a man somewhat older than she and he was a bona fide German count and, the story goes that, he was, he had the title of Count Von Dreisen, but he didn‟t necessarily have the money that, should accompany his title. Well, they lived in glory and traveled with the finest society in Chicago and my grandfather went off and chided her for being so reckless with her money and she said, “Well, Bill (my grandfather‟s name), I would only say this: That I would like to abide by your wishes Bill but I have nobody to leave this �6 money to except my sister, your wife and I have no need for saving it because it‟s more money than I could ever spend. Later on Count Von Dreisen died and Louisa found herself impoverished. She lived in a very modest apartment overlooking the boulevards on once she had ridden in glory with fine horses and furs and the best that Chicago could offer. And it was ironic that this lady who turned down any inheritance from her father, in favor of her sister had to ask, or had to call upon her brother-in-law to pay for her funeral. Interviewer: Now, was there other members of that Hake, of your mother‟s generation who were particularly interesting Mr. Jackoboice: My mother, of course, was Helen Matilda Hake; she was one of the three daughters of William F. Hake and Anna Maria Schettler, who lived to maturity. She went to Saint Mary‟s Academy, at Notre Dame, Indiana and she, often mentioned that Helen Studebaker, among others was one of her classmates. Helen Studebaker was, of course, was part of the old carriage family later to make the Studebaker automobile. She was married to my father Joseph Jackoboice, Edward, I‟m sorry, Edward Joseph Jackoboice and they had and I am the son of that union along with my brother Edward and four sisters. I will tell about them a little bit later. But my mother was a tremendously interesting person, she seemed to always had her suitcase packed and would be ready to travel at a moment‟s notice. She would, I‟m, sure drop any wifely chores to show her children a very good time, either by taking a walk to the park or engaging in games or anything of that nature. She was fun loving, she played the piano, she spoke fluent German and reasonably, fine French, she lived to be seventy-nine years of age and certainly, life never was the same again after she died. She was, as I say a tremendous person. And I‟m sure that sentiment is accurate also by my brother Edward and my sisters Frances, Rita, Helen and Ruth. And Helen and Ruth were twins. Helen died at twenty-seven; Ruth is the surviving twin, Rita the youngest died at seven years of age. Interviewer: Why don‟t you tell, tell us about the Jackoboice family, when they came to Grand Rapids, and what they first did, and anything you can think of interest in, along that line, George. Mr. Jackoboice: Thank you. The grandparents on my father‟s side were Frances Rasch; that was spelled R-A-S-C-H. She came from the Kingdom of Prussia, which is now, of course a part of Germany. My grandfather, Joseph Jackoboice, came from a border city in what was then known as the Duchy of Warsaw. And as the Kingdom of Poland and of course, it was a land that had suffered politically and economically because of its tri-partitions, by in turn, the concurrently I should say by the Austrians, the Prussians and the Russians. Joseph Jackoboice, according to the unconfirmed records, was born in Kalisz, which was a city in Poland which is 1800 years old, and was formally on the Amber route from the Orient to Eastern Europe and of course, eventually into Western Europe and he came. Interviewer: When was he born, approximately, George? �7 Mr. Jackoboice: My grandfather Joseph Jackoboice was born March sixteenth, eighteen twentyfour. He came to the United States, no later than eighteen fifty-two when he was twenty-eight years old. He came at a time, when migration from that part of the world was for political reasons, not economic. He came to this country with an education and he came with money. Almost immediately upon arrival here he established himself in business. And that explains why, when I said at the beginning of this interview that I represent the descendents of a family who had been involved in the machinery business in Grand Rapids continuously for one hundred and eighteen years. Interviewer: One question I have about the name Jackoboice, was that name spelled differently in the early days, is it a German name, or was it a Polish name or was a family of mixed origins? Mr. Jackoboice: I would believe, that the name was Anglicized or corrupted. The original spelling according to the best information we have was J-A-K-U-B-O-W-I-C-Z, which would by its ending be more Russian than probably Polish. He himself, almost immediately upon his arrival in Michigan, changed his name to Jackoboice. It is significant, however that in either version there are ten letters. So that in essence the name was Anglicized from probably phonetic reasons. But it was not shortened. Why he did this, nobody seems to know. I personally have spent a considerable amount of money in several trips to the old country to determine why he left. Although he was a very, very successful man in business and although he had the health, and the finances and the time to travel, he never did so. He always remained in Grand Rapids, Michigan and frankly there is very little that can be found, showing correspondence between this country and his native land. There are no letters, there is no documentation, why he came, nobody knows. He rarely ever spoke of it. And it‟s kind of a fascinating and very intriguing mystery. Interviewer: Then he had no brothers or sisters who came here, is that correct? Mr. Jackoboice: He came alone. He came alone and, when he came and I mentioned earlier that he was about, he came, he was born in 1824 and he came here in 1852. So he would have been approximately twenty-eight years of age. And at twenty-eight he obviously was beyond the age of military service so he did not come for military reasons. As I say again, it‟s a fascinating mystery, I don„t know except that, the name in its original spelling is a very well name, a very well known name in Poland. Whether he spoke languages other than Poland, Polish or English or German, I do not know but I believe he spoke all three, if not a fourth. His wife Frances Rasch, as I indicated came from the Kingdom of Prussia, from the town, from the town of Breslau. Her entire family came to Grand Rapids, into Kent County and many of them pioneered and homesteaded in the fruit and apple and peach orchards in the Conklin, Sparta and Wright areas. They still have these extensive orchards there. Another branch of her family went to Florence, Alabama and founded a village there by the name of St. Florian. And there‟s an old house there which was built by her brother which, in its time was a sort of miniature Gone-with- �8 the-Wind mansion. I don‟t know whatever happened to it, but it was when I last saw it twenty five years ago, it was then even very decrepit so it‟s probably fallen into decay by this time. Interviewer: Well, you spoke of your, the Hake family as being Roman Catholic, I‟m going to assume, that the Jackoboices were too and also I believe they had something to do with the beginning of Saint Mary‟s Parish on the West Side, is that correct? Mr. Jackoboice: That is, correct; both William F. Hake, Joseph Jackoboice and his wife, Frances Rasch Jackoboice were charter members of Saint Mary‟s Church. Mrs. William F. Hake was however, a charter member of the Lutheran Church on Michigan Street Hill. My grandfather, Jackoboice lived on the site, which is now occupied by the convent of Saint Mary‟s Church. Saint Mary‟s Church, incidentally is the ethnic, Catholic German church. It is the second oldest parish in the dioceses of Grand Rapids and it was, the church you see now, of course, followed the original church and the present church is pure Gothic and one must really go in there to see how beautiful it is, in the stained glass windows and the arrays of sacred vessels and vestments and so on but, are over there in the repository. You ever been in there? Interviewer: No, why don‟t you talk about your father and what, where he was born and where he went to school and things of that sort. Mr. Jackoboice: My father was one of the two surviving children of Joseph Jackoboice and Frances Rasch. The other children died either as infants or as young people in their late teens or early twenties. They had all met in one case, in the case of my Uncle George, for whom I am named, it was quite a blow to my father because he was only, it was his only living brother and he drowned off Manhattan Beach, as it was then known at Reed‟s Lake. My father told how he looked for him on this sultry August afternoon, and after everybody had given up searching for him, he continued and found his body in the early morning hours. He never got over the tragedy of his brother‟s drowning and only reluctantly ever would he go towards Reed‟s Lake. He however continued, his brother George by the way, was, I believe nineteen years old when this tragedy occurred. He was an excellent swimmer but apparently he was a victim of cramps and nobody saw him in time and they found his high wheeled bicycle out by the side of a tree. My father continued in the business established by his father. And that business was originally known as the Joseph Jackoboice Company and then later on, was renamed the Westside Ironworks and the extent of their manufacture, the scope of it included band saws, rip saws, cut off saws, fine woodworking machinery. I‟m a little bit ahead of myself, but prior to the manufacture of machinery, my grandfather manufactured sawmill and logging machinery, lumber recording instruments, steam engines and he also made a specialty of fire escapes which were installed on most of the early buildings of Grand Rapids and some of the ornamental iron still survives on some of the older buildings. Later on… Interviewer: Can you tell us, tell me where one could see examples of that ornamental ironwork? �9 Mr. Jackoboice: I‟m guessing a little bit on this, but I believe some of the railings, might appear and I‟d have to confirm this, on the, for example, the Ledyard Building along the side there, I believe. They also well on the late, and lamented and fire destroyed Cody Hotel, I know they had fire escapes and I used to kid my father about that because, it was quite a tragic situation and, but fire escapes wouldn‟t have helped anybody in that holocaust. But anyway….. Interviewer: The Cody or do you mean the other hotel across….. Mr. Jackoboice: I‟m sorry I meant the Livingston Hotel. The Cody was across the street and that was, I‟m so used to that because telling about that because the Cody Hotel was originally owned and operated by a relative of Buffalo Bill Cody. Later on, we continued in the manufacture of woodworking machinery; then later on became involved with the manufacturing of road machinery and road maintainers, and devices for the maintenance of highways and this occurred when the highway program of the United States was in its early days. And, quite often I would drive throughout the country with my father, visiting these various road commissions, many of them were not even known as road commissions because they had a sub-contract arrangements with farmers of a given township or county. And negotiations would be made on an individual basis. My father, I think, liked to travel around and be paid for it and he enjoyed it very much and of course this, as his chauffeur and son and companion why we had a great time together. Later on, after my father chose to retire, my brother and I assumed control of the business and is now known as the Monarch Road Machinery Company with a factory and offices on Michigan Street. We also own the building on the west side, one block south of Bridge Street which is known as the Old German English School Association Building, better known as the German School House. Many people like to believe that was the first building where we operated as a family but actually it was the fourth. The first building was on a site which is approximately where the Civic Auditorium is now. The second, was at an area now owned, now covered by the Olds Manor, historically however that was known as German Corners or Rasch or the Rasch House and that hotel was owned by my father and mother and an aunt. Interviewer: Which corner was that? Mr. Jackoboice: That was on the Northwest corner of Monroe and Bridge Street or Michigan. It is where the Olds Manor is now And they later on, they moved from there to a site on the west side of Grand River, approximately where the new Civic Theatre is scheduled to be built, approximately where the old inter-urban bridge terminates. The later on the German English School Society building was acquired by my grandfather and he converted to a factory. Interviewer: I think we‟re coming to the end of the, this side of the tape or fairly close to it so I think we‟ll turn the tape over at this point. Part Two of an interview with Mr. George Jackoboice. �10 Mr. Jackoboice: To continue, the business as I‟ve indicated previously has been variously known under different company names but has always been in full control and operation by the Jackoboice family. And during the business history, we as I have suggested before made sawmill machinery, logging machinery, then precision woodworking machinery, heavy road machinery and now we are concentrated in hydraulic power control systems and as such we sell these devices for the automatic control of things both in materials, handling, feeling, field, agricultural, automotive, the ready-mix industry and a great variety of applications, throughout the United States and Canada and probably 20 foreign countries. It is, I‟m sure a tribute to my grandfather and my father who, respectively founded the business and I‟m sure that we‟re all very grateful that because of their perseverance and industry that we survived as a tribute to the American concept of free enterprise. It is also I‟m sure worthy of a proud note, that both of my grandfathers William F. Hake and Joseph Jackoboice are memorialized in the permanent exhibits at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. And in each case they were leaders and pioneers of their respective, national origins, the one from Germany and the other Joseph Jackoboice who I‟m sure was the first by at least ten years, to be in Grand Rapids and he was certainly the pioneer of his nationality. I can only add that…. Interviewer: I wanted to ask you, what in, where in the public Museum would one go to find these memorials, memorializations of your grandparents? Mr. Jackoboice: They are in each case, on the second floor of the east building along the south wall, where they have the Heritage Hall. And there as you walk down this one hallway you‟ll run directly into the Germany exhibit and there‟s a picture there of William F. Hake and also of the old German English School House that I mentioned earlier which the Jackoboices owned and still own and immediately adjacent is the recognition of Joseph Jackoboice and the exhibit, which tells about the Polish ethnic background of the city. Interviewer: Go ahead. Mr. Jackoboice: You mentioned earlier, about some of the neighborhood interests, that I was privileged to enjoy on the west side. And of course when one goes by there now they will, they will notice that it is strictly commercial, industrial. And in no sense, does it reflect what it once upon a time was. For example, many of the old, of the older, and I would like to believe influential pioneers of Grand Rapids lived in that neighborhood. For example, directly across the street from my old boyhood home lived, the Voigts at that time, next door was T.W. Strahan. Interviewer: Excuse me, exactly where was your boyhood home, George Mr. Jackoboice: This home was at the corner of Mount Vernon and Allen Street; this was on the southeast corner. But it is entirely obliterated now because the expressway, in its construction was placed directly over the whole area within where I used to live. Directly … Interviewer: Go ahead. You mentioned the Voigts lived on one side and the Strahans. �11 Mr. Jackoboice: Strahans. Interviewer: How do you spell that? Mr. Jackoboice: S-T-R-A-H-A-N. Interviewer: Tell us about, go on with the…. Mr. Jackoboice: T.W. Strahan was a very well known man of his generation, as was his son I believe Tom. I don‟t really know what T.W. stood for but, I believe that was his father. Among other things they had a clothing store in the city which was a very popular place way back around the turn of the century, immediately adjacent was the old Bertsch Hall which was owned the Bertsch family and they, it was a huge three story house and on the third floor there was a ballroom. And of course this house was, in its glory days, was a tremendous place later on it became very decadent and I believe was since destroyed. Interviewer: Is that the Barclay Ayres and Bertsch family or….? Mr. Jackoboice: No. I don‟t believe it‟s that family. Interviewer: I see. Is Mr. Jackoboice: I don‟t know exactly the original… Interviewer: Is it spelled B-E-R-T-S-C-H? Mr. Jackoboice: I think so, I believe so. And then there was a gentleman by the name of Mordyke who lived, also nearby. Mordyke used to tell me that he once, was offered a partnership with Steketee of the department store, but he thought it was too much of a risk and rejected it. Much, I think, to his regret. Immediately next door to us was Anton Hirth who was a stone cutter and who was responsible for much of the stone work on the older buildings of Grand Rapids. And this particularly interesting to me because my grandfather Hake, provided the bond which was necessary for Mr. Hirth to get his first big contract, which was, I believe, on the old original Central High School, later to become Junior College on the corner of Lyon Street and.. Interviewer: And Ransom or Barclay? Mr. Jackoboice: Barclay, I believe, and Lyon. It is partly, it has been pretty much torn down the last few years and only the gymnasium of a much later vintage survives. In the area also, was Kutsche of the hardware store. And Kutsche, until he became an old man, was still very, very active in the business. It was later taken over by the firm of Brander and they‟re down on Leonard Street now. There was also Powers who built, the Powers Theatre, now the Mid-Town, but for many, many years housed the leading legitimate theatrical events of the city. He also owned the Powers and Walker Casket Company. And also in their area were the Knapes, of the Knape and Vogt Manufacturing Company, the family home was there. Liebermann of the �12 Liebermann and Gitlen Metal Company lived very modestly although he was certainly a very wealthy man in his time, lived also nearby. There was, Gill whose son Corrington Gill later became assistant Secretary of Commerce of the United States. There was a Drueke who is well known in the city now as the manufacturer of chess men. Also, Wurzburgs, of the department store lived, just a block away and I think that the, some of the problems of identifying the Wurzburg families and I emphasize the plurality is that according to my information Mr. Wurzburg was married three times. Each wife in turn died, but by each wife he had five children. And I think one of the, incidentally, our city commissioner, Abe Drasin, also lived around the corner and I was, I think, very much intrigued by the ethnic mix of the neighborhood at that time because many of the people have attained some measure of importance and significance in the community in later years, I grew up with and I think that would be true in other neighborhoods also, but I think that is especially significant to me. I think one of the most fascinating, and I‟m sure one of the most controversial figures I‟ve ever known, lived directly across the street and that was Edward N. Barnard sometimes know as Bernard, but we always knew him as Ed Barnard. Ed became, he was perhaps one of the youngest men ever to graduate from the University of Michigan Law school, graduating, I think when he was nineteen years of age, he became prosecuting attorney and there were a few problems involved with his tenure of office because it seemed that the electorate weren‟t too happy because he was away from his office more than he was present. Later on, Ed went to Detroit, Michigan and down there he attained considerable political prominence, both as a lawyer and also as a confidant and ally of Frank McKay. And I believe that between that Frank McKay with Ed Barnard ran the state of Michigan politically for twenty five years. Now I didn‟t know Ed legally, I knew him as a neighbor and I knew him socially. And I knew many of the nice things about Ed Barnard and those things I can never forget. For example, one day when my mother was sitting on the front porch of her house, Ed Barnard arrived and his house, which was staffed by a housekeeper, was in pretty bad decay so far as painting was concerned. So my mother said: “Ed, why don‟t you paint that house?” And Ed Barnard replied: “Well, Helen (my mother), why should I, I‟m never here?” And she said: “Because I sit here and have to look at it.” And he said: “I never thought of it that way, Helen.” That was Friday afternoon. Monday morning there were five painters there. But that‟s the way Ed Barnard was. When he died, according to the story, he left five Cadillacs, he had an estate in Detroit, complete with bridle paths and boat wells, yet he did not live there, he lived at a very modest apartment in the, I believe the Fort Shelby Hotel and took most of his meals over the slab of a soda fountain. And he had a chauffeur by the name of Henry, to whom he promised many things but, I think Henry never got much more than his thirty five dollars a week. And yet, Ed would be tremendously generous with other people. He, when he died, left several deposit boxes, and in these boxes for the most part was nothing but money. Bills to the amount of several million dollars, I think, the figure was around three. He also left one box that was solid with emeralds, diamonds, and significant pieces of expensive jewelry. The irony of the thing is that even though Ed Barnard was a lawyer, for many years a criminal lawyer, a practice which his father very much frowned against, because his father Bertram was sent here from Boston and he �13 was a very strict and ardent believer in the Bible and frankly supported missionaries around the world, Bertram, his father told me personally, that he was aghast at Ed‟s practice and told him unless he became involved in a more legitimate type of operation that, he would have to limit his visits, and Ed for all his failings, if you choose to call them that, adored his father. And Ed went to corporation law. And he would often ask me to visit him in Detroit. But Ed was really an egomaniac. He would use a person as a display for himself and you can refer to the rather interesting articles that appeared upon his death. And I think they‟ll attest pretty much to this flamboyance and theatrical qualities; the irony of it is also that, Ed Barnhard died without a will. And most of that money that he had acquired, I believe was for one reason or another contested by the Internal Revenue Service. How much of it went to the family, I really don‟t know. Interviewer: Did he have a family of his own? Mr. Jackoboice: Ed Barnhard was married very briefly to a lady by the name of Estelle Skinner. The Skinners were a very, very fine and well regarded family in the city. I believe they were married for a year for I am guessing, but perhaps a year and they were divorced. From this union they had one child. Why were they divorced, I don‟t know but, whenever Ed Barnard would return to Grand Rapids, he would always, literally have a date with his divorced wife and, you would think they were on their honeymoon. They were ardently, appeared to be ardently in love and yet, I guess they couldn‟t live together. She owned, I believe the Manufacturers building downtown, is that it… Interviewer: Which building is that….? Mr. Jackoboice: That‟s where Junior College had its offices down. It was a display, it was a Interviewer: You mean in that, farther down… Mr. Jackoboice: Yes, across from Klingmans, in that area. Interviewer: Yes, I know where it is…. Mr. Jackoboice: Yes, and that was owned by the Skinner family and Ed Barnard later on, through his wife who had died, and by the way, Ed couldn‟t have been more gracious, more beneficent to anybody than he was to his wife. She had a malignancy, I think a bone malignancy, bone cancer and he hired the best specialist in the country and provided her with every need. Ed was also marvelous to his mother. And his mother by the way was a brother, sister I should say of Frank Knox who was later Secretary of the Navy of the United States and I believe Vice President. And whenever, Ed was in town, Frank quite often would visit him. And so we did have some rather significant nationally known neighbors even back, forty some years ago. Ed always regarded us as a friend and I liked him tremendously. He was eccentric, he was a maverick, he was exciting, and I tell you, there was never a dull day when Ed was home visiting with his father and his mother and sisters. �14 Interviewer: Let‟s go back to you a little bit, where did you first go to school? And tell us about your school life. Mr. Jackoboice: I personally, attended Saint Mary‟s Parochial School, which is a Catholic school and all the morning classes in those years were in German until the beginning of World War One, when it was not considered patriotic to continue the use of the German language, as I mentioned earlier, my father and mother both spoke fluent German: I spoke reasonably good German until I was seven or eight years old. I continued on at Saint Mary‟s and then I went to Catholic Central High School. I played football there. I later went to Davenport Institute then known as the Davenport-McLaughlin Institute, a business school for a year, then I went on to the University of Notre Dame where I graduated in nineteen thirty one, in the department of journalism. And it‟s perhaps you wonder how I could reconcile journalism and the machinery business. Well, one is an avocation, the business I grew up in ever since I was a lad, I would spend much of my free time down at the factory either making toys and boats on the band saws and sometimes cutting my fingers in the process, but I did continue and graduated in journalism and upon my graduation from Notre Dame in nineteen thirty one, I entered the business in, I‟d been active there ever since. My three sons are also in the business as is my brother and his son James. Interviewer: I‟d like to go back again ad ask you about that period of life when you were at Saint Mary‟s and perhaps at Catholic Central also. Did you have what, what was your social life like in those days? Or when you were little did you, were your friends confined to your immediate neighborhood or did you, when you went to Catholic Central did you meet an entirely different, new group of people, just give me some thoughts on that if you will. Mr. Jackoboice: Thank you, when I was at, when I was growing up, I was very fortunate to have had, to have through my parents and my family connections, an acquaintanceship with a great many of the older residents of the city, the older families. And frankly, these names that I, of which I speak, there are many, many more which have so far been unmentioned, because of the time limitations…were frankly dinner table conversation. And because of that, with my father and mother who were very knowledgeable on many things, we enjoyed a great family life, and we travelled a great deal and that continued all through my youth. Later on of course when I was in high school, pretty much the same pattern of life prevailed except that then I was in my teens. Later on when I attended the University of Notre Dame, I became, I suppose more nationally minded because of the national character of the school. Most of the students there were from areas other than the Midwest, I don‟t say all of them, but a great many of them were from all over the United States plus many foreign lands. It‟s also perhaps of some interest in connection with Notre Dame that my grandfather, William F. Hake and my grandmother Mrs. Hake traveled extensively to Europe and is believed that on one of these trips they met Father Edward Sorin, who was the founder of the University of Notre Dame. And because my grandfather then had nine sons, he enjoyed this connection very much and all nine sons went to Notre Dame University and for many years it was perhaps the largest single family, to have attended Notre �15 Dame. Gregori the famous Italian artist who painted the murals, in the main building and in the church and also in the Golden Dome also painted life-size portraits of my grandfather and grandmother. These portraits now are in our home. The original organ at the old Sacred Heart Church at Notre Dame was bought by my grandfather and presented to Saint Mary‟s Church in Grand Rapids, where it remained until it was replaced, oh probably thirty years ago. It was a tremendous instrument and I don‟t think that the organists ever were equal to its wide range of pipes and possibilities. But that relationship of Notre Dame University and its principals prevailed for many years. When my grandfather and grandmother would be at the University they would share a suite in the administration building down there as a special guest of the president and the staff of the University. When my grandfather died, a delegation came from the University to pay tribute to him, at his funeral. Interviewer: I‟d like to go on a little further. Now your family, up to a certain point, pretty much lived on the West Side but you‟re not, you haven‟t lived there for a long time and when did people begin to move out of that area, members of your family, that is? Mr. Jackoboice: We continued to live on the West Side, I did until my marriage on June 17th 1936 to Helen Gast, who was the daughter of Peter and Emily Gast, were I‟m sure, a well known family in business and society in the city. We lived for a very brief period of time, after our marriage on the west side near John Ball Park. Later we moved on Auburn Avenue and then for the last, approximately twenty five years, we‟ve lived here at Park Hills Drive, in a suburb known as Cascadia, which is immediately, which is in Grand Rapids Township and directly across from East Grand Rapids. But we‟re living in a pastoral area which is a very fine neighborhood and one, where my three sons were raised and fortunately two of the three are now, also our neighbors and each case living only two blocks away. My oldest son lives in Spring Lake. And then of course, he enjoys it very much down there too. Interviewer: I‟m rather interested in your house; it‟s a very beautiful home. I don‟t believe you built it, is that correct? Mr. Jackoboice: This house is one of the oldest in this particular residential area. It was built, I would believe, in the middle nineteen twenties. I understand that the man who began it, at that period of time, had extravagant ideas and somehow, was not able to finance it adequately so he left it uncompleted and sold it to a man by the name of Alex Sergeant. Alex, with his wife and his son Snover(?) and daughter Phyllis, lived here until we acquired it and we have added to it quite significantly, we‟ve added where we‟re sitting now, a library in walnut, which is a very beautiful room and I say that not so much in tribute to me but, in a tribute to Warren Rindge who, was probably one of the finest of the traditional architects that this city has ever known. Warren was educated abroad among other things and is, and to attest to his ability he was also on the State Historical Commission and his particular emphasis was on historic doings of Mackinac Island. You‟ll see his name mentioned up there and he often attended the meetings at the island, at the Grand Hotel. Warren died about a year ago and his wife died, just very recently. But he �16 was a tremendous architect for this type of traditional building and it certainly, every time I told him in his lifetime and I remind myself afterwards, that its one of the more significant things that, I think he‟s done. Interviewer: Now, I know you have a large family and, have many cousins in addition to your immediate family but, and I‟m sure that your family and your business take a good deal of your time but [do] you have other social interests or clubs that you belong to that you enjoy in Grand Rapids? Mr. Jackoboice: Yes, I belong to the Peninsular Club where I‟ve been a member many years. I belong to Cascade Hills Country Club, I also belong to the Sierra Club and I have been a member of Hidden Valley at Gaylord for many, many years. I think I have a little sand in my shoes because I love to travel much to my wife‟s dismay at times because she said she can go to Vienna probably easier than she can to Toronto. But, over the years, beginning in nineteen thirty, I traveled to Europe and in the trip of nineteen thirty and again in nineteen thirty-four; I traveled by bicycle throughout Western Europe and in some of the areas what are now back of the Iron Curtain. But I knew those, I knew the area then, when it was an independent, they were independent countries like Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Poland. I did not get into Russia although I tried because at that time the United States did not recognize the Soviet Union. Even though we had the co-operation of the State Department, we were a little bit reluctant to go because of the hazardous, political situation. But nevertheless we did, with a friend travel by bicycle throughout Western Europe. Then again in nineteen thirty-four, I made a similar trip alone, taking in many of the areas that I missed the first time. Subsequently I have been around the world, traveling throughout the Orient into Malaysia, Indonesia, India, up in Afghanistan, Iran, throughout the Mediterranean countries, all of Western Europe, quite a few times. And I enjoy it immensely and like to read and reminisce about these areas because I think that when you have memories and have an interest in foreign lands, you have an interest in people and you recognize their good qualities of all these races and nationalities. And I think it‟s a tremendous advantage, in both in your business and your way of looking at life. You get a really a philosophy of life rather than psychology of living. And I think there‟s a big difference in that term. Interviewer: I‟d like to go back and cover an area that I should have covered, should have asked you about a little bit earlier. Grand Rapids was one of those cities during the depression that was fairly hard hit, especially the furniture industry. Was your business badly affected at that time? Mr. Jackoboice: Yes, certainly it was affected and I might add that I learned more basic lessons in economics than I ever did in all the economics, or business courses that I ever pursued at the university. You learned many things that were not taught in books and it‟s been most helpful in my business career ever since. We of course, Grand Rapids was severely disturbed at that time by the economic problems of its day, but in the overall, I don‟t think I ever had more fun, on a more modest budget, and I think that was true of any of our contemporaries, and I‟m speaking of �17 course, of the interviewer also. We were, everybody was pretty much in the same financial plight, so I think people then would boast how little they earned a week rather than how much. Business-wise, we did at the time a considerable business with governmental agencies and of course, they were, their obligations were either deferred or denied completely and so it was a long time before the businesses in general became solvent and life became to assume a little different hue. I‟m not going to say that one way is more pleasant than the other. I think each has its place in our lives and I‟m sure that we‟re all, we all who have lived through the depression and we‟re better for it. Do you agree with that? Interviewer: Well. I don‟t remember it as vividly as you do, but I think I do, I do have that rather, some rather vivid memories and I think, some of my younger friends would behave a little differently if they had known what I knew in those days. One other, and we‟re sort of running out of time at this point, and I‟d like to ask a question, sort of a general question which I‟ve phrased in different ways when I‟ve talked to other people. And the question is this: What do you think is the most significant change in the city or in the country or in the world that you can recognize in your lifetime? Is that too difficult a question? Mr. Jackoboice: Well, with reverence, probably is so broad it‟s flat, and I think anybody who could answer that completely could copyright the formula and retire for a life on the income. But, I think that somehow, people are, I think, that the pride of accomplishment and the pride of doing a good job, no matter how humble it is, is quite lost in today‟s society. And there‟s too much of the attitude of „what‟s in it for me?‟ Which up to a point, I suppose reasonable to expect where economics have a very viable part of our lives, however I think life would be much more pleasant and enjoyable and the economic gains would follow if people were more dedicated to their lives and to their work, they would, in spite of themselves profit by it. Interviewer: I‟ve got another question, I haven‟t asked this one but, I think you are young enough to look towards the future, some of the other people I‟ve interviewed have really been very close to the end of their lives. I wonder what you think about the future of Grand Rapids. Mr. Jackoboice: Well, I think, the future of Grand Rapids is tremendous. I‟m a little bit awed by your preface about this item of age. You can be either in the old age of your youth or in the youth of your old age. I think, I prefer to be in my youth of old age Philosophically you can say well there‟s, if you can say the glass is half empty that‟s bad, if you say it‟s half full, that‟s great. Well, I believe it‟s half full. Grand Rapids for the future, I would personally love to see a revitalization, resurgence of the downtown area of Grand Rapids. I have longed been the champion of that. And I think it‟s too bad that the thing has been permitted to deteriorate. Now, I know that economics, over which many have had no control have entered into this problem, but that the same people who probably permitted it to happen, should also be instrumental in its revival. And I think, that it‟s some of these things really are quite basic and I think, the pursuit of these, better things is, such as have long been planned should be finalized and I really don‟t think that there is too much difficulty once, and I think this is an important thing, once you make a �18 start. It‟s just like when people, when a man on an autumn afternoon rakes the leaves, pretty soon a dozen other people are doing the same thing because they‟re more or less inspired by his example. Maybe in some measure that‟s what could happen to our city. Interviewer: Well, thank you Mr. Jackoboice, George, for this very interesting interview. This will go into the archives of the Grand Valley, Grand Valley State Colleges, and who knows, perhaps somebody will be listening to our voices a hundred years hence or perhaps, later even than that. Well, but we‟ll never; we won‟t live long enough to know, I think we‟ll conclude it now. INDEX B Barclay Ayres Family · 12 Barnard, Ed · 13, 14 Bertsch Family · 11, 12 Bertsch Hall · 11 C Hidden Valley at Gaylord · 17 Hirth, Anton · 12 J Jackoboice, Edward Joseph (Father) · 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15 Jackoboice, Helen Gast (Wife) · 1, 5, 16 Jackoboice, Helen Matilda Hake (Mother) · 3, 4, 6, 10, 13, 15 Jackoboice, Joseph (Grandfather) · 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Jackoboice, Uncle George · 8 Cascade Hills Country Club · 17 Catholic Central High School · 15 Clancy, John · 2 Cody Hotel · 9 K D Klingmans · 14 Knape and Vogt Manufacturing Company · 12 Knox, Frank · 14 Kusterer, Mr. · 4 Kutsche, Mr. · 12 Davenport Institute · 15 Detroit Free Press · 2 Drasin, Abe · 13 G Gill, Corrington · 12 Grand Rapids Public Museum · 10 H Hake, Clara · 5 Hake, Dr. William F. · 3, 4 Hake, Louis F. · 3 Hake, William F. (Grandfather) · 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 16 Hanchett, John · 2 L Liebermann and Gitlen Metal Company · 12 Livingston Hotel · 9 M Machinery Company · 1, 10 Marshall Field Family · 2 McKay, Frank · 13 Miller, Louisa Schletter · 5, 6 Miller, Mr. · 5 Mordyke, Mr. · 12 �19 P Peninsular Club · 17 Powers and Walker Casket Company · 12 R Rasch, Frances (Grandmother) · 7, 8 Reed‟s Lake · 8 Rindge, Warren · 17 S Saint Mary‟s Parochial School · 15 Schettler, Anna-Maria (Grandmother) · 2, 5, 16 Sergeant, Alex · 17 Sierra Club · 17 Skinner Family · 14 Skinner, Estelle · 14 Sorin, Father Edward · 16 Steketee's · 12 Strahan, T.W. · 11 Studebaker, Helen · 6 U University of Notre Dame · 6, 15, 16 V Voigt, Clara · 3, 4 Von Dreisen, Count · 6 W Wurzburg, Mr. · 13 Wurzburg‟s · 12 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d03981b367b88f09d26c9d27366abcb6.mp3 a872d47800d66102aaa050b78c392d1f 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 Grand Rapids Oral Histories Subject The topic of the resource Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Local histories Memoirs Michigan--History Oral histories (document genre) Description An account of the resource Taped and transcribed interviews conducted in the early 1970s primarily of the children and grandchildren of many of the founders of Grand Rapids, Michigan; many of whom were residents of the Heritage Hill neighborhood. Interviews were collected to develop a significant collection of oral resources that would supplement other primary and secondary local history materials. Initially funded as a private project, Grand Valley State College (now University) assumed responsibility for continuing the project until 1977. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/452">Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives 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 application/pdf; audio/mp3 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text; Sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-23 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1971 - 1977 Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. 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-23_43Jackaboice Title A name given to the resource Jackoboice, George Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jackoboice, George Description An account of the resource George Jackoboice was born in 1908. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1931. He was a member of the Peninsular club and the Cascade Hills Country Club. He co-owned the family business, Monarch Road Machinery Co. He died on January 10, 1987. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan--History Local histories Memoirs Oral histories (document genre) Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Grand Valley State University 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 Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf audio/mp3 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 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/bce7a773d89015269d1fec51a9b34f6c.pdf 169058ef9eec272619643f944aeda675 PDF Text Text 1 Grand Valley State University Special Collections Kent County Oral History collections, RHC-23 Mr. and Mrs. George (Helen) Jackoboice Interviewed November 5, 1974 Edited and indexed by Don Bryant, 2010-bryant@wellswooster.com Tape # 52 (1:33:37) Biographical Information George Adolphe Jackoboice was born 17 June 1908, the son of Edward J. Jackoboice and Helen Matilda Hake. George was married to Helen Gast about 1937. George passed away 12 January 1987 in Grand Rapids and is buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. He was chairman of Monarch Hydraulics, Inc. Besides three sons and their families, George was survived by his wife, Helen. Helen Gast was born 7 August 1910 in Grand Rapids and was the daughter of Peter B. Gast and Emily Alt. Helen died 31 December 2008 in Grand Rapids at the age of 98 years. Helen‟s father, Peter Gast was born in Westphalia, Michigan in 1874, the son of Bernard and Teressa (Platte) Gast. Helen‟s mother, Emily Alt was born in Grand Rapids about 1875, the daughter of Nicholas Alt. The parents were married in Grand Rapids on 29 June 1899. ____________ Interviewer: But you were related to Mrs. Hake‟s family? George: Yes. Is it your grand, your mother or was… Interviewer: George: My? Interviewer: How‟s that? George: Clara Voigt Hake, and I differentiate because I also had a Clara Jackoboice, who was an aunt. But Clara Voigt was married to my mother‟s brother. Interviewer: Yes. George: Interviewer: Doctor William F. Hake. Yes. George: That‟s the background, and but as families we had been well acquainted of course for several generations. Not… Interviewer: George: And you‟re an old Grand Rapids family too, right? Yes, we are. �2 Interviewer: Is it your daughter-in-law, Barbara Jackoboice, who teaches French? Both George and Helen: Yes. Helen: That‟s Tom‟s wife. I have a friend who‟s taking French lessons from her. Interviewer: Helen: Oh, really. Interviewer: Yes, it‟s Peggy Strong and she‟s doing a Smith‟s Club tour of France this year and she‟s brushing up on conversational French… Helen: Oh, I see. Interviewer: …with Barbara, yes. George: Barbara‟s very proficient. Helen: Oh, she‟s lovely, very lovely. George: She graduated from Stanford but spent a year in Paris at the Sorbonne. Interviewer: So she speaks French like French people. Oh, yes fluently. She lived with a French family when she was… George: Interviewer: Well, that‟s nice. You‟re younger than any of the Hake brothers though, aren‟t you or the Voigt brothers? George: Helen: Oh, yes. They were really friends of the family. George: My family. My mother and my father. Interviewer: George: I was going to say that you, that they would be. Oh, another generation, oh yes. Interviewer: Another generation removed from you. You remember any of them though? The Hakes, Voigts? Interviewer: George: Yes, did you know them well? Knew them all. Interviewer: Yes. Yes, because we‟d gotten in some interesting things. I had a talk last week to a gal who‟s a secretary in the Voigt mills, you know? �3 Helen: Yes. She worked for Frank mostly. And… Interviewer: That‟s a long time ago. George: Interviewer: George: Yes. Oh, this is right after the First World War Yes. Cause he has been dead for years. Interviewer: Helen: Who was that? Interviewer: Helen: Yes. Her name was Mildred Schulz and … Did you know her, George? George: No, but Mary Orth, worked over there for years and years. Unfortunately, now Mary Orth, if she were alive would tell you an awful lot. Helen: She‟s gone. Interviewer: Yes, she‟s well, this Miss Schulz said she couldn‟t remember but one person that she thought worked in the offices over there that might still be alive, besides herself. And she‟s just a pretty old lady. Her memory wasn‟t good on dates when things had happen. She was in think well up in her eighties. And it was funny cause the week before I talked to a Mrs. McLachlan who was the daughter of the man, who built the house. A man named Jungbaecker, John Jungbaecker. And I think he built for the Hake family. George: Hotel. Interviewer: George: Interviewer: Yes. I think he also built, I‟m guessing, but I think, he also built the old Charlevoix Oh, did he? Where the Olds Manor is now, my family once owned. Oh, I didn‟t know that. George: Well, originally it was known as the Rasch House way back in early history. Frances Rasch is my grandmother. And then the Rasch House was replaced by a hotel called the Clarendon. And then the Clarendon had a name change and was called the Charlevoix. Because a man by the name of Bedford, who had the island house in Charlevoix, had a second operation in Grand Rapids and that was the Charlevoix Hotel. We did not operate the hotel. We owned the building and the land and leased it to Bedford. Bedford incidentally was one of the two men who killed, murdered King Strang. Remember the story of…? �4 Interviewer: Yes, Bedford was …. George: Interviewer: George: Helen: Yes, I remember very well. We always said he was so dapper in his youth. He was. Interviewer: Are you also a native of Grand Rapids? Yes, my maiden name was Gast. So Peter was my father. Interviewer: George: Helen: One of the better known murder cases around here. You remember old Bedford? George: Helen: Oh yes, I remember reading that, in the old papers. Oh, yes. A well known family. Gast Motor Sales. My mother was an Alt. Interviewer: Well, that‟s interesting. You both have such deep roots. George: Well, yes, you see this is all interwoven traditionally and historically with originally the west side. Of course… Interviewer: George: there. Now was your family a west side family originally? Originally except my mother. She was born on the hill up on Ransom & Crescent Interviewer: Oh, yes, right on top of it. George: You see her maiden name was H-A- K-E; which is the maiden name or which is the name of her brother who married Clara Voigt. The, I‟m almost tempted… Interviewer: George: That parking lot occupies the site now. Interviewer: George: Helen: Ransom & Crescent would be where the hospital was. Yes. It‟s a… I have, excuse me. [George leaves to retrieve some items] This must be interesting work for you. Interviewer: It‟s fun for me. I came here about four years ago and part, I was then in the process of trying to get my master‟s degree which I‟ve since given up on because I was working �5 out of an Ohio university. I was too far along and couldn‟t transfer enough credits. But in the course of doing some work. I did a lot of research into early Michigan history. I got just fascinated with Grand Rapids so I consequently took a course at Michigan history and wrote a paper on Grand Rapids „cause I think it‟s so fascinating. Helen: Well, how wonderful. Well, it‟s just fascinating. Interviewer: Helen: Oh, I‟d love to read it. Interviewer: Well, the interesting part of it was trying to explain how Grand Rapids came to be here, because it didn‟t really have all the natural advantages of some of the other cities. And yet it got to be the second biggest city in the state. And I worked on the, trying to explain why. [George returns into the room] George: This was a program on the occasion of my grandfather and grandmother‟s Fiftieth wedding anniversary. Interviewer: George: Oh, and this would be William Hake? And this is the picture when they were married. Interviewer: Yes, isn‟t that nice? And then as you turn the pages you‟ll, that‟s when they were on their Fiftieth George: Isn‟t that beautiful? They were two fine looking people. Interviewer: George: Yes, they were. Interviewer: Helen: Is she in the portrait over the mantel? Yes. Interviewer: I thought, but, that was taken at a younger age than this but she‟s a very handsome woman. Oh, this tells the family history then. George: Yes, pretty much till that time. Interviewer: And he also was German background. George: Oh, yes. Interviewer: I wasn‟t sure what the name Hake was. �6 George: He came from a little town called Dunschede, which is northwest of Cologne [Germany]. Interviewer: George: Have you been back there? Oh, yes. Interviewer: Chased down your family? George: Yes, we go to Europe quite often. Then, she was born in Altensteig in the Black Forest, Germany, which is near Freiburg. Interviewer: Helen: You mentioned the home is shown somewhere there too, a picture. Such a pretty old home. Interviewer: Helen: She had, they had fifteen children. Interviewer: George: Which one was your mother? My mother was Matilda, Helen Matilda. Interviewer: George: Matilda. She was one of the younger children. Yes, she was Interviewer: George: She was quite a bit younger than Doctor Hake, wasn‟t she? Yes, but they were very close. Interviewer: George: Helen: Oh, how many children there were? Yes, oh, isn‟t this neat? Course everything. You must tell about his love for the, not having any children of their own… George: Doctor Hake graduated, I believe from the University of Michigan (I‟ll have to check that). And they never had a family of their own. That is the Doctor and Clara, but he was, he offered his services free, as long as he lived, to St. John‟s Home to the villa, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd which is now Villa Maria. The Sisters of the Poor. And he did all the… Interviewer: …did all their medical for free - for the children. Interviewer: Gee, that was remarkable. �7 George: He did all that as long as he lived. He was a quite charitable man. I think that probably folly for me to presume, but I would believe that he was disappointed he didn‟t have a family. Interviewer: Yes, cause in those days people had pretty large families. Yes and the Voigts were large family too originally. Interviewer: That‟s right. Well, you now once in a while when we‟re working around the Voigt house we pick up the, pick up a story that somehow the family, the mother and father didn‟t approve of the children getting married. And we have heard yes and no on that, from different people. Do you have any knowledge of how they felt about that? George: other. Interviewer: George: I know that, I believe Frank whom you mentioned never married and I forget the Carl was married there for awhile, wasn‟t he? Well, you never knew much about that was always kind of a… Interviewer: That‟s an interesting thing, because I met this little old ninety-one-year old that remembers his wife as being very beautiful. George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: And Ralph never married. No, I know that. That isn‟t to say they probably on occasion didn‟t have an affair, but I don‟t know. But they never officialized it. No, no no. Interviewer: Never settled down and had a family. That‟s interesting. This house that your, that shows here, now where was this house? George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: That‟s where the parking lot of the Butterworth Hospital. This is Ransom and Crescent? Yes, that‟s where it is now. There‟s nothing left. There‟s nothing left of it. And that‟s a beautiful house. Yes, it was a large, large grounds there. It must kill you to see what happens to some of the beautiful old houses. Yes, �8 Helen: It really does. Interviewer: It‟s a nice thing to have that. George: The others, of course, the doctor and Clara went to Europe, I don‟t know on how many different visits, but I know that, see he was Catholic, she was not. Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: Yes, she was an Episcopalian. She was buried in St. Mark‟s church, absolutely. She also had very friendly relationships with the Catholic Church. Oh, yes. That‟s right. „Because she was widowed I understand and did a lot of things for them. Yes, she was a, you obviously never knew her. No, no. Of course, Helen I think was her favorite in-laws. Helen: She was very, very nice to me. I remember the time that my engagement was going to be announced and my sister had a formal tea for me. So I invited, of course, the aunts that were living and I didn‟t know her but she did come to the tea. And I always remember she sent me just a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a corsage. She wanted to wear that day because… Interviewer: Wasn‟t that sweet? Helen: I thought that it was very sweet. And so on every, we were married on the seventeenth of June and so on every seventeenth of June, every anniversary, I had a phone call at eight o‟clock in the morning saying, “Hello.” She had a very deep voice, she‟d say, “Do you know who this is? This is your Aunt Clara wishing you a happy anniversary.” Well, I thought it was very sweet. I always have very nice memories of her because she was so nice to me. And on various occasions we would be at a restaurant, maybe at the Pen Club or at the Schnitzlebank and a drink would be set before us. Now maybe we didn‟t see her with her brothers in the corner and it would be compliments of the Voigts. Interviewer: Wasn‟t that nice? Helen: So that‟s my little story as an in-law. Interviewer: Oh, that‟s a really nice one. George: You see the, we‟ve been in the machinery business in Grand Rapids for a hundred and eighteen years. �9 Interviewer: What firm are you? George: Monarch Road Machinery Company. Originally it was, or prior to the Monarch Road Machinery it was known as the West Side Iron Works. And before that it was know under my grandfather‟s name, Joseph Jackoboice. Well. The building…. Interviewer: George: He was French, originally No, he was not. Interviewer: He‟s not? Interviewer: I was just guessing. George: Well, that‟s an interesting story. I won‟t be too long at it, but actually first of all my grandmother Hake came from Altensteig, my grandmother Rasch came from Breisgau and my grandfather came from Westphalia. But my grandfather Jackoboice came from a border city which was then Duchy of Warsaw and but was adjacent as a border city to the kingdom of Prussia. Actually, officially he was no, he was born according to unconfirmed reports it‟s hard to get any verification because the records have been in such disarray, some of them were bombed out in World War Two. He was actually born in Poland. Interviewer: Was he born in the Corridor, the Polish Corridor? George: No, no it was further south. It was in that area well, Bohemia was in there and so on. Like many of the old families in town here, the Rasches or the Herpolsheimers for example, came from what generally is known as Bohemia and so on. And he came to this country alone. He came when there were less than seven thousand people of his nationality in this country. Interviewer: George: What year was that? Eighteen fifty-two. Interviewer: Yes, he was an early arrival. George: He came with an education and he came with money. And he never spoke of his past. He never corresponded. He was a very, very successful man but he lived, he had good health until he died. Never looked back. Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: Did he drop, did he drop his accent and come, make an effort to learn English. Oh, he spoke English beautifully. He never spoke in his native language? I don‟t know. „Cause he was born before I. �10 Helen: He spoke in German; we never knew it, until about a few years ago. George: My father and my Aunt Clara Jackoboice, now that‟s Clara the other Clara, spoke beautiful German. They wrote the old German script. But why this man came here alone he obviously didn‟t come over because of any military problem because he was past that age, he as I say came with an education, because he came with money. Interviewer: Maybe investment. George: Well, at the time, at the time that people came in eighteen fifty-two, in the eighteen fifties, in general, they came for political reasons, not for economic reasons. Interviewer: George: That would be before Bismarck, wouldn‟t it? Yes, it was after Metternich. Interviewer: That‟s right, just after Metternich. George: The Congress of Vienna. He was born in eighteen twenty-four. But it‟s kind of a mystery as to why; he was the first, absolutely the first of his nationality to be in Grand Rapids one of the very first to be in the United States. Well, anyway that‟s a long and different story. But… Interviewer: George: And he came and set up immediately than as a… In business, yes. He was very, very successful and the business continues now. Interviewer: Under the same family. George: Same family. But the building you see on this started with the Voigts, the building you see on the west side of the river which is red and white is called the old German Schoolhouse, was his factory. It wasn‟t his first, it was his fourth. Helen: When that‟s all lit up at night. George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: George: Interviewer: Yes. Oh, yes. You see it from the Civic Auditorium. And that was your family‟s original or fourth one? It still is. We still own it. You still own it. We illuminate it at night and …. Did you keep it as a historic…? �11 George: Yes, it‟s on the roster of the city‟s historic buildings, officially, declared by the city commissioner about a year ago. And, but right across the street were the two old Star Mills which were also owned by the Voigts. Now the mills that… Interviewer: Was the Crescent Mill very far from the Star Mill? George: It was three blocks away, three blocks north of the Star Mills. I mean the Crescent Mills were at Pearl Street and the Star Mills were near Bridge Street. The Star Mills were kind of a secondary manufacturing... Interviewer: George: The Crescent Mill was the big operation. Yes, yes. Interviewer: And that was a rolling mill for, first row, I mean they took up rolling mill rather than grindstone. George: Well, I don‟t know, possibly they had. But they were of course originally you know they were partners with Herpolsheimers, the store, you‟ve heard that, of course. Do you know Bill Hardy in town here? Interviewer: No, I don‟t. George: Well, Bill was a Herpolsheimer. Interviewer: Is that why they have the Hardy-Herpolsheimer‟s Store at Kalamazoo? George: Yes, well I guess part of the reason. Interviewer: That‟s part of the reason? George: But, the Voigts of course with my father well his company always did all the millwright work, in the mills. So there was a strong business relation between the Voigts and ourselves, as well as family relationship. Interviewer: Now you made machine too machinery. George: Oh, yes. We were manufacturers, yes but we also used to do they used to build steam engines and things saw-mill machinery log-mill machinery. Band saws, rip saws. Now we‟re entirely power hydraulic controls and systems. Actually we don‟t make any road machinery. It‟s all sophisticated devices for operating other components on other people‟s products and so on. Interviewer: Someone starts a machine you have things in there that keep it going. �12 George: Yes, for example this is farfetched but in Disneyland in Florida for example, I bet you we must have twenty-five to fifty of our controls, that help control the automation. And they‟re all hidden you never see them. Interviewer: So you‟re actually in the systems controls business now rather than the fabrication of metals. George: Yes, we (???) it‟s all very much involved in some oil hydraulics or in a segment of it. So, but anyway, because of that „across the street‟ connection and „three blocks away‟ connection, why the Voigts of the Voigt people were in our place all the time. Back in those days of course more things were done by horse and buggy and on foot that now as and it was very informal. And the Leitelts, I don‟t know if you‟ve ever heard that name? Interviewer: No, I haven‟t. George: But Adolph Leitelt and my father were very close friends. Well, years once upon a year, there was a, my father and his company had always done most of the major maintenance. Well in spite of this close family tie and also the relationship with the Leitelts, that was Adolph Leitelt„s iron works which was across the river. And the Voigt senior told my father, my dad tells this story, he says Ed, I want you to know take care of this boiler problem so he had his crew over there Monday morning. But prior to the arrival of my father‟s people Leitelt‟s people were there. And there was quite a who does, who does this job? And they were all close friends, you know. Interviewer: Competitive. George: So my dad just withdrew but they, the mills and their people always had a friendly habit, anytime they wanted a little job done, they‟d come to my father‟s place and so he‟d say oh go ahead and use the machinery and forget it. Well, after this happened they came over and he said, “Fellows, I‟m sorry but why don‟t you go to Leitelts to have that.” Well, that brought out the Voigts in their hiding and the thing came out in the open. And Dad said, “Listen, Voigt senior told me explicitly to take care of this, and I did. But when I arrived, Adolf Leitelt‟s crew were there.” So and then they went on to explain Voigt senior well, he said, “Ed, I‟m awfully sorry but I told you this in full sincerity and my sons not knowing what I had done called Adolph Leitelt.” He said, “So it‟s the tempest of the teapot.” It was all straightened out they laughed about it, you know. But… Interviewer: Did any of the social relations in among the families, was the fact that you were all Germans and German in background a strong factor in the fact that you all got along so well. George: I think so. Interviewer: They tended to have feelings about it. �13 George: They thought quite a bit alike. Clara Voigt, and I have to be historically honest, could be well, a little bit dramatic and little bit volatile at times you know. And maybe you sense that. Interviewer: She was sort of, the people I‟ve known that talked to that remembered her at all, remember her [as] a certain grand dame. George: Yes, she was. Interviewer: A grand old lady. Helen: She wore the wide black-belted band with the big diamond, or she had a lot of big diamonds that she wore. She was a small lady, I mean a short lady and she always was all dressed up. George: She, I know every, my Grandfather Hake lived to be ninety-four and he was a very, very active, alert vital man right up to the day he died, he was only sick a week, died of pneumonia and that was it. But until his ninety-third year he‟d swim in Lake Michigan and I don‟t mean paddle around to his knees, he‟d really swim. And he would always a very tall, very erect man. And he would always walk down to St. Mary‟s Church although he also belonged to St. Andrews Cathedral, and he was, he retired after all these children. He retired in his sixties and lived in a grand manner until he died. But in this process of living, I would say for his time the good life he would have his children come up there practically every week. There were always one of the sons or daughters up there visiting. And he loved company. He would never associate with old people he says that makes me old; he wanted to be with young people. And so practically every Sunday night during the winter months there‟s be some family up there and invariably they‟d play cards. He loved to play Hearts or Poker. And when they were playing, why it was always the Voigts here and the Hakes here and they‟re all gunning for each other. They really had a rather… Interviewer: Now, we have some kind of information. And now I can‟t remember who gave it to us, that when they played cards they played cards in a special room upstairs, in the Voigt house. They didn‟t play downstairs, in the house, that they used an upstairs back room and that they used to listen to the radio and play cards. George: That must have been later in years. Interviewer: In later years, yes. And we kind of got the feeling that old Mr. Hake err, or old Mr. Voigt ran that family with rather a strong….. George: He did. From what I‟d always heard. I never knew the father, I did know Ralph and Carl, quite well, and of course my Aunt. Interviewer: Well even Ralph and Carl were enough older than you were. �14 George: Oh, yes. Interviewer: Be in the next generation. George: To get back, you see years ago when their offices were down on Pearl Street, the big mill. But they always had the old, the remnants of the old horse barn. And so they would park their car there and Ralph generally would walk. You could always tell when Ralph and Carl weren‟t getting along even though they lived in the same house, if they rode together to the parking place three blocks up they were friends. But if Ralph, who generally always drove walked back alone, they probably had some misunderstanding. Now that doesn‟t mean they were ever mad for very long. Interviewer: No, but natural family things. George: Yeah, that‟s right. Interviewer: Well, I always heard they only ever owned one car. George: I‟ve never known them to own two. Interviewer: Yes, even though the two were grown businessmen, they operated out of one car. George: Well, typical of that, you know Carl until he died wore button shoes. Interviewer: Oh, no. George: Oh, sure. He always wore button shoes. Interviewer: A real modern. Helen: He‟d always say if we met him, remember the day we were leaving on a trip day before we were in the bank and we met him and he said uh, “Now when you get home, come over to my museum.” Interviewer: He called the house a museum? George: Yes. Interviewer: I also heard that, what precipitated their decision to go out, you know to decide not to operate the mill anymore was when they ran into union trouble. Was that true? George: Well, that was, I think part of it, but they also ran into tremendous competition from General Mills, Pillsbury and people like that. Helen: Who would they have left it to? Interviewer: Well, that‟s the… �15 Helen: They had nobody. Interviewer: They had no children at that point, yes. Make more money selling out really. Helen: I should think so. George: Yes, well of course also the codes for manufacturing and production sanitation became more stringent in later years, than they had when they were riding high. And so they, I think and I think they had more money than they could spend and the glamour had worn off. Now on this money there, my father used to tell me that he would talk to Voigt senior, as a father, Ralph, Carl, and the rest of them and he said Carl senior was very penurious and he had Dad said, “Carl what are you going to do when your sons inherit all your money?” And he says, “They‟ll spend it?” He said, “Ed, I really don‟t care.” He said, “I had my fun saving it if they have their fun spending it, that‟s up to them.” Interviewer: What a neat philosophy. George: I remember he telling this to my father. Interviewer: Well, you know when you go through the house now, you realize that they were very saving people. George: Oh, yes. Interviewer: „Because they kept the things that are there in the house are just beautifully kept. You know the dresses, they‟ve got so many dresses upstairs, that are you see the pictures of old Mr. and Mrs. Voigt and the dress will be upstairs; really in beautiful condition. Was the ballroom, there was a ballroom upstairs wasn‟t there? George: Yes, on the top floor. Interviewer: Now then, I noticed that you had the lovely invitation. Did they used to have formal parties like that at the Voigt House? George: That was my…. Interviewer: Helen: No, I meant there were parties like that at the Voigt House? I think so because… George: My mother uses to speak that way. She used to go there quite often. Helen: I think so, because your aunt used to talk about those little gold chairs. George: Yes. The musical chair there that… �16 Helen: That, then she had that one musical chair. I didn‟t know much about that, but she used to tell your sisters about it. A chair they bought I believe in Switzerland. One you sat on it, it played a tune. In those days it was just something, a music box under the chair. But I never saw that. But she did make a lovely present to me of two pictures. One day she called me over for and I had tea with her and when I left… Interviewer: This was Aunt Clara? Helen: Aunt Clara. She said I want you to have something. And she gave me lovely, I think they were pastels of Grandmother and Grandfather Hake that had been made, and she told me (in) France. George: Could well have been. They… Helen: George: Helen: George: Beautifully framed, I still have them. She really adored the doctor. She always called him Doc. My Doctor. My Doctor, yes. Interviewer: All the reports we have was that they were very, very congenial couple. George: Yes, they were. Interviewer: And well, I guess she may have been dramatic but people liked her, didn‟t they? Helen: She, well, she was a very open… you knew where she stood. Interviewer: The daughter of the builder of the Voigt house said that he also built their house, which is on Madison? Was on Madison, or where was their house? Helen: George: Washington. Well, they…. Interviewer: Doctor and Mrs. Hake George: I think she had, I think they had a guarantee five, maybe even seven houses. Interviewer: Well, this one must have been within about a decade of when he built the Voigt house. This Mr. Jungbaecker built a house for her and she wanted her money‟s worth. She‟d come back to him and back to him with her plans and say now, are you ready to give me a good price? On her plans, you know. So I guess none of them were fools about money. George: No, they weren‟t. Well, they actually, the doctor died, and I know because I was there just a day or so before he died, he died and they lived on Washington Street. �17 Interviewer: On Washington Street? George: Helen: Just about a block west. Just around the corner. George: It‟s I think, it„s the second house from the corner, had a circular porch. Its glory days were when they lived there, as was true of that whole area. Helen: It‟s almost next to the old Percy (?) home wasn‟t it? George: Somewhere in through there. Helen: (?) On the Corner. I think next to (?) Interviewer: Where they, so they all lived close together. George: Very close. Of course, they all had it seems to me that I was told maybe she said that to us when they because some of them never married but oh, Voigt senior, provided in his will that if they lived in the within the house their expenses would be paid by the estate. Interviewer: Oh, they did. I‟ve got to turn this [tape] over. I don‟t want it to run out. [END OF SIDE ONE TAPE #52] Interviewer: Before he went out of business with Mr. Herpolsheimer, Mr. Voigt bought a lot of midi skirts and midi blouses; you know a whole lot of them. And she said she always wore those skirts and midi blouses in the morning, you know, when she was around the home, running the house. And then would dress up in the afternoon. And she said to the maids one day she said there were some of these midi blouses upstairs that had never been worn, she said I‟ll have to wear one every day till I die because they‟d never wear out. And I thought, oh dear I‟m sure they had enough money she could have just given them to the Salvation Army. But people didn‟t function quite that way, in the old days, I guess. Helen: Remember, I knew one cute kind of a cute little incident, about Aunt Clara. We were having dinner one evening, one at the Schnitzlebank, and [she] was there with her brothers. She had been quite sick and it about was her first time out. And so, when I saw her I, we both went over to speak to her. And I said to her, “Well how are you Aunt Clara?” She said, “Well of course, I guess I‟m alright.” She said, “I‟ll tell you Helen, I‟m going to have kraut tonight if it kills me.” Interviewer: Well. I‟m surprised at the people that at the memories of the people who had worked for them are very, very pleasant memories. They have very, they apparently were very friendly down-to-earth people in that and they are remembered by their help as being not, you couldn‟t just do anything I mean they demanded good work, but if you worked well you got along very, very well. And the gal I talked to last week who was a secretary who worked for �18 Frank and Carl and Ralph, said she was permitted to say anything you know She said when they, she booked orders, she apparently booked the orders that would come in from Australia and all those other places, you know. And she said, “Well I used to tell them you ought to get out on the road and talk to more people and sell more things here in the United States, we wouldn‟t have to ship it so far.” But he never took my advice, she said. And I thought it was interesting, not because of that but because apparently it was a very free office, you know that it wasn‟t run on a very formal basis. And she said that they were on a very first name basis. Not that she called them Mr. Hake, or Mr. Voigt, but they called her by her first name. George: I think, I don‟t think anything would have pleased Ralph more than if they had taken the old mills and preserved them. And of course, Ralph almost thought it would make a great, he told me once, he thought it‟d be great for like an atmosphere restaurant. And of course, that never came to be. And also there was a time, about ten years ago, when there was an effort to establish hotel there on that land. And Ralph was laughing he said, “George you know they think that‟s great news.” He said, “Fred Pantlind, Fred Z. Pantlind talked about that to me thirty years ago.” He said, “So there‟s nothing very new.” But if every, if people would have always prefaced their requests by saying, “Ralph we‟d like your house or we‟d like your mill and we want to call it the Voigt Grand Rapids Mill or the Voigt and Jones Mill.” If you identify the Voigts and Ralph, I think, loved that identification and he deserved it, really the family did. I think very honestly that if an effort had been made during Ralph‟s life time not when, not the last few years, when he was ill, but if they would‟ve said Ralph we‟d like to have your family residence we‟d like to have it recognized what can you do to see that it goes to the city for historic purposes? I think Ralph would‟ve done everything possible to see that realized. I am on the museum commission. Interviewer: Now, that is eventually who is going to control it? George: Well, actually it‟s on formally and I suppose legally it‟s under the control of the City of Grand, under the ownership of the City of Grand Rapids. But it‟s really under the jurisdiction of the museum. Then that in turn is subrogated, believe to the Historical Preservation Commission. Interviewer: Well, those gals were really... George: Helen: George: Helen: Oh, they deserve the glory. Just dedicated their lives, to that house. They‟ve done a great job. I think they really deserve a lot of credit. Interviewer: Oh, yes. And you know they‟ve that‟s a labor of love when they go down there. George: Well, I was on the finance committee. �19 Helen: I‟ve had luncheons there and they‟re fantastic. Interviewer: Yes, they do a beautiful job. Really do. George: I was on the finance committee with Frank Frankfurter, David and John Hunting and myself, to have that house transferred legally to the status it now enjoys. And the Grand Rapids Foundation of course contributed substantially. I think Dave Hunting senior did an awful lot to realize the ownership change. Interviewer: I know him just a little, he‟s a dear person. George: He is. He‟s tremendously alert. John, young John, you know is his son. He‟s building right over here. Interviewer: Helen: George: Helen: George: Is that where Marilyn, the new house is going to be right over here. That‟s where, yes. With the doctor though. It will be lovely. Looks just great. He‟s a very vital person for his age. Interviewer: I should say so. George: You know, I don‟t know if you‟d heard the incident or the story of the time that the Doctor and his wife were crossing Lake Michigan to attend the wedding of one of my uncles that is Theodore Hake. Interviewer: No, no I haven‟t heard it. George: Over in Milwaukee. Well, actually my grandfather already was in Milwaukee for two weddings. They were a week apart and the family and friends they were all invited of course. So actually my mother was going, but my brother came down with measles or something like that and so at the last minute she deferred going. But many of the Hakes went and also the Doctor and his wife Clara. And they were on a ship called the Naomi, which caught fire in midlake. And it was quite a disaster. It‟s been written up in many of the journals, in fact I understand that there is a free-lance writer in Grand Rapids now who has been working on the story of that. But as the story was told to me by my uncle, the fire was pretty much discovered, at least they learned about it early in the evening, when they because they were all as usual playing cards in the salon. And as they were dealing the cards… Helen: Excuse me, it wasn‟t early in the evening, it was late at night George: Late at night, yes. Well it all depends on how the Hakes would interpret “early in the evening” and “late at night,” course they never knew tomorrow, half the time. �20 Interviewer: They were not early, not early to bed people. Helen: They were all playing cards. George: They were all playing cards and somebody said, “I smell smoke.” And with that they pretty soon obviously the ship was a total disaster. And the Doctor Hake was I believe the only doctor on board and he administered to many of the people, some of whom died. And there are pictures of that ship and... Interviewer: Were they able to get to port without sinking. George: Yes, they took the lifeboats out. Oh, yes, Very much so. And they show, we have pictures somewhere where they towed the charred hull into Grand [Haven]….There‟s really nothing left of the upper structure. And my, I know the doctor‟s wife she was a little bit hysterical so the story goes and so she left her stateroom and was waiting to be rescued and she was in her corset and carrying an umbrella. Helen: You know when they wore corset covers? Interviewer: Oh, yes. With a corset cover and an umbrella. Was prepared for all emergencies wasn‟t she? Boy, that‟s a fantastic story; I‟ll bet that went the rounds. Wow. Oh, dear. George: Well that there were just pages of publicity on it. Interviewer: Was this like about the time of the World Wars or earlier than that? George: Oh no, no this was way back. Interviewer: Before the First World War? George: Interviewer: George: It‟d be it‟d be I would say about nineteen seven or eight seven or eight? Oh, yes about seventy years ago Interviewer: Oh yes, that‟s a long time. George: There‟s another friend there that I believe figured in the Voigt family background as a friend. That‟s the old Kusterer family. Of course there were a lot of these old German families you know, and they all clung together. Some of these families I have well a familiarity with because my grandfather Hake among other things was agent for the Hamburg-American Line. And at the time he was the oldest agent and there are in this group both in years and in years of service. And a suspicion is always been suggested that he did that because he liked to go to Europe and whenever he went he would divide his children into two groups. He‟d take first the one six and then the other six. �21 Interviewer: Oh, isn‟t that wonderful. George: And I presume he figured it was more economical that way anyhow. But in the process he was instrumental in arranging the passage of most of these old German families in Grand Rapids. And their home was really quite a congregating place for these Germans. You know originally you speak of the west side, right across from where we used to live which is all long gone but the expressway, right directly across the street, one of the Voigts lived. And the other one lived right around the corner on Court Street. Interviewer: Yes, that‟s what I understood from the very old lady that I talked to. She could remember going to, she could remember going to Union School with Carl Voigt. And then she remembered Ralph and she remembered when Ralph went away to school. He went to Andover, I think and then to Yale. And she could remember that he went away to school but she had gone to Union School with Carl. George: Well, years ago they had many wagons you know, dray wagons and they had beautiful horses. And just on what was then known as Shawmut Avenue, now Lake Michigan Drive, they had a pasture that was not very large but they‟d it was all fenced in. And the horses were finished many of the horse were stabled there. The others were stabled down across from our old building. And I used to go up there and watch these draft horses. They‟d run toward the fence and you‟d think they were going right through. But they were friendly, gentle souls. They had excellent care. Interviewer: Beautiful horses? George: Oh, yes. They were. Interviewer: They probably took just as good care of the horses as they did everything else. George: Yes, that‟s right Interviewer: I can never get over the woodwork in that house because it„s so beautifully kept. You know the house really (is) in remarkably great condition. I think that‟s the... Helen: George: Didn‟t they say about the carriage house too, George? Yes, Helen: Harnesses and everything. George: They had harnesses in there and they just… Helen: Everything was so lovely. George: Yes, they‟re just waiting for somebody for some horse to appear and the harness would be all ready for them. And they had I believe an old, I didn‟t see this but I was told by a �22 fellow at the time who worked for Cadillac and he used to collect old cars, and he said they had a beautiful electric I think, wasn‟t it electric? Helen: That‟s what they said. Interviewer: They had an electric car? They were handsome things. George: Yeah and that was I think sold to somebody up north. Interviewer: Were they great travelers? Were the Doctor and Mrs. Hake great travelers? George: Oh yes, they‟d gone to Europe, oh half a dozen times. Interviewer: It seemed to me if you look around the bedroom upstairs that there are obviously things that came from… Helen: She told me that she had seen, I think three different Popes. And that she always asked the Pope to bless his hands, because he was a doctor. Interviewer: Oh, isn‟t that lovely? Helen: She told me that. George: Well, he had, the doctor incidentally occupied a home which had been my grandfather‟s home, his father‟s home, on the site that is now occupied by Grand Rapids Press. And this home was originally built by Martin Sweet who in turn after he sold this house to my grandfather, bought the house or built the house rather which is now the Women‟s City Club. Interviewer: Oh, yes. Was this the Sweet that had Sweet‟s hotel? George: Yes. And Martin Sweet and my grandfather - that whole clique they were… Helen: They had the sweetest little house going up the hill there. Just darling. Interviewer: It makes me sick to think of how pretty this city must have been at one time. George: Yes, it really was. Interviewer: Really was beautiful. George: So many of the better things have been unfortunately torn down. Interviewer: Well, the, you know… Helen: The City Hall… Interviewer: Oh well, it‟s really brutal to think that such a beautiful building could have gone. Helen: George was on television one night trying to save it. �23 Interviewer: Hall? George: Oh yes, and who was it, Posey Benton who was it chained herself to the City Oh, Mary Stiles. Interviewer: Mary Stiles, yes. I heard about that when I first moved here. Helen: We were in Europe and at the Nordic Hotel was it, Oslo? No, it was Vienna, one of those. Well, anyway we walked in, we walked out of our room in the morning walked downstairs to the desk and a man held up the paper and he says, “Isn‟t this your home town?” And there she was, on the ball, you know. Interviewer: Do you remember the family well enough to know if they were interested in music or if they were interested in, if you read old Grand Rapids history there was always such an active interest in music in this community-the St. Cecilia Society, the Ladies Literary Club and well, the Women‟s City Club. Were any of the family, the Voigt family that you know of, interested in music or in any other…? George: I really don‟t know. I don‟t know. The only, I would venture though that the Voigts might have some interest in music through my Aunt Augusta Rasch-Hake, who was quite a pianist. And she studied in Vienna under Lesterchensky who was probably the foremost teacher of piano in the last two hundred years. And she used to play for example in concert with Percy Granger. Interviewer: Oh my, she was really good. She died only about two years ago. She was in her nineties. But she had a tremendous talent for music. And that‟s why she, her father sent her to Vienna for further study. But probably because of family association the Voigts and I‟m only surmising this because I would venture that they had themselves a pretty good interest in music. Interviewer: There was the room off the drawing room, now they call the Music Room but I don‟t know if it was called the Music Room then. But they have several you know they have several instruments around. Helen: How about the music? Did you find any old music? Interviewer: I think there is some there, but I‟ve never really gone through it. It‟s, I‟ve really been more interested in digging into the library to what books they had. Thought it was interesting to find out what books people kept around in those days. George: Have you ever talked to any of the other members of the Voigt family? The surviving… Interviewer: No. As a matter of fact, I was going to talk to Charles Dubee and then he‟s been in the hospital and I guess he‟s out in recovery right now but, he‟s he had a heart attack. �24 Helen: Oh, did he? Interviewer: Yes, and the word down at our church, is he‟s a member of our church, and word down around our church was that it was a pretty severe heart attack. So and I don‟t…. Helen: He was awfully heavy. Interviewer: Well, I‟ve only been doing this for about the last month or so and really he‟s had his heart attack and I really didn‟t think that it was even tactful, to go and talk. But he‟s one person that I know that I plan to talk to. The Pantlinds lived across the street from the Voigts. George: Yes, I believe that way back… Interviewer: And isn‟t that Mrs. Whinery? Isn‟t Kate Whinery a Pantlind? Helen: That would be Kay Whinery or Dosey. George: Then there‟s Hilda. Interviewer: I talked to Mrs. Hanchett over the phone but she said she didn‟t, she‟d been away from town so much that there was nothing she could add, to the story. George: You know Hilda Pantlind? Interviewer: No, I don‟t. George: Well, she‟s married to Charlie Armstrong. They live in Arizona I believe most of the time now, don‟t they? Helen: She comes in the summer but her sister‟s here. Cause I saw her at the beauty shop. Interviewer: Now who‟s her sister? Helen: George: Helen: Dosey Pantlind and isn‟t that Dosey? I don‟t know I only knew Hilda. Who were we talking about Hilda and her sister, Mrs. Whinery I‟m sorry. Interviewer: Kate Whinery Helen: George: Yes, I‟m thinking of Fred Pantlind‟s, no. I‟m thinking of Boyd Pantlind‟s wife I talked with Boyd today. Interviewer: Well. I just, I guess one day I was at Susan Lowe Guild and Kate Whinery belongs to Susan Lowe Guild and she mentioned that she lived across. I‟d come from the Voigt House, �25 that day, and she said that they lived across the street. But she‟d never been in the house very much. Were you ever in the house very much? George: Oh, yes. Helen: You were in. George: Not often but … Interviewer: Just the normal course of events. George: Yes, I tell you who might be able to give you some information too, is Bruce Gilmore. You see Bruce Gilmore occupied the Idema house which he I believe owned. That‟s where the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance is. Interviewer: Oh, that‟s right next door, isn‟t it? George: Yes, yes. Now what association Bruce would have had with say Ralph or Carl, I don‟t know except they were neighbors. Now Gene Gilmore works, Bruce is pretty much retired. He‟s, his brother was with him in the Bahamas here a few ago. And Bruce, I think will be back as soon as the weather warms up a bit. And he might be able to give you some information too. Interviewer: You‟re still active in business, aren‟t you? George: Oh, yes very much so. Interviewer: Yes, so you can‟t get away in the winter like everybody else. George: Helen: Oh, I can get away any time I want to. He‟s president. Interviewer: Well that doesn‟t mean you can take off as easily. It‟s usually if you‟re the president you have to stay and… George: No, I can say that because our three sons are in the business and also my nephew and they do a tremendous job. Interviewer: Oh, so you‟re a little freer then. George: Oh, yes. Interviewer: You don‟t (feel) you‟re chained. Well, I know that Mrs. Jackoboice, you‟ve done a lot of traveling. Helen: We do, but we‟re not very Florida fans or anything like that. We just returned from Mexico, we were down there for about three weeks. But… �26 Interviewer: That‟s nice. Helen: Yes. George: We were supposed to have gone last September. We went on a southern trip through Europe including Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, Hungary and so on. And, but my wife here had a little scare which fortunately… Interviewer: A heart thing? Helen: No, I just had a sudden flare and it was really something. I‟m a very, very well person and I just felt funny pain and I just thought well I‟ll go and have it checked you know. And, my word, they put me right in the hospital, had x-rays and what have you. And they thought I had something just terrible. And so I…. Interviewer: Oh, that‟s awful. Helen: Yes, it turned out to be nothing. Interviewer: Oh, that‟s good. George: Meanwhile … Interviewer: But meanwhile you cancelled your trip. Helen: By the time, yes, he said no way could you go on that trip, because it was something with the digestive system. Interviewer: Well, my sister-in-law has been into Russia twice and she said the only thing about Russia, is you don‟t want to be sick in Russia. Helen: That‟s where… Interviewer: Be healthy if you get around it. She loved it though. She said it‟s worth going just to through the Hermitage. Helen: My husband has been there several times. Interviewer: Have you? George: Helen: Oh, yes. Been all through Eastern Europe. I don‟t want to get sick in India either. Interviewer: I think there are a lot of places you prefer not to…. Helen: There‟s a lot of places I don‟t want to be there sick. �27 Interviewer: But on the other hand you can‟t stop going just on that chance. Helen: Course not. Interviewer: Right, right. George: There‟s I guess they were gradually are restoring or recollecting or collecting some of the furnishings and so on, of the Voigt place. „Course the attic; it was just loaded with… Helen: Yeah, they‟re gradually doing, well, I think what they‟ve tried to do is reconstruct what it probably looked, might have looked like early on. Not in its later days. George: I wouldn‟t think that there‟s too many basic changes, do you, from the old days? Helen: No, I remember when whenever I‟d go there though she‟d invite me over for tea, we always went directly to her room. Interviewer: You did? Helen: Clara never sat downstairs. Interviewer: Did you ever know Miss Emma Hake, err Voigt? Helen: Yes, I just knew her. And she‟d probably be there, but you knew, you could hear her moving around something. But if Aunt Clara had a guest she went to her room. And we sat there and it was a very pleasant room upstairs, you know which one she had? Interviewer: Yes. Helen: And she‟d always say, oh come up here and then she‟d always point out “my Doctor”. She had his picture all over the room and we had tea and we‟d visit. Interviewer: One of the fascinating things that you know about being down there is that the desk, the letters in the, stuffed in the cubbyhole of her desk are her letters. They‟re the letters and they‟re you know, it‟s as if she‟d left the room because you know the letters that are there she left a letter to Bishop Whittemore and a letter to a Catholic Bishop about something that she was corresponding with him about. You knew it‟s just as if she walked out of the room and were coming back. Except that the date had stopped you know, several years ago. So that‟s really it comes as close that houses come to living history, as almost any place you walk into. George: That‟s right. George: I don‟t think you‟d ever find a house... Interviewer: No, because everything you have the feeling the family just stepped out. And it‟s like the turn of the century. And there they are you know, just stop action. And they‟re very few �28 things they‟ve got Ralph‟s picture that LeClaire did in the downstairs hall. But most of the rest of the stuff you can go through the house and it looks very old. Helen: Wouldn‟t that make a fantastic movie? Interviewer: No, it‟s really a remarkable thing. The other thing I don‟t pick up about the Voigts is that they were very, very involved, now the time when your grandfather arrived here, well, back in the eighteen fifties if you look down the roster of the people who were mayors and officers in town they were always the prominent businessmen in town. And the politics didn‟t get separated from the business until, say after, oh well after you all, I think after that you got into a different kind of person being in politics. From, but early on it was liable to be prominent businessmen in town who were married and so forth. But the Voigt‟s name doesn‟t come up ever being involved in politics at all. George: No, not that I can recall. My grandfather was city treasurer for a period of years. And he always, he was credited generally with having established the bookkeeping system which until recent years was still the nucleus of the city systems. Interviewer: That‟s interesting. George: But that was Hake, you see, William Hake. And, but he was, he was quite active in city affairs and his brother John even more so. Interviewer: But you never pick up the name Voigt? George: No, not….. Interviewer: No, I‟ve seen the name Hake but I‟ve never seen the name Voigt. George: The Voigts were very keen business people. They tell a story and then there‟s (nothing) irregular about it, it‟s just typical I think of their time, and their generation. That they would buy wheat and of course, in those years there never was any governmental control on or anything on it. Well… Interviewer: They were real gamblers? George: Yes, well if you buy wheat on say futures, why if it went down, well, boys the mill bought that. If it went up, that was the Voigts. Interviewer: That was the Voigts. They still say you know that they say the commodities market is a great place for the real gamblers of the world. Rest of us… George: I think you know, you speak of the house I think, they guarded that house very well. I mean, I don‟t think the house was ever at any time abused by anybody in the family. It was always sentimentally regarded and well maintained. �29 Interviewer: Yes. Oh my goodness, yes. You just have to look behind doors you know and the polish the obvious gleam on all the woodwork had to come from loving rubbing you know. And diligent rubbing on some and apparently I think the woman who was their housekeeper is still alive. George: Yes, I think she is. Interviewer: And there‟s another person I have on my list to go talk to because it hasn‟t been loaded down with gunk. No or anything. It‟s just really cleaned and polished and such beautiful I don‟t think any of us these days think much about oak you know as being this great wood. But in that lower bedroom where Ralph was at the end of his life well that looks to me to be cherry wood. In there, its beautiful close grained woodwork and probably as pretty as wood as there is in the house. It‟s really nice. You know your room reminds me of the houses down around Charleston. Helen: Oh, really. Interviewer: This isn‟t Cyprus, is it? George: This is walnut, solid walnut. Interviewer: Helen: It‟s just beautiful wood. Thank you, thank you. Interviewer: Just lovely. Helen: We think so, we just love it. George is very “booky” and he always wanted a lovely library. So, we built it. Interviewer: Oh, it‟s really nice. But I love the color of the wood. George: This, this walnut is about that thick all the way through. I shudder, if you could even get, even get it now. Remember Warren Rindge? Interviewer: No, I don‟t. George: Well, Warren was one of the last traditional you see he was educated in Europe and Warren wouldn‟t touch anything modern. But things like this he loved. And he always said this was the finest library he had ever built. Interviewer: Oh well proportioned to the room is beautifully proportioned. Helen: We think so too. Interviewer: And the paneling is so lovely. �30 Helen: Now that‟ll be….. Interviewer: Oh, the little dentalling around the edges that goes up to the top. George: rooms. They were about, they were full time they were about eight months on these two Interviewer: I didn‟t know that there was a company that made all that finished mill work that went into the Voigt house. And that this Mrs., this Mrs. McLachlan that I talked to was the daughter of Jungbaecker (and) that it was her father was the head of this company. I still can‟t, the name has slipped my mind, they did finish mill work and they turned out those handsome you know the stair runs that are so pretty down there. I thought, I wondered about that and….. Helen: You know so much about architecture you must have… Interviewer: Not really, very much at all. But I was interested in that because she was telling me she worked as a bookkeeper in this place and she said that at the time they had built this house that the foreman of the room upstairs made eighteen dollars a week and they stepped down to nine dollars a week for the man that ran the elevator. This was for a sixty hour work week. And they worked ten and a half hours every day except Saturday. Ten hours and ten minutes every day and then on Saturday they could go home at five o‟clock, instead of six. George: Helen: That‟s what my father said their work schedule was two years ago. Really? Interviewer: Is that fantastic! George: Well, all the [way] up until the war years we always worked Saturdays. Interviewer: Oh sure, I remember that. George: My father always said that they‟d start at six and they‟d quit at six except Saturday they‟d quit at five. Interviewer: Isn‟t that fantastic? George: Helen: George: Helen: And the only day they had off was Sunday. They didn‟t complain, they didn‟t have strikes and things, did they? No. They do now. Interviewer: Gosh, it‟s hard to think about that. And I said, “Well didn‟t you mind the long hours?” And she said, “No, everybody worked. Even the bosses.” �31 Helen: That‟s the truth. Interviewer: You know if everyone‟s working it‟s all the same thing. I‟ve got to switch cartridges while we still want before we get interrupted, if you don‟t mind. [END OF TYPEWRITTEN TRANSCRIPT. But the interviewer and the Jackoboices continue talking as they view pictures and mementos. In the file, there is now a paper copy of all of the following transcript which matches the CD recordings.] George: This is a picture of the Voigt house here. Interviewer: This is the Detroit Free Press, oh, yes. George: Yes, Helen: Have you ever been there when they model some of the dresses? Have you seen Barbara in that one? I understand she is absolutely gorgeous. Interviewer: Yes, she is. You must have a very slim figure to fit into the dresses. Helen: Barbara said someone called me one day and they said that she should have her portrait done in that dress; someone that knew her very well. Interviewer: Yes, she really should. Helen: Someone told David you should go down with a camera and take her picture in the dress. Have you seen it? I would love to see it... Interviewer: Yes, and it is just wonderful. George: This is… Interviewer: Oh yes, now, I didn‟t know she was a business woman here. George: Oh, I think that.... Interviewer: Oh, it was, that‟s just because she was just in the family business. George: Not to my memory, was she ever active in the business. Interviewer: According to the gal in the office, it was the three brothers that came down to the office, the girls never came down. Neither your Aunt Clara nor Miss Emma ever came down. George: I never saw them there. I don‟t remember ever seeing them. Interviewer: Hmmm. �32 George: This is just a partial and I am looking for more, there has got to be another page of the Naomi… Interviewer: You don‟t have a date on this? Yes, yes you do, May twenty-second nineteen seven. That‟s right, you were correct about that. Helen: Is that the white book? George: Yes, Interviewer: Many thrilling accounts of the catastrophe are told. George: There might be some other pages in there too. Interviewer: They were going to attend the wedding of Louis F. Hake. George: Yes. Interviewer: And Miss Mary Buerger of Milwaukee. Yes. I would like to read that before I go. I don‟t want to read… George: I think I have a more complete. This is an item on my uncle, the Doctor. Interviewer: Did his elementary studies at the parochial school and public schools. His parents sent him to Notre Dame University where he spent three (days) years. After leaving this institution, decided his choice on the advice of his friends to take up the biological course. He entered the famous Ann Arbor University where he graduated in eighteen eighty-two. Received the degree of MD, youngest member among five hundred students. Obtained a situation in the pharmacy department of the wholesale retail drug concern of Thum Brothers. George: Here is another thing… Interviewer: A man used to live downstairs from us when first moved here, we had an apartment his family were the Hazeltine Perkins, you know Carl Montgelas. George: I know Carl… Interviewer: Yes, that‟s interesting. Cecelia Hake, isn‟t that a pretty one, this a beautiful, did you compile this book? George: That was my mother did that, most of it‟s in her handwriting. Interviewer: That‟s beautiful. George: So, it‟s… �33 Interviewer: Here is Doctor. Hake‟s death, practicing physician, specialist in children‟s diseases in Grand Rapids since eighteen eighty-two died Saturday morning at three fifty-seven Washington Street SE. Helen: That‟s what I thought. Interviewer: That‟s a good thing to know. He was only fifty-seven when he died. Helen: George: Oh, was he? Yes. Interviewer: Yes, had traveled and had the distinction of having met three popes, that‟s what you told me. Helen: That‟s what I had said. Interviewer: The last, the Thirteenth Pope Benedict, he was a graduate of both University of Michigan and Notre Dame and studied abroad. He was eleven years, a major in the state troops and for thirty years attendant physician at St. John‟s Orphan Asylum. This was work he did voluntarily and was married to Miss Clara Voigt on September twelfth, eighteen eighty-nine. Surviving are his widow, his father who is ninety-one years old and resides at two forty-six Ransom. Three sisters and Mrs. Helen Jackoboice. That would be your mother. George: Yes, my mother. Interviewer: And eight brothers, wow. Protestant, Jew and Catholic alike attended the funeral services for Doctor. Hake Tuesday last week at the Cathedral. Some praying for the repose of the soul of the departed, others testifying at least by their presence that the late doctor, by the best of his ability struggled and accomplished much for the betterment of his fellow citizens, and the greater glory of the common good. George: He predeceased his father. Interviewer: Yes, now this UBA Home and Hospital United Benevolent was the fore runner, that‟s Blodgett, isn‟t it? George: You know, I could be wrong, I associated that with Butterworth. Interviewer: I think, Butterworth is St. Mark‟s. It was St. Mark‟s before it was Butterworth. George: Could be. Interviewer: Yeah, this I think you‟ll find is the forerunner, and here is a picture of the Voigt Mill and a picture of it. George: I imagine there is a lot of those. �34 Interviewer: Mary Hake and Arthur Gore. And here, there is a dinner menu on here, too. Did you ever look at those meals we could never eat them now a days? Helen: Isn‟t that …. Interviewer: Fantastic. Home of Mary Hake Gore George: That was... Interviewer: George: Oh, your mother did a beautiful job, didn‟t she? That Gore was a sad story, there is enough things in that Hake tribe to …. Interviewer: Well, I think in a big family like that there were some, some tragedies as well as some… George: And yes there really were. Interviewer: You can‟t ever have a big family like that without some sadness as well as ….She has each of her children here and she has, isn‟t this neat. Helen: I just love to, you know how you go looking for something and looking in a drawer and you spend the whole afternoon reading? You know? Interviewer: Oh, yes. Helen: Just looking at pictures. Interviewer: Here it says one eighty-four Ransom, a breakfast immediately afterwards, oh a wedding breakfast. George: Here is one on the McGraws; it is years and years ago in the paper…. Interviewer: “Judy Jots it Down” must have been going on a long time. There must have been a lot of Judy's. Mr. Francis B McGraw of the firm of Duran & McGraw and Amelia L. daughter of ex-alderman William Hake in St. Andrews Church Thursday, full dress affair was conducted on a magnificent scale. Finest velvet covers being laid from the carriages into the church. The bride was superbly dressed in white satin with wreath and veil. The groom wore the conventional full dress suit of black with a diamond crescent on a white neck scarf, my goodness, how times have changed. Because this story appeared in the eighteen seventy-six in the old Grand Rapids Daily Eagle, One of solid gold nuggets we ran across when looking over a scrapbook that was loaned to us by Lewis F. Hake. George: This was another menu for another daughter. Interviewer: The wedding of Mary Hake, and this was the one you said was such a sad story… about Arthur Gore. Mock Turtle Soup, California Salmon, Red sealed Bordeaux, Sweetbread �35 patties, Snipe on toast. First time I‟ve really known what snipe really was, they use to kid us about snipe, Saddle of antelope larded with Sauce Picante, Roast Turkey, Spring chicken, French peas, tipped asparagus, Spareribs, Roman punch, Chicken Salad, Potato Salad, Shrimp salad. Helen: Watched their calories. Interviewer: Raspberry ice cream, Strawberry, Charlotte Russe, then Champagne, Pyramids of Macaroons kisses, French torte, Fresh fruit and French coffee. That‟s a magnificent meal, isn‟t it? George: I think that is the only picture existing. I have blown this up from a very small tintype. This is the house where Doctor Hake practiced medicine in, after my grandfather who still owned the property and moved into the big house. This is Hake right here in the picture. This one is the same one you see up there. Interviewer: Oh, yes, now that is your grandfather? George: Yes. Interviewer: Isn‟t that nice. George: These were painted by Gregori, who painted all the murals at Notre Dame University. Interviewer: Of course, he did a fine job, now where is this house? George: This is the house, long torn down; it stood on the present site of the Grand Rapids Press. Interviewer: Oh, I see. George: In the back there was an orchard, there was also a well. And it always has been stated, that the well there which predated the use of the water that was there by the Arctic Spring Water Co, if you remember that name. And originally by Kusterer of the brewery who had the old Furniture City Brewery. And Kusterer and my grandfather were very close personal friends. Kusterer went down on the Alpena, if you remember that story. Well, after my grandfather‟s family grew, he moved on the hill and kept this property until later it was sold after his death. But Doctor Hake practiced medicine out back and the house was entirely different. The walls in that, Interviewer: It is made from limestone out of the river. George: That‟s right Charles Belknap lead a drive to keep the thing, he failed. Interviewer: What a shame, what a treasure that would have been. George: Yes. �36 Interviewer: Your grandfather lived here? George: That was his first house, actually when he first came to the city, he didn‟t live there because he wasn‟t married he was just a kid he came from Germany. He had his first job with John Clancy who had the first wholesale grocery in Grand Rapids and my grandfather learned the Indian dialect and worked there. He got married at St. Michael‟s church in Chicago. Interviewer: When your grandfather first came, they were still making payments to the Indian every fall. George: Yes, he came about eighteen forty-seven – eighteen fifty or so. Interviewer: They were still making payments to the Indians every October and November until eighteen fifty-eight or so. Helen: This is built over the old spring. George: That‟s the old brewery. Interviewer: “The past crumbles easily”…Fox Deluxe Brewery on Michigan Street, now was this torn down for the expressway? They lost the depots and everything. Now this is Christopher Kusterer a German brewer who went into partnership with John Pannell, Grand Rapids. They started a large brewery on Michigan Street. A large pure cool gushing spring. George: That‟s the spring. My grandfather was in many different, lumbering, a lumber mill. Interviewer: These old people turned their hands to a lot of things in the course of getting established, didn‟t they? George: Here is an item when Doctor Hake came back from Europe one time. Interviewer: Nineteen fourteen, oh, they were in the war zone in Europe. In view of the present events in Europe the great Peace Palace at The Hague is a huge joke. On his arrival from a trip to Europe, accompanied by Mrs. Hake we went direct to Hamburg, Germany from Amsterdam after a visit to The Hague and only a day or two after we visited the famous monument to the peace of the world. Leading powers of the countries were clutching at each other throats. They were there when war was declared, weren‟t they, in August nineteen fourteen? You see that would be at the time. Were clutching each others‟ throats, and practically all of Europe were seething in the heat of the impending conflict. We were impressed with the beautiful urns of wonderful design, emblematic of peace, the contributions of the Czar of Russia and the German Kaiser. The beautiful tribute of Japan and we‟re told a prominent place had been reserved for a tribute from the United States. Doctor Hake could not refrain from emphasizing the inconsistency of the situation and emphatically remarked that the present the wonderful Peace Palace, erected by Carnegie is a travesty on the sentiment of peace among nations. I believe the war now in progress will set civilization back a half a century. Boy, how right he was. �37 George: Yes. There is a little story about when he returned I believe from this trip, there was a little dinner party and many of the people of the city of some prominence were in attendance and I believe the Voigts were there too and even though my Uncle obviously was German as were the Voigts. The thing got a little controversial and they had quite a splash in the paper about the sentiments expressed by Doctor Hake that apparently weren‟t considered .the thing to say with war so imminent. And he was criticized for it, rather strongly, but he didn‟t retract, I don‟t think. .. Interviewer: Was there any feeling in your family, any reaction against German people expressed? Or you had been here so long by that time… George: Oh, no we had no relatives over there. Interviewer: One of the things that comes through as you look over the history of Grand Rapids is that the German people have disappeared into the population. Whereas the Dutch have retained this Dutchness. Helen: Yes, that‟s right. Interviewer: But the German people have just joined the Yankees. George: I think it is rather fitting and I think a tribute to these people. Both my grandfathers are memorialized in the Grand Rapids Museum. Interviewer: In the public museum downtown? George: Yes. In the Ethnic groups. Interviewer: That‟s something to be proud of. George: Yes, incidentally on this one picture here, this was not at the Voigt house anymore. Interviewer: No, that is not there at all. George: That was originally an egg house. Interviewer: That room doesn‟t look anything like that now, that room looks quite different, this looks more like a drawing room but this one has been turned into a music room. Maybe not the way it looked. A lot of the furniture went to various relatives. George: Yes, that„s my understanding, when you come in there is that model mannequin with the bridal dress on. Well that‟s Doctor Hake‟s wife. Interviewer: George: Is that her wedding dress, that‟s the one that Barbara modeled, isn‟t it? Oh, is it? I don‟t know. �38 Interviewer: I think that‟s the one, because it is a beautiful wedding dress. George: Not to distract you from that, but here are some cablegrams, telegrams and so on at the time of that Naomi disaster. Interviewer: Oh, yes. Isn‟t that neat, all those barred by the sad misfortune on the lake stretch hands across and join in hardy congratulations. Everybody safe and doing well; may this gloom not cloud your joy; may the sunshine of the day be the sunshine of your life. Who is M. Richard? Louis Hake & bride. George: He was, I don‟t know, some relative, but this Albert Hake is… This all ties in because of the … Interviewer: Naomi disaster. I‟d like to really take the time and really read through this, if you wouldn‟t mind me coming back. I would love to come back and sit and read sometime. George: Oh, sure, glad to have you. Interviewer: There is no use reading into the tape recorder. George: No, I know. Interviewer: And I think your mother did a beautiful job in putting this all together. George: I have a lot of this stuff that is just… Interviewer: Now, here you are, Mr. and Mrs. William Hake requesting the honor of your presence of their daughter Helen Matilda to Edward J. Jackoboice, June twelfth, one thousand nine-hundred and six, nine o‟clock. St. Mary‟s Church. Now where is St. Mary‟s Church? George: That‟s on the West side where Father Bingham is pastor now. That is, that is one of the really sleeper churches of the dioceses. You see, that is the second oldest parish in the dioceses of Grand Rapids. Interviewer: That is before St. Andrews? George: No, St. Andrews is first. Interviewer: And St. Mary‟s was second? George: Now, St Mary‟s Church was not the second Gothic church, it was the first church in the Gothic style. St. Mary‟s is an older parish, but St James has an older existing structure, But that St Mary‟s church was in a Gothic style. It is a gorgeous church inside. Interviewer: I‟ll make a point to go over to St. Mary‟s. I‟ll make a point to go over and look. Now, this is your grandfather? William Hake. �39 George: Yes. Interviewer: Isn‟t that something? George: Now that‟s McGraw. Interviewer: Did your grandmother outlive your grandfather? George: No, she died when she was about seventy-eight. Yes. Interviewer: Boy, he was how old when he died? George: ninety-three. Interviewer: Wow, ninety-three. That‟s fantastic George: There were a lot of write-ups about him. He was a very, very colorful man and a dominate personality. These are some of the things that happened at the Hake house. There‟s picture over there of the Naomi over there. Interviewer: Burns, Wednesday morning, Grand Rapids Michigan. One of the heroes of the Naomi disaster - William Hanrahan. Thrilling tales. Grand Rapids people aboard were saved, but lose their clothes and their valuables. Bet they lost some wedding presents too, didn‟t they? George: Yes. Interviewer: Oh, my, that was a big thing, worse than the cyclone. They did lose some lives, though? George: Oh, yes. Obviously mostly crewmen there, that burned to death Interviewer: No, isn‟t that something. Now here it is, soloist…. George: Now is that my sisters? Interviewer: Ruth Jackoboice, is that your sister? George: Yes, I use to have twin sisters Helen and Ruth, and they played the French Harps. Interviewer: I talked to one of your sisters; here it is Miss Gast - that is you! George: Interviewer: George: Yes. I talked with her, and she‟s very much involved in the money raising thing... She… �40 Interviewer: … for the diocese, isn‟t she? She said she would just as soon I talk to you. She would get back to me later. She apparently has put a lot of time and a lot of work…. George: Yes, she has… Interviewer: She was very kind. George: She is in Florida now; she will be back sometime this week. Interviewer: Were the regarded in town as an eccentric family in town? George: No, let‟s see. I guess a qualified yes. Interviewer: What made people in town feel like that about them? Clannishness mainly? George: Obviously, they were very family oriented. They had strong convictions on thrift and economy which really is no fault. Interviewer: That‟s really a virtue, but they were pretty well known for …. George: I know they used to have a decorator years ago and he was highly regarded an as a friend, very fine and very expensive decorator, but say he painted the outside, they had these big beams. Well Mrs. Voigt, she just get a fish pole after he‟d left and would put white gauze on the end a fish pole and she‟d reach up there to make sure he painted it all. If it was wet, it was all right, otherwise he‟d missed and she‟d want to know about it. Interviewer: I heard another tale like that. This old gal whose father built the Voigt house, did a lot of work for her father before that. She used to take the bills around and present the bills, and she‟d go to the mill office with the bills and she said he‟d always say, “Oh, John. How did John get at this figure? This is too high, this is too high.” And her father said, “Now he‟ll say this to you. He‟ll say John‟s just robbing me blind.” And he said, “Well you just stay there and you don‟t say anything. And then he‟ll pay you.” And she said it was just like that. You‟d go in and he‟d say “Oh John is jus robbing me. This should be, no this price is too high.” Then she waited a while and wouldn‟t say anything and then he‟d pay her. And she said every time she went to collect there was always this little act they went thru. George: You know, there was one controversy, not so many years ago I would say prior to Ralph‟s death, when the mills were sold to the City of Grand Rapids and the city I think was wise in acquiring the land, because we are now one of the few cities in the country, who own both sides of the river in the downtown area with rare exceptions. I think that is a great thing they are striving to do but the Voigts were highly criticized for that because according to the reports they got anything from five hundred and eight thousand to five hundred and say fifty thousand dollars for it. But what most people entirely forget is that the Voigts owned the riparian rights and by riparian natural waterways laws and so on, the city never could have acquired that unless the Voigts had surrendered those rights, which meant later they could make a parking lot and �41 eventually a planned plaza on the west side. See these canals fed the water wheels for the Voigt mills. And also, something and I am almost positive I am correct because I had it confirmed by one of the leaders of at least one of the hospitals. George Welsh, and I always regarded George Welsh, I disagree violently on many things. Did you know him at all? Interviewer: I never knew him, but I wish I had, he was quite a colorful character? George: Yes, he was and naming the auditorium was a well deserved honor for him. But when they say they paid five hundred and some-odd thousand dollars for these old mills. And the city did. But they not only got the mills and the land on which they stood, they also got the land to make a parking lot out of that land. But most importantly the Voigts have never been given credit for it to my knowledge; they gave a hundred eighty thousand dollars to St. Mary‟s Hospital and a hundred eighty thousand to Butterworth Hospital. And there is three hundred sixty thousand dollars and everybody said they were getting top dollar but no one comes forth and says they also gave it back. George: I had a friend and maybe this is analogous, but his family, and they lived in Grand Rapids, are just notorious and they were just plain stingy. And yet I seen this fellow would turn right around and argue with the newspaper boy whether it should be two cents or three cents. And on one occasion he turned right around and he gave me season tickets to a most coveted football season. He said, Ah, here you take them.” I said I would pay he said, “No, I don‟t want anything.” And I think the Voigts in some ways were like that. Interviewer: They wanted the value for their money. George: Yes. Interviewer: Of course one of the things we forget, and I think it is true here, is the genius of Grand Rapids has been the businessmen. Extremely capable businessmen. And I was sort of interested in meeting you because one thing about my study of Grand Rapids, it is a natural course of events in America now. But one of the things I think made Grand Rapids strong was home-owned business. You know, that the people that own the businesses live here. George: Yes, Interviewer: And there were so many businesses, were home owned businesses right here that were strong and diversified. And of course, that‟s passing on. George: You take with us now, we‟re. There are no outside owners it is all family. Interviewer: But you are becoming more and more rare here in town. George: Yes, that‟s right. But as I say we have been in business continuously as a family in the machinery business in Grand Rapid without interruption for a hundred and eighteen years. �42 Interviewer: That‟s a record. George: Very frankly, we enjoy it tremendously; we have an awful lot of fun. We sell throughout the United States and about twenty-five foreign countries. You‟ve got a really good booming… Interviewer: George: But we work at it, and we enjoy working at it. Interviewer: And you have three sons in the business? George: Three sons in the business, all three sons are in the business. Interviewer: I thought maybe when Mrs. Jackoboice said that one of them was writing about Wordsworth; maybe you had a college professor in the family. George: I think it started out that way, I think he likes that as an avocation but I think he likes business better. He might not agree with me, but he is down there all the time. Take my wife. Her people have always been in business, both of my grand fathers were in business and my father was. Business talk has always been dinner table conversation as a lot of these old family names in town. You know the Herpolsheimers, Wurzburgs and the Voigts. You weren‟t overly impressed because their names came up so often. Interviewer: And they were your neighbors and you saw them every day. George: Just like, here we were flying to Europe a few years ago and actually the man was Don Maxwell who was the editorial chairman of the Chicago Tribune and we were flying together he and his wife and Helen and myself we were visiting, half-way across the ocean and he rather facetiously at the end said well George you know you have been name dropping a little bit. I said Mr. Maxwell I disagree, it just so happens that because these people made some mark on the world and they are well known figures, doesn‟t mean your name dropping or I am. Actually, I know these people, I know them very well and they are personal friends of mine. I don‟t believe I am doing any more than giving them their modest merit. INDEX B G Bedford, Mr. · 4 D Dubee, Charles · 24 Gast Family · 1, 4, 40 Gilmore Family · 25 Gore, Arthur · 34, 35 �43 H P Hake Family · 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Hanchett, Mrs. · 24 Herpolsheimer Family · 9, 11, 43 Hunting Family · 19 Pantlind Family · 18, 24, 25 J Jackoboice Family · 1, 2, 9, 10, 33, 39, 40, 42 Jungbaecker, John · 3, 16, 30 K Kusterer Family · 20, 36 L R Rasch Family · 3, 9, 23 Rindge, Warren · 30 S Schulz, Mildred · 3 St. Cecilia Music Society · 23 St. Mark‟s Episcopal Church · 8 St. Mary‟s Church · 13, 39, 41 Stiles, Mary · 23 Sweet, Martin · 22 U Ladies Literary Club · 23 Leitelt Family · 12 University of Michigan · 6, 33 M V McGraw Family · 35, 39 McLachlan, Mrs. · 3, 30 Monarch Road Machinery Company · 9 Voigt Family · 2, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 21, 23, 24, 28, 29, 37, 41, 42, 43 Voigt, Clara · 1, 4, 13, 33 O W Orth, Mary · 3 Whinery, Mrs. · 24, 25 Women‟s City Club · 22, 23 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/97bc849e31349448be62db2c84842671.mp3 6414af789bf64b461989218c2cf11560 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 Grand Rapids Oral Histories Subject The topic of the resource Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Local histories Memoirs Michigan--History Oral histories (document genre) Description An account of the resource Taped and transcribed interviews conducted in the early 1970s primarily of the children and grandchildren of many of the founders of Grand Rapids, Michigan; many of whom were residents of the Heritage Hill neighborhood. Interviews were collected to develop a significant collection of oral resources that would supplement other primary and secondary local history materials. Initially funded as a private project, Grand Valley State College (now University) assumed responsibility for continuing the project until 1977. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/452">Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives 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 application/pdf; audio/mp3 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text; Sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-23 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1971 - 1977 Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. 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-23_52Jackaboice Title A name given to the resource Jackoboice, George and Helen Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jackoboice, George Jackoboice, Helen Description An account of the resource Helen Gast was born August 7, 1910 in Grand Rapids. She married George Jackoboice in 1937. They had three sons. Mrs. Jackoboice died on December 31, 2008. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan--History Local histories Memoirs Oral histories (document genre) Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Grand Valley State University Women 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 Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf audio/mp3 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 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/37c1d24630bac69ec1d0b994ec2d2811.jpg 6bdcfaadfe48cbc4b0bcfc47ce23cd7c 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 Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. 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 Merrill_FilmPacks_1_008 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1937-01-20 Title A name given to the resource Jackson Oak Description An account of the resource Jackson oak tree near Fairhope, Alabama, covered in Spanish moss. Subject The topic of the resource Trees -- United States Fairhope (Ala.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 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/1465f4c9c6eab9c4435f1a6177b0c6d2.jpg f4aea1eadf52abff54a56c17578cfba4 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 Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. 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 Merrill_FilmPacks_1_009 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1937-01-20 Title A name given to the resource Jackson Oak Description An account of the resource Jackson oak tree near Fairhope, Alabama, covered in Spanish moss. A woman is visible standing under the tree. Subject The topic of the resource Trees -- United States Fairhope (Ala.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 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/75871852da12a24507e7300a349d17b0.mp4 64d9d5db5d4ca585b6086770bbc3654b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6ca74fed78420d91dd86aeea2a87fcfb.pdf 0673d95bf3295d17702c4e714688fb67 PDF Text Text Jackson, Elmer Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Interviewee’s Name: Elmer Jackson Length of Interview: (1:37:50) Interviewed by: James Smither Transcribed by: Maluhia Buhlman Interviewer: “We’re talking today with Elmer Jackson of Decatur, Michigan and the interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project. Okay now Mr.Jackson begin with some background on yourself, to begin with where and when were you born?” I was a farm boy, born in the house that we lived in back in the day when they had midwives and that kind of thing and went to school– Country school, one room school that they taught eight grades and you walked to school and back home because we didn’t have buses then. (00:58) Interviewer: “In what year were you born?” In 1925. Interviewer: “Okay, alright and how far away from school did you live?” One and a quarter mile. Interviewer: “Okay, and did your family own a farm?” They were buying it, they owned it. Interviewer: “Okay, and now you’re growing up during the depression, were they able to keep the farm in the 30s?” �Jackson, Elmer It was tough going, I know about that, farm boys and there were three of us and yes it was tough. You had good days and bad days and when you had a thousand pigs and horses and ducks and chickens and they all gotta be taken care of day and night– Morning and night, and I then graduated from eighth grade in that school and went to Decatur high school and– For four years. Interviewer: “Okay, now were you in high school when Pearl Harbor happened?” Yes. Interviewer: “And how did you learn about Pearl Harbor?” It was on a Sunday that it was on the radio, and we had a poor excuse for radio at that time, and then when I went to school the next day it was like it was eerie because everybody was aware. Interviewer: “Now before Pearl Harbor were you paying attention to the news from the world and the war in Europe, that kind of thing?” (3:02) No. Interviewer: “Okay, so it’s a pretty big shock when we–” Yeah I’d say so. Interviewer: “Alright, now at that point you weren’t old enough to serve.” Not at that– ‘41, 1941 no. Interviewer: “Okay, and then did– Now how did– Did the war change things in Decatur?” �Jackson, Elmer During the war no one on Earth would know what this country did to win this war, everybody– With few exceptions, and every– We were talking about this yesterday, piece of scrap in the country was saved and even little kids were saving the foil off their chewing gum and everybody was determined they were going to win this war, period, and then didn’t matter what they had to do. Interviewer: “Okay, now your family had a farm, did you get extra gas for the farm?” It was rationed. Interviewer: “Yeah.” I’ve got some coupons at home and everything was rationed, sugar, it was– Even tires were recapped, you couldn’t buy a new one and you did what you had to do, everybody did. Interviewer: “Okay, now did farmers swap with each other? Would they trade meat for vegetables or things like that?” (4:44) Everybody did whatever that needed to be done, didn’t matter a darn thing it was that way. Interviewer: “Alright, now did you want to enlist in the military at some point?” In the senior year I tried to enlist in the Air Force, because I was 50% colorblind they wouldn’t take me. So when I graduated I just, instead of enlisting or being drafted at that time my dad wanted me to help that summer on the farm. So I did and it was a year later when they drafted me. Interviewer: “Okay, so when did they draft you?” That was on August the 30th in ‘44. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Alright and after you got the draft notice did you have to report right away or did you wait till after the harvest?” I don’t remember exactly but it wasn’t very long after I was– That I got the notice and seven of us left this town on the same day. Interviewer: “Did you need to deal with them or– Alright, and now where did they send you for basic training?” Texas, Camp Wood. Interviewer: “Camp Wood, Texas. Alright, how did they get you there?” Well first of all I was inducted in Detroit, from Paw Paw to Detroit, from Detroit where they told you to take one step forward and you were in the Army and they put us on a train and sent us back to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, went right back through this town and we stayed in Sheridan for two weeks doing some basics and everything till they put us on a train and sent us to Texas. (7:00) Interviewer: “Okay, how long did it take to get from Fort Sheridan to Texas?” I’ll tell you what it seemed like Arkansas was the biggest state in the United States because we went from one corner to the other and it was slow, slow, slow, I don’t know how long it took it took it was just agonizing going. Interviewer: “Alright, and was it hot too?” And? Interviewer: “Was it hot, was the weather hot?” �Jackson, Elmer When we got down there yes it was hot, in fact during basic there was even– I remember one or two that dropped out of march because they were passed out. Yes it was very, very hot and we marched in the hot. Interviewer: “Alright, and then what else did you do in basic training, you did marching and what else?” You did a lot of things, the most memorable was towards the end of basics was the infiltration course and that was the most miserable. They had a wire web over a– Well it ended up being a crawl space and it was rainy, muddy, and you crawled up under that wire and under the wire on your belly and they were firing blanks I’m sure but supposedly right over your head. Interviewer: “Now did they have tracers so you could see the fire going over?” It was at night, there was enough light to see, that was all. (8:55) When I got out of there, there was a creek not far away and I jumped in the creek clothes and all because I was a filthy muddy mess. Interviewer: “Alright, and then how much emphasis was there on discipline, on following orders?” Oh boy, you had no choice, if he said “Do this.” Do it, and anybody that was not obeying did 50 push ups or marched another ten miles or whatever they could think of to– Yes. Interviewer: “Okay, now how easy was it for you to adjust to being in the Army?” I can’t say it was ever easy, again you just did what you were told period, or else you ended up on KP or– Interviewer: “Okay, so you learned that pretty fast?” �Jackson, Elmer Well you learn faster when you’re the one in trouble. Interviewer: “Okay, now how long did the basic training last?”] It was supposed to be three months, August, September– I think it was three months or fours months, I don’t know now and they took– Because of the Battle of the Bulge they took us out of basic a week early and told us we had ten days to get out to the east coast, I can’t think of the camp out there. Interviewer: “Did you– Well you–” From there to Camp Shanks, New York. Interviewer: “Okay, did you go to Fort Meade, Maryland?”] That’s what it was. (10:45) Interviewer: “That was in your article yeah.” That’s where it was, went from Texas to Meade to– Interviewer: “Camp Shanks?” Shanks, thank you. Interviewer: “Yeah, did you do any training at Fort Meade or did you just wait?” I wasn’t there, I had a pass I remember, that’s about all. It was awful short cause that Battle of the Bulge was pushing everything. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Alright, okay and then when you get to Camp Shanks do you remember how long you stayed there?” I think about overnight or something like that because I remember with the thing we stayed in there were half a dozen other guys or something like that. I wanted a pass I remember, down to the city, and they told me I couldn’t have it because they were moving us out soon, I think I was there one night or something like that. Interviewer: “Okay, and then what ship did they put you on?” The Queen Mary, second biggest ship in the world. Interviewer: “Okay, and what kind of accommodations did they have on that ship?” I always heard there was 18,000 men on that ship, they had stripped that ship bare and promenade which is practically outdoors in January as it leaves New York. (12:25) We had a room a little bit bigger– Little bigger than that office, with nine men in it, I was on promenade and we were supposed to trade off with third deck down every other night. Well it was so cold on promenade you didn’t sleep much so the guys who were supposed to be on third deck traded with us every other night. Then we thought we were smart and we tried to put us all on third deck and that didn’t work very well but the ship, and the first two three days started down south ways and it got so it wasn’t so uncomfortable on promenade but– And it normally took that ship five days to get to Europe– To England, and because they were changing course every four minutes to miss the submarines, the submarines were out there but we changed course every four minutes so that we wouldn’t run into them, and so it took seven days and we ended up landed in Glasgow, Scotland. Interviewer: “Okay, now did your ship sail by itself or did you have escorts?” Or what? �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Did you have escorts with you or was the ship by itself?” The Queen Mary didn’t use escorts, I understand the other ships that were smaller did but not the Queen Mary. Interviewer: “It was supposed to be fast enough that the subs couldn’t catch it.” Yes, faster than the submarines. Interviewer: “And I guess it worked because they didn’t sink it.” They didn’t run into them but guess they knew what they were doing. Interviewer: “Alright, okay so what happens when you get to Scotland?” There was a great big warehouse or something that all the men, after we got off the ship, the men all got in this big warehouse and then it wasn’t very long, I don’t know if it was– I don’t think we even stayed there overnight but we were put on train down to Southampton. (14:40) Interviewer: “And then did you stay in Southampton or did they just put you on ships and– ” We were– It was very, very soon, I don’t think I even slept there, they put us on landing craft of some kind. I know the front drops and then you walked in water and then you got up on land finally and– And we ended up on train again, I don’t know– That escapes me a little bit. Interviewer: “Well if you landed on a beach you probably landed on Omaha beach because we used that as–” No that was– Went across the English channel. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Yeah.” I never knew what beach. Interviewer: “Cause that was a regular place for us to land people long after D-Day so you might have been there. Other places– If you went to Le Havre you might have gone into the harbor.” It didn’t look like anything. Interviewer: “Yeah, okay but they built rail lines right out there so.” And part of the time there wasn’t enough light, daylight or otherwise, to see where you were going or what you were doing. You just did what you’re told, that's what I keep saying. Interviewer: “Alright, now according to your records you crossed the Atlantic at the end of January 1945. So this is gonna be now beginning of February that they’re shipping you towards the front lines.” (16:16) Well we were up– I joined the outfit on the Maas river. Interviewer: “Okay and what outfit did you join, what unit?” Well it was the 75th and the regiment I told you. Interviewer: “Yeah but that’s– You didn’t tell me on camera, so.” 75th division. Interviewer: “Right, and what regiment?” �Jackson, Elmer 291st Infantry Regiment and it was– They took us to the front in trucks with those little tiny lights on them and I can remember because there were big guns going off and the flashes were showing the men all over the acreage and I was put to a house on the beach on the Maas River. There was a house there that the outfit had been badly shot up and they put me on guard there on the first night, enough to scare you to death, and here I am out there all night standing in the dark, had a password, that was my first night. Interviewer: “Now did you have any trouble that first night?” No, as it happened I didn’t. Interviewer: “Okay, and then in the morning what do they do with you?” We started down some path, I don’t know where, and went into some Dutch home or something and those people were so appreciative of us being there they fell all over. (18:25) They insisted we sleep in their beds even, they’d been freed from the Germans and they’d do anything, nicest people, and then of course the next day we’re back going on the road and again and out there marching or whatever, just go, go, go. Interviewer: “Okay, now at this point were you– Did you have any fighting or was it just marching?” I don’t remember that there was any fighting at that time. Interviewer: “Okay, alright and what was the weather like?” It had been snow but I think the snow had just melted, it was still cold, awful cold. The beginning of the bulge was snow but I was at the last half or something, last– Maybe third, I don’t know. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Yeah, well as part of all the counter attacking, because in January and February we were pushing them back and attacking, by February when you got there we’re advancing pretty much all up and down the line, so it’s part of a big movement by a lot of units.” One of these things has a map, I didn’t fully understand it me myself because they never told us where we were going but we went, first one and then the other. Interviewer: “Okay, now when you joined your company did anybody try to show you the ropes or explain how things worked or were you on your own?” Practically on your own, one thing that I missed– Way back at somewhere, I don’t know where, was where they issued the weapons. Mine was an M-1 and you had to clean them in practically boiling water, they had a big tank in the campfire under it and they had– These weapons were covered with cosmoline I guess is the name, and you had to wash all that off and clean it up so you had your weapon working and that was premature to that other stuff that you’ve been telling. (21:05) I don’t know if it was right after we got into France or if was after we– Seemed like it was after we got into France but then back to Holland and through France and I thought by the looks of that map that I probably was through Luxembourg which I didn’t realize before, and you’d take one town and then another and that book– One of them, has that, in one of those pages has a name of a city that we took and I didn’t know it was in there until here about three, four weeks ago when I had time to read it and it tells about the city’s name and everything. I was there, there wasn’t any questions about it. Did you find it? Interviewer: “Yeah, well I’m looking– Basically you were, your division fought mostly on the north side of the bulge originally and then they moved them south. So you would have gone through Luxembourg just like you said and then you get to a place called Adelsheim on first of February and–” A lot of those pictures you saw were taken during the pauses between battles. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “And then you’re now– Your division supported the French at a certain point in the Colmar pocket area and then went on to the Rhine from there. Do you ever remember meeting any French troops or seeing any of them?” That was always a sore point because you never knew or understood why they didn’t try harder to protect themselves and keep it from– Keep the Germans from– Interviewer: “Well, yeah well the historians have figured out they actually did try pretty hard they just did it badly.” Well the French mostly were underground or many of them were killed because they were spies for the allies. Interviewer: “Yeah, that was– Well that’s sort of later on but at the beginning of the war the French did fight they just got beat, and then during the war some of them collaborated, some of them helped the allies, some of them didn’t do anything but I was asking about the French army, the free French army.” (23:58) I don’t know anything about them. Interviewer: “Okay, you didn’t see them. Okay, alright but you were noting– You said you thought you moved through Luxembourg and it looks like you did so you did a lot of moving.” Yes. Interviewer: “And then as you get into February and then you start to fight and eventually move towards the Rhine River.” Took them, had those battles and moved on and then we ended up down to the Rhine River. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Right, now before you got to the Rhine River did you see any combat yourself?” Well that one in there is on paper, it’s in there, no question about it. Interviewer: “Okay, but what do you remember about that?” I remember that one so well and apparently there were several others but the only two that I know about are that one and probably another one that was at Dortmund and then we moved up on the other side of where we– At the river after the crossing, but they started crossing 36 hours before we did. Interviewer: “Okay, well let’s back up a little bit, before you cross the Rhine what do you remember about– Do you remember being in one particular battle before you went to Germany?” (25:25) I don’t remember. Interviewer: “Okay, you were telling me you were–” That was so confusing, as far as I was concerned all I know is I followed the rules and we took one town and then another and you couldn’t even give all the names. Interviewer: “Alright, now within your unit what was your job, were you just a rifleman at that point?” That’s all. Interviewer: “Okay, and–” Foot soldier. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Yeah, now do you remember the first time you got shot at?” Yeah, the first time was when we were crossing an open field, it was kind of getting it dark it was probably six or seven o’clock at night and it was– Had started to get dark and we had an open field to go to to get to a barn on the other side, and here’s a whole company. Gotta get over there quick while it’s daylight enough to see and we were running across the field and there was another guy that was about as close to me as you are to me, and we were running side by side and he got shot through the hand and I hit the ground and so did he. He went into shock there, no question, and it was getting, like I said, getting dark and I got up and beat it to the barn and a couple of guys went out and got this guy and I never saw him again, I don’t know what ever happened to him. Went back I’m sure, but that was how close I come– I never knew for sure if the guy was aiming at me or this guy because here we are side by side. Interviewer: “May have just been shooting in your general direction.” Yeah. (27:22) Interviewer: “Okay, and when you were in some of these actions I mean could you see the enemy or just hear the gunshots?” We knew they were out there because they were shooting at us, I didn’t see them at that time, no. Interviewer: “Okay, and when you’re going through Belgium and France and Luxembourg and so forth what did the towns or the buildings look like?” Well those pictures that are in that album shows you homes and places over there, and they didn’t build them like we do and many of them are brick and stone and what have you anyway but at some point they had to use some other means to build this house and so many of them were blown to shreds anyway but– Interviewer: “Okay, and did you see many civilians or were they out of sight?” �Jackson, Elmer The one place that we crossed another opening and it was like Benton Harbor, St.Joe but they were separated by a– Probably from here to the Dollar General over there, and you had to go across there. I never could figure out why they made us go across there, there was the woods over there and a bunch of other stuff over here but go. Well you got about halfway and then the Germans opened up, grenades and rifle fire, and of course you hit the ground as fast as you can, or faster and you finally got up and got over to the other side. There was an embankment and I was down on the ground before that embankment and I could look over and see that there was a house over there and every once and a while a G.I would go out there and there’s a table sitting out there below a window. I don’t know why the window was so high but I guess it’s the way it was built, anyway I did what I saw the others do, I went over, jumped up on the table and dove through the window. The guy inside says “You wanna kill yourself?” I said “I’d rather die that way.” And yes there were civilians in that house in the basement, I briefly saw them, then the sergeant– It was dark now, then the sergeant picked two to go make contact with some other group. (30:27) Fine, but they picked me and another guy, I had no more idea where I was going, what I was doing and it was pitch dark out there. Scared? Yes, the other guy went out the window and I never saw him again, I don’t know where he went, but I didn’t know what direction to go or anything. So I went back down over that embankment that I just come up over anyway and just followed as best I could in the dark and I must have gone a quarter of a mile or something before I could see– Make the outline of a house or something, and I started using the password thinking someone was gonna challenge me somewhere, and I kept saying it and no one would answer I didn’t know what the devil, I figured well maybe it was Germans. So I kept going and went up to the house even and started to open the door and I can see there was candles burning inside. I open the door a little more and here’s G.Is laying all over the floor, they were sleeping, there wasn’t even room for me. So there was a table over there, somewhere, wasn’t very big at least half as big as this one, and I went over and got up on that table and went to sleep, I’d had enough for one day, but they got us out and the whole gang we went right back by the house that I was in the night before and I– When we got to the front of the house there were two G.Is dead on the ground, one was Melnick and one was Wynn, I don’t know which way, because I went over and looked at their dog tags while we were pacing off to the next whatever, and there was a big hole in the front of that house. It wasn’t there last night, I’m lucky I might �Jackson, Elmer have been and I assume some German sent a missile or something right into the front of that house. I don’t know if it killed anybody else but it killed those two without a doubt, I think they said they were from headquarters or something but that was war. Then I remember another– Dortmund I guess it was when you went into that and I remember going over a railroad track and moving on– I don’t know where we’re headed, there’s too much to remember I don’t know. Interviewer: “Okay, well let’s– To back up a little bit, so you were– Do you remember crossing the Rhine River?” Yeah that was the dark and what I thought was a huge row boat but it was a motor boat of some kind but it might have had, eight, ten men in it or something and you can hear the Germans sending shells out over the window trying to keep us from getting over there I guess, and you sweat it out because you– And here it’s dark because the only thing that was keeping us from somebody aiming at us. Interviewer: “When you got to the other side were there already Americans there?” (34:28) Well let’s see, 36 hours later? Interviewer: “Yeah” Yes there were Americans there, I don’t know if they were very far away. Interviewer: “Okay, alright and then did you go into combat from there or–” There was– I would consider combat any of this because you’re sweating, if there’s any sweat– One, this was interesting, one town that we were taking, it was probably three o’clock in the morning it was pitch dark and most of the night was gone and they had picked a whole lotta men and they put a bunch of men on one side of the road and a bunch of men on the other side and I don’t know why they picked me again to lead this group on this left side and it’s dark and you’re just taking short steps and listening, don’t make any noise and we got a little ways down the road �Jackson, Elmer and you could hear something coming. It’s dark and it sounded like steel wheels on a cart or wagon or something, and it certainly was, two Germans. I have to say they were– Must have been the dumbest Germans in the German army, brought this steel wheel cart with a machine gun on it, apparently out to watch the men coming in or something and the guy on the other side knew a little German, I didn’t but at night he says “Halt!” Which was German and of course they stopped, they were prisoners right now and I’d hate to have been in their shoes that’s all, and they signed a couple of our guys to take them back. That steel wheel cart was sure foolish I mean they had to know it was gonna be picked out quick. Interviewer: “Well they might not have known you were as close as you were.” I guess not, I don’t know but anyway we went on in and took that down and you just go you don’t get to say “I don't wanna.” You go, if they shoot you that’s your trouble, tough luck. Interviewer: “Alright, now as you’re advancing into Germany are you encountering any German tanks?” (37:31) There were German tanks shot up or destroyed alongside the roads from time to time and American tanks. Interviewer: “And then did you ever have tanks or tank destroyers that supported you?” No, I rode on one of the American tanks from one place to another once but that was the closest I even come to a tank that I can remember. Interviewer: “Alright, now there’s some point in your story when you were talking about digging emplacements for tank destroyers.” That was at the Rhine river. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Okay, can you describe that? I mean what you were doing, what the things looked like?” Well first of all we had to go down the river to where the next hole had to be dug, which was maybe from here to across the street even or wherever they had to have a hole for tank destroyers, and it’s dark and you’re digging a hole in the dark for a dang tank destroyer and it’s not a bicycle, it’s big. Interviewer: “Yeah, well is this the kind of thing it’s like a Sherman tank chassis with a big gun on top of it?” I couldn’t see it in the dark, anyway the tank destroyers weren’t there yet, we were getting ready for them. Interviewer: “Alright, now when you were fighting did you have artillery support?” (39:13) There were times we had artillery support, in fact I thought they were sending out artillery too close to us. Yes they go over and hit the Germans on the other side but you had to appreciate them because they were softening up the Germans on the other– And another thing that when we were crossing the land here’s these airplanes, B-17s going over by the hundreds and you couldn’t do anything, only appreciate them because they were bombing ahead of us and you felt pretty good they were up there I’ll tell you. Interviewer: “Okay, now did you have air support from fighter bombers or planes that were helping you, or did you just see the big high level bombers?” Maybe I didn’t understand. Interviewer: “Okay, were there aircraft that helped you directly like attacking like artillery did?” �Jackson, Elmer The closest that that ever came was a German plane was– I don’t know if he was looking for somebody or what but he flew over us and we jumped out of a troop truck of some kind that was moving us and run off the road and down the embankment to– But he never did anything. Interviewer: “Okay, alright now as you move into Germany you’re there sort of it’s March and April, spring now of ‘45 getting to the end of the war. Does the German resistance lighten up at all, does it get easier?” Well I’m sure they began to understand that it was a losing battle and yes I think it was a little bit softer war by that time than it was before. Interviewer: “Okay, and did your unit capture– Did you capture many prisoners?” When I was coming back to sleep in the daytime after being down at the river the prisoners would come up the road along by the house by the hundreds. (41:30) They were about four or five wide and as far as you could see there were German prisoners, yes. Interviewer: “Alright, and what did they look like, like how old were they, what kind of shape were they in?” I wasn’t paying attention, all I knew was they were German and I didn’t care what happened to them at that time. Interviewer: “Alright, and what kind of losses did your company take, did a lot of your men get killed or wounded or just a few?” Oh, far more of them did before I got into it because those outfits had like 12 men in a squad when they were full and maybe only five or six left in squad, this is the way it was when I went. Interviewer: “And then when you joined them then did you get back to full strength or were you under strength?” �Jackson, Elmer No, never got– As far as I know, now there’s pictures of the men from our squad and our company in there, and I don’t think we ever got back to full but the war didn’t last that much longer anyway but– Because it didn’t end until May. Interviewer: “Okay, alright and then do you know where your unit was– Where were you when the war ended?” I don’t know. Interviewer: “You were still in Germany.” I don’t know, yeah it would’ve been still Germany, yes. Interviewer: “Okay, alright and how did you learn about the German surrender?” (43:05) Hey as soon as one man knows that everybody else does, it’s like– Interviewer: “Okay, alright and then once the Germans surrendered now what do you do?” We were moved to occupation and the first bunch of us who ended up at a little town, or maybe it wasn’t so little I don’t know, that was called Bad Boll and that was a place where SS troops were trained. There’s a picture in one of these albums of the swimming pool was in there for SS troops, we got to stay there one or two nights that’s all then we were moved to the– Oh I thought that it looked like mountains but they’re probably just huge hills and I– This was a squad I guess was moved to town which wasn’t as big as this one called Fischerbach and we could sleep in those houses and occupy them, and that’s where others were going the towns around them like Decatur and Paw Paw and Lawrence and they got so they were playing ball with– Like you would here and the trouble was we won, and that was trouble then– �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Now so were you–” Because the winnings were schnapps and the mails and the schnapps came at the same time, those men– I didn’t drink and one guy from Pennsylvania didn’t drink but all the rest were so drunk in such a short time that they didn’t even all of them finish their mail or anything. They were just all out of it, there were two of them laying on cots or something downstairs throwing up all over themselves and one guy upstairs– I was upstairs that was supposed to be where I was staying, he was going throw me downstairs and I said– And he was called Big Stoop so he was big, I said “If I go, you’re going to.” But he never did. Interviewer: “Alright, how long did you stay there do you think?” Maybe a month, I don’t know, I [unintelligible] Interviewer: “And did you see much of the Germans, were the civilians around?” (46:22) There were civilians but they never saw war in the whole– Because it was way out away from the war, but they never saw war a minute I’m sure and they were friendly and nice but I don’t think they appreciated the fact that these drunks were out there using their weapons and we still had our weapons with us, shooting up and down– Excuse me, up and down the streets and acting like crazy, they had a couple of guys that were outside of town, I remember I and one other guy were in a jeep and went out around looking for the man, two of them were taking this town they were down on the ground in the grass, the war was over but they were taking this town. Just wild and they were so out of the war that anything went, that’s all. Interviewer: “Who was in charge of you, I mean did you have a squad leader or–” I don’t know, the– Johnson was the name of the one that was head of our squad but I don’t know anymore than that. Interviewer: “Okay, but he didn’t have very good control?” �Jackson, Elmer I don’t know, he might’ve been drunk too, I’m not sure. Interviewer: “Alright, and then you think that you stayed in that area about a month. Now did they have any rules for you about fraternizing with the Germans?” It was always don’t fraternize but after the war ended they got pretty careless, but I don’t remember anything going on at that place. Interviewer: “Okay, now you think you stayed in that place about a month, what happens after that?” We were transferred to, a camp I guess, Camp Baltimore? And they made me an MP, that’s in there and I wasn’t very happy being an MP I was out there giving tickets to men doing things that I would’ve done. (48:48) So I darn soon got moved and they put me in the office and I wasn’t very good at typing in high school so I was using the eraser a lot, and then they moved us– Moved me anyway, to must have been graves registration. Interviewer: “Okay, explain what that was.” Well first of all when I got there I didn’t even know what the outfit was, I didn’t know what they did or anything, I was as dumb as they could be and I was watching the guys playing cards in one of the buildings, down on the floor playing cards, and I’m listening to them talk and I’m getting the idea this is not a very good place to be and I went right out– While they were still talking, I went right out and went to headquarters, what they considered headquarters, looking for a bulletin board cause I wanna do something wildly different than what they’re talking about and on the bulletin board was a job for a driver. Oh boy, I gotta try, and I got the job there’s pictures in there of the weapons carrier I drove and I had a German build a cab on it, cause there was nothing over you, for two cartons of cigarettes that I didn’t smoke either. They were issued to us, wouldn’t they like to know how many of them died because of lung cancer that they issued the cigarettes, and the job was you had a driver, you had an interpreter, and the man that went �Jackson, Elmer with us was doing the job and one of the places they sent us– I don’t even remember all of them, was the British zone and we had a week to do our job and we’d go to this town and this town and that town, there’s a city whatever they happened to be, and you looked for the– What we would call the mayor they called them Bürgermeister for mayors, and you’d ask him if he knew of any place so that Americans might be buried, and he’d tell us where this and that might have Americans buried. In the first place we were just locating these things, not processing or anything but locating, and so they tell us where to go and look and we go and look and I remember one that was way out in the woods and apparently the G.I that was there was sitting in a foxhole and there was some kind of shell went off right in front of him and he just laid right back down and was dead, and they ended up digging him up but that other guy wasn’t doing anything like that. I wasn’t, I stood around and watched many times and I saw all kinds, most of them would be just buried in the ground, some of them died and Germans put them in graves and one of them in particular we went to where they thought there was an American and we found out from the civilians that they had put him in their cemetery and apparently they befriended him before he died. Probably an airplane and parachuted and hurt bad or something and died, and they befriended him they were angered with us because we took him out of his– Out of their cemetery back to be processed and put in cemetery where they belong but it was not unusual to see the darndest things and how people reacted. (53:32) They were driven and they were angry but they knew they didn’t have any choice so they let us go and if we had just called back and told them we needed they’d have all died, but anyway and there’s some that I just walked away from while they were digging them up or something cause I’d had enough, I’d seen enough, Interviewer: “So your seeing body parts and decomposed bodies–” I remember one that was buried in a homemade casket of sorts and them taking the cover off and it was just watery, messy bones and what have you, yeah I’d seen enough of it. Interviewer: “Alright, now when you were in Germany especially right at the end of the war, did you see any of the displaced persons, the people who had been forced laborers or German refugees moving around?” �Jackson, Elmer Well they would have been with the Germans because they were working for Germans, we didn’t have anybody. Interviewer: “Right, but then once the war was over they would try to get home and so they might– Sometimes some of them talk about running into American units or Americans see them. Okay, but you don’t remember anything like that?” Not in particular, no. Interviewer: “Did you see any of the prison camps or concentration camps?” The Americans had a prisoner of war camp and they had towers around it with guards, that’s another place I got told to go and stand guard on that one and here you are out there eight, ten, 12 hours standing guard and you get pretty tired of that. I know I went to sleep a couple of times and I was afraid I’d fall off the darn tower but the Germans were inside this camp that you were watching over and living in pup tents mostly. (56:00) Interviewer: “Did you see any of the camps that the Germans had run?” Not that I remember, no. Interviewer: “Alright, and how long do you think you did the graves registration work?” I figured that was probably close to six months, I don’t know something like that. Interviewer: “Okay, and then while you were doing that where did you go in Europe before you went home? You were in Germany where else did–” I was still in graves registration and it would’ve been in Germany. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “But did you get any time off, could you do some touring? Cause you’ve got pictures of Switzerland and France.” I never figured it out– I should say I don’t remember, somewhere in the middle was where we got a pass to Switzerland, I’m not exactly sure which part and I never understood why I got a pass. There were three of us, there were hundreds of other men out there why me, but it didn’t matter. I went to Switzerland for two weeks and those people loved us, just– The three of us were walking down a street in one city, I don’t know what it was now might tell in there, and a man stopped us. Very nice man, very friendly, and he asked us questions and we told him what he asked and he went on to say that he was from another town in Switzerland and he wanted to know if we were gonna be there in our tour, and we said yes and he said “I’ve got an office at such and such place upstairs.” He was a doctor, and he said “Please stop in when you’re there.” We stopped when we got there, went upstairs to where his office was, and he made us sit down and talk to us for half an hour I guess and then gave us a book– I haven’t been able to find it, that I think he wrote, very nice man and I regretted I didn’t find out more about him but– And that was typical of the people in Switzerland and we slept in Switzerland then. (59:05) They always talked about the Swiss army because it was close enough to war but it– At least at that time they said everybody is training for war and they started I think it was five o’clock in the morning or something, and I know they did because I woke up and heard them marching right by the place I was sleeping. Interviewer: “Now you also– Did you go to Paris at some point?” Did what? Interviewer: “Did you go to Paris in France?” Oh what? Interviewer: “Did you go to Paris?” �Jackson, Elmer Yes, I had a pass to Paris too, one of the things I loved about that was you could get on a subway. You could go from one end of the city to the other, free as G.Is, and I did that a couple times just to see and I went to some of these places like the Arc de Triomphe and that Paris cathedral. Interviewer: “Yeah, Notre Dame, yeah.” I got out and, I don’t know if I got out and walked over to it or something because it was right by the river and walked into that place, I must have taken half a dozen steps and I’m awestruck at what you have to believe was built even before electricity, everything was done by hand. How did those people do that? And now you find out it was built 800 years ago, even more crude but it’s beautiful, but then I saw the Reims cathedral which was not much different than the one at Paris except it might have been a little bit– Somewhere it was supposed to be less than the one in Paris, that’s all I know, and it was beautiful but I wasn’t going to go in and examine everything. I just took enough to see it and it looked a whole lot like that picture in there. Interviewer: “Alright, well now while you were living in Germany did you make friends with any of the people there?” (1:01:50) You could befriend anybody that wanted to be friends, yes. There was some– In fact that picture is in that album too, there’s some– There was some German woman that we talked– Interviewer: “Alright, now we had been talking about what you were doing in Europe after the war ended and my next question is, did you make friends with any of the Germans or get to know any of them?” There were some occasionally, I remember one party, I don’t know whether there was three or something like that, invited us in the house and they were gonna give us each a drink and I took one sip and I didn’t want any ever anymore. I told them I could feel every drop all the way down and another one we visited with outside their house, I don’t remember the conversation but it was probably about the war or something and then there was a woman that wanted to know all �Jackson, Elmer about this country and I even got a letter from her after I got home, one letter and I don’t know anymore what it even said but she– Maybe she liked me, I don’t know, but anyway. Interviewer: “Alright, now you’ve got pictures and you’ve got some pictures of a family who were from Argentina.” Yes. Interviewer: “Who were they, but why were they there?” Why? Interviewer: “Yeah.” Apparently they’d gone to Germany to visit or tour or whatever, I don’t know, they were in Germany that’s all I know. (1:03:58) Interviewer: “And so– But I mean had they been forced to stay in Germany?” Well yes, when the war got going yes, they were interned, they were– They had no choice there was no way for them to go home. Interviewer: “And did they live in a camp or did you not know?” They had a home that they lived in at that time, yeah, that was the British zone. I didn’t know much about them other than we sat down and visited for a while and they were nice people. Interviewer: “Did many of the people there speak English?” Not many, I got so I could communicate before I left but not because I knew German but I could communicate one way or the other. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Okay, yeah I guess when you were doing the graves registration work you had a translator with you.” An interpreter. Interviewer: “Interpreter, now was that an American soldier or a German civilian?” That was a German, yeah. Interviewer: “A man or a woman?” Men, yeah. Interviewer: “And was he a young guy like you or was he older?” (1:05:18) Probably about– Maybe a little older than I was, I don’t know. Interviewer: “Okay, but you really didn’t know anything about him. Did you ever talk to him very much or learn anything about him?” No, we had a job to do. Interviewer: “Okay, now when you were doing this job would you stay away from camp for days at a time?” Yeah. Interviewer: “Okay, and then where would you stay when you’re traveling around?” �Jackson, Elmer I don’t remember I just know we did, I remember when we got the job done we decided he we are in a British zone and we wanted to go back over the border to Holland and get a meal but we didn’t know if we could go over the border or not, I said “Let’s try.” So we got to the border and they stopped us, asked what we were doing and all that stuff, we told them that we were going to eat at a restaurant or something and “Go.” They were friendly too. Interviewer: “Alright, was the food better in the Netherlands?” What? Interviewer: “Was the food better in the Netherlands or just different?” I think it was just different more than anything but it was good, that’s all I know, all I remember. Interviewer: “Now when you were moving around in the British zone did you deal much with the British military?” (1:06:45) Did I? Interviewer: “Did you see British soldiers or Canadians?” Not in particular, no I think a lot of them had already gone home, I don’t know I don’t remember. Interviewer: “But you wouldn’t stay with them on their bases or anything like that?” The only time we got together with one of the other country men was after– Was not long after I had joined that division and we had gone to some building for the night or something and it had been separated or something but anyway there were a whole lot of British soldiers in there, even had a tank or two or something in there and I remember us conversing with them but that’s about the only time I remember. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Okay, now while you were in Europe did you have much contact with people back home? Did you write letters home or did people write to you?” I’ve got a box at home that I sent letters to my mother and dad and everything was censored at that time, you couldn’t say anything other than hello and goodbye, that’s all but they knew I was around yet, and yes I got a whole box of letters. I said I never even looked at one, it’s at home and I should take it down and look at it because I might find something interesting, I don’t know. Interviewer: “You should do that. Now did they write to you?” Oh yeah, I had letters from them. Interviewer: “Did you save those or did they get lost? Did you save those letters?” I don’t think so, I don’t remember doing it if I did. (1:08:57) Interviewer: “Alright, now I guess– And when do they let you go home?” When? Interviewer: “Yeah, kind of middle of–” The backend of that album shows us going home on the victory ship, what a difference. Going over was doing this and I didn’t even get sick, I was comfortable all the way but coming back that ship did this and I fought it for three days and then gave up. They had 50 gallon drums sitting here and there around the ship, that was what they expected anyway. Interviewer: “Alright, okay this is kind of now in like the summer of ‘46 by this time?” Well it was July 6th that I got– Six? No, 3rd I guess I got out. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Right, okay alright and now once you get back to the states do you get discharged right away?” Not immediately, I don’t remember that I did that, we got out at Sheridan. Interviewer: “Well they might have processed you at Fort Sheridan.” Might have what? Interviewer: “They might have processed you at Fort Sheridan when you got there.” Yeah, probably. Interviewer: “Cause they did a lot of that. Okay now what port did you come home to, did you go to New York or somewhere else?” (1:10:40) I don’t know, I was just glad to be home. I remember on a train that came to Chicago I guess and they got us up to Sheridan and I don’t remember, I don’t remember much about that I just was glad to be home, period. Interviewer: “Okay, but now– You don’t remember seeing the Statue of Liberty or anything like that coming into New York Harbor?” There’s a picture in there of it and I can see it from a great distance but they took us out somewhere where you couldn’t see the statue. Interviewer: “Yeah, well probably back to New Jersey again.” Might be, I don’t think I knew. �Jackson, Elmer Interviewer: “Yeah, but if you saw it at all that’s where you were okay.” I don’t think I knew really. Interviewer: “Okay, alright so now once you get back home it’s 1946 you’re out of the Army, what do you do next?” Well first of all to get back home I hitchhiked, well what I did, I did find a train that came to Niles and then, and it was like midnight and I got off the train to Niles and I’m thinking “Now what do I do?” So I wasn’t gonna quit, I just got out on the road and started walking, just a lone G.I. So I hitch hiked, I got a ride but somewhere– It must have been in Niles, I had a made a call home and I guess we didn’t even have a phone yet at that time, and had told the folks I was gonna be there– Be home, meet me at the Four Corners in town. So they met me at the Four Corners here when I got into Decatur, I remember that much. Interviewer: “Okay, and now once you got back home did you just work on the farm or get a job?” (1:13:22) When I got home the first thing I did– It was the 3rd I think because on the 4th of July I– Crazy, I wanted to go watch the fireworks in Paw Paw that was popular at that time and I went over and I stayed there for the first third or quarter of it I guess and I decided why did I want to hear all that after all I’ve been through and I turned around and went home. After I got home I– You had so many weeks of checks of labor, I can’t remember how many but anyway I used that first the first two or three weeks and then I decided I couldn’t stand that any longer, I wasn’t going to just do nothing. So I went out and got a job and– I know I went back and tried to work where I worked at the hardware down here before I was– Because when I was a senior in the last half of the year I had enough credits that I could work afternoons which I did right down here at the hardware store and I worked there until I went into the service. Then when I got home I went back there because I thought they’d maybe want me back, and they gave me my job back then it was only two or three months or so and I got sick and I was so sick, this I had done in Germany too. I was up north in Germany during something and I got so sick I couldn’t even swallow �Jackson, Elmer anymore and I had to go to a hospital in Germany but I had to get there on my own and I couldn’t even drink water anymore, and I was able to hitch hike with one of the jeeps or something that went about halfway and then I had to stay in that place overnight because there wasn’t anybody else going at that time. So the next morning I was able to hitch a ride into Wiesbaden to the hospital, just how I got there I don’t know now. Anyway I was so sick and I was in a line of sick people and when I got up to the doctor I said “I hope you’re not gonna send me back cause I was just about done.” And after he checked me he said “You’re not going back.” So I was in a hospital over there for over a week, then when I got home and worked at this hardware again for a short time got sick again. Over there I had Sulfa, which was popular at that time, over here I just went to the family doctor which was treating me and I wasn’t the only sicker and of course I was still living at home at that time with the folks, upstairs in the bedroom, and I was so sick that they knew I was sick and they went to the neighbors and called the doctor’s office and that was close to midnight, and he says– He told them to take me to the Borgess Hospital right away. Interviewer: “And that’s in Kalamazoo right?” Yes. (1:17:30) Interviewer: “So that’s not that close.” And then I was quarantined there for 11 days I think it was or 13, I don’t know, because they thought I had diphtheria which they never could prove but that’s what they thought, but then is when penicillin got popular and they gave me a shot every four hours around the clock and I didn’t even care if I died I wanted to just get it over with, I was so sick. Then I started to get better and I have to give penicillin the credit and after 11 days I think I was quarantined there, my parents couldn’t even come and talk to me, they let me go back home. Well then the hardware didn’t want me back, I think it was a case of they needed an excuse but they didn’t dare say anything while I was just coming home but– So I had to look for another job and I found one at Paw Paw in a grocery store, Simcox Super Food and I worked there for most of two years, in the meantime I had got a job with– Or gotten admittance I guess you’d call it, to MSU I was �Jackson, Elmer going to be civil engineer and after the first year I could see that probably is a little more than I should be doing. So I got another job– Or another course, that was a one year course and it was called “Farm Buildings” but they did a lot of other things. So there was only four mind you in the class and so the first six months it was what they could teach us in college at that time and then the last six months was on the job and I figured well they’re probably gonna send me up north somewhere where I’m miles from home, but that was in Dowagiac, I was dumbfounded but I got the job in Dowagiac and worked through this contract from that time on until– Well it was February, and of course in better weather why you was working every day of the week. Well in February before salamanders and tarps and all that stuff you couldn’t work out doors. So we were doing what we could do around the city or in homes around the country, I like the work. Beautiful, it was a nice man I was working for and I’ve told those guys he had a temper but he didn’t bother me, and I finally told him I was gonna have to go and see if I couldn’t get a more steady job cause the check was getting smaller and smaller, and he didn’t mind. He said okay he understood and I came back to Decatur because where do you start, and I started right here at this corner and I went in and asked for work, no, came in here and asked for work, no but there were two other guys in here at the time talking to the owner which I didn’t know. I didn’t know he knew me and I went to every place in town, doesn’t matter what kind of work I’d had done anything, and I went to Paw Paw, I even went up the Kalamazoo way and back Marcellus way I remember and I’d about decided I was probably gonna be working a couple days a week and that was gonna be it. (1:22:24) That same night, and I didn’t know he knew me, he came out to the house and wanted to know if I wanted to go to work the next morning and he says “The men are going to drive right by your house.” I said “Fine.” And I’ve been here ever since that day. Interviewer: “Okay, this is a plumbing contractor– This is a plumber that you work for then?” He was in the plumbing and hardware and a little bit of heating but it was nothing like this today, that was in ‘49, in ‘51 I got married to a women I met in a grocery store and in ‘53 this owner wanted to know– Came out the house where we were living then, wanted to know if I didn’t want to buy the place, I was getting a check once a week why would I want to– all of this, but my wife thought we better do that. So then we had to find money to do it, the year before this �Jackson, Elmer owner had gone down to this local bank and wanted to know if he would get us going if we asked for money to buy it and he told the owner yes. So when this came to my turn to go to the bank and ask he said no, so we went around looking for money and went to Lawton and there’d been some banking in the family done there before and my wife went in there and asked and he took us into his office and we got a real lecture, I think it took an hour, about business and what not, what we were gonna do. He said okay and it was set up with the previous owner to pay him every six months, he died before he got his first check. Interviewer: “Oh my.” He had an adopted son who worked here, I learned a lot from him but he didn’t want the business. So it was my wife and I, partners all those years and then she got Parkinson’s and it was 20 plus years I guess before she finally passed away, and now I have it and I don’t know what to do with it but it’s up to the two sons that are still doing the work, they’re doing fine and my youngest son and I come to town every day and keep the business doors open and he answers phones and I do some paperwork and the others are out doing the job and fixing this and fixing that. Interviewer: “Yeah, well the world will always need plumbers.” (1:25:48) Oh yes, always something broke or needs replacing, it never quits and I’ll have to say there were bad times and there were good times but I never quit, I never thought about even. Interviewer: “Sure, okay now to go back to the time when you were in the Army.” Yeah. Interviewer: “What do you think you learned from that or did that affect you?” I learned not to go in the Army again if I can help it, they knew what I knew I learned, I learned to be a father– Well, alright I met the wife in ‘49, got married in ‘51 and after we’d gone together �Jackson, Elmer for some time she inferred she’d like to get married and I said “Not until I get place to live in where I don’t have to pay rent or something like that, or live with the folks or anything else. So I started to build a house in 1950 and it was another story but I had made up my mind that’s gonna be, I’m gonna do this and then we’ll get married. So in December of ‘53 we’d got enough of the house and clothes, that’s about all I can call it because we’d had– I had so much trouble getting that house built you wouldn’t believe, they think we had a lot of rain this year, I don’t think it rained any more this year than it did that year and every time I moved it was raining and I was rained off of that how many times I have no idea but I was determined it was going to be or else. So I finally got my friend and his wife and my girlfriend at the time and we– I had the trench all dug for ready mix— Or it was mix that you made, gravel and Portland, and this owner had a cement mixer that wasn’t in very good shape but we used it pour the footing for this house, and it rained and it rained and I had dug this trench– Beautiful trench, it had been a dry spring, and it rained and it rained and the sides started to fall in on the trench now that’s a first. Well I knew there were some old boards down at the house I lived in, the parents, so I went down and got some old boards and came back and I boarded up these places that had caved in and got the friend out and his wife and my girlfriend and I had the man [unintelligible] the Dillard gravel and he dumped gravel and I’d had a temporary electric pole put up and had Portland and one morning we started mixing cement. (1:29:40) This trench had that much water in it all the way around,we’re gonna do something so we start at one corner, put his wife and my girlfriend over in the far corner with buckets and poured cement at this corner, pushed the water around to them and they bail it out and dumped it out in the field, now tell me if you’ve ever heard one worse, but we got a footing and surprisingly it turned out great, but it was still raining about every time you took a breath and then I had to lay blocks, I did that all by myself. I’d learned a lot of this from the contractor I worked for in Dowagiac and started to frame it, hey. I had the plan that I had made up myself and started to frame it, got Celotex on the outside so you covered the walls, and it was still raining every other day. I had put asphalt felt paper on the floor and it was still raining off and on and it got so there there was water on the asphalt felt that wouldn’t go away and I went down there with a brace and a bit, I don’t know if you know what that is, it makes a hole in the floor and let the water out. I got a roof over it finally, not without more problems along the way, and I got the inside– Got it all enclosed, but nothing on the walls but I decided I’m gonna do something with the walls so I put plasterboard on the kitchen, the living room, and �Jackson, Elmer the bathroom, three rooms that’s enough to live in and I had worked here and he sold appliances too, Bendix Walker, and I got a used one that he didn’t know what to do with and took it home and repaired it and put it in use and that first Bendix Walker had to be bolted to the floor because that’s the only way you can keep it from walking away, and I bought a dryer from a used place in Kalamazoo for $10 which was unbelievable, and I knew how to fix it so I fixed it and we had a dryer. I had put up a temporary counter for the kitchen sink and put a sink in it and we had dug in a well outside by hand for the cement anyway so I got that piped into a centrifugal pump at that time, not a jet, and I had water, got it piped into that kitchen sink and the bathroom and we got married and if you don’t think I had fun getting to that part. Interviewer: “Alright, now of course all of that came out of the question I asked you, did you think that you learned anything from being in the Army or if it changed you at all or was it just a couple years out of your life?” The G.I bill first is what I appreciated immensely cause what we got coming out of the Army was $200 for having Germans shoot at you, and the G.I bill put me in MSU and I had tried to enlist in the Air Force anyway and I wanted to fly but I didn’t know how I was gonna but I got acquainted with the guy who was teaching flying over at Lawton and he taught me how to fly. (1:34:21) I had quite an– Two experiences there that I shouldn’t even be here but anyway one of them– This was a tailor craft, I don’t expect you to know, anyway a side by side and after eight hours just getting trained I had no idea that that was the point I was going to be on my own but he got out one day and says “Go!” And I was scared to death, I didn’t know I was gonna do this all by myself, and I went up and around and came back down and I have to say I was successful but then I flew a few more hours and I was taking off one day by myself and I got up 400 feet, at 500 feet you’d go and turn and do whatever, I don’t know, and at 400 feet something went “Bang!” I’m there by myself, the plane did something, I don’t know what, what do I do now? Well I could look out the window and the Welch's grape juice factory was underneath so I didn’t think that was a very good place to set it down, but I found out the engine was still running, not very well but it was running. So I made a left turn and every time I’d make a turn I’d lose another 100 feet, and I was only up 400. Another turn and went the other end, and the last turn got me back on the field and I thought “Son of a gun.” And I know they knew something went �Jackson, Elmer wrong because they were out to meet me and the one guy, I don’t know if he was a mechanic or not, raised the hood on that thing, it had blown a spark plug right out of the engine. Whether it didn’t get turned in all the way or– I have no idea but I got out and left, but I went back I’m not a quitter and I flew a total of 60 plus hours but it was costing a lot of money to fly and I thought “I can’t do this and something else I want to do too.” About that time I wanted to build this darn house so I had to quit flying and that was what that– Interviewer: “You got a certificate there, yep alright.” What did I learn? I guess mostly that I could do about anything I wanted to if I just made up my mind to do it and I did. What else could I learn, I don’t know. Interviewer: “I just ask the question to see what people say. So alright, well the whole thing makes for a pretty good story so I’d just like to thank you for taking the time to share it today.” There’s so much more to show you but if you don’t wanna look that’s alright too. � 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 Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. 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 JacksonE2312V Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jackson, Elmer Jr. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-07 Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Elmer (Interview transcript and video), 20519 Description An account of the resource Elmer Jackson was born in 1925 in southwestern Michigan. Jackson was in high school when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor over the radio. Jackson was later drafted into the Army in August of 1944 and was sent to Camp Wood, Texas, for three months of Basic Training. He was then shipped to Scotland aboard the SS Queen Mary and was quickly transferred to South Hampton, shipped across the English Channel to the Normandy beachfront, and trained up to the frontlines. He was assigned as a replacement rifleman to the 291st Regiment, 75th Infantry Division on the Meuse River. After moving south through Luxembourg, Jackson’s company took the fight eastward toward the Rhine River. Once across the Rhine, he saw more combat and observed several high-altitude bombing missions, which he was grateful for. His Division had advanced well into Germany by the end of the war in Europe and he was quickly transferred to the occupational forces in Bad Tölz and Fischbach. Jackson was then transferred to Camp Baltimore where he worked as a Military Policeman, then as an office assistant, and finally in Graves Registration. He applied and was accepted as a driver of a weapons carrier, driving through the postwar Allied occupation zones and questioning local mayors on the locations of possible American gravesites. He also spent some time in Switzerland and Paris, France, and in July of 1946, he was shipped back to the United States and was officially discharged from the Army at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Jackson then traveled back home and resumed work at a local hardware store. After being fired due to a long period of being sick he eventually went to work for a local grocery store and attended Michigan State University where he pursued a degree in civil engineering. He then traveled around Michigan attempting to find steady work and was denied several times before acquiring a job with a local hardware and plumbing business in 1949, which he later purchased in 1953. Reflecting upon his time in the service, Jackson believed the Army instilled in him the mentality that he could achieve anything he set his mind to. He also greatly appreciated the support of the GI Bill, which helped him achieve admission into MSU. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States—History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945—Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401. Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright 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 Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dec1810c6e9b9c1bf0f1305b72b02fee.mp4 ffd363e5d98bcf71ed2bbfa2cdaa89d8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3f8a699ea197b5e9613f654bb74b2f2b.pdf 75f5280824477e2df6dad7b4f0554c3d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Gloria Jackson Total Time – (32:56) Background      She was born on January 23, 1925 (00:31) Her parents were extremely nice o Her father worked at Wolverine Brass and her mother did not work (01:02) She had two sisters and two brothers (01:16) She remembers living through the Great Depression and it being hard to get certain commodities such as sugar and butter (01:49) o When she was in training, all of her food was taken care of so she never had to worry about the food shortages She grew up in Grand Rapids and went to Creston High School (02:10) o She had to walk two miles back and forth from school o She graduated in 1942 (02:48) Training/Cadet Nurse Corps – (02:52)        She got an opportunity to take an entrance exam at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan (02:57) o They accepted her into the Cadet Nurse Corps o At the time, the government took over and gave them all uniforms and paid their schooling She joined because she believed it would be a good profession to be in (04:17) Her first days were fun because she was able to meet a lot of new girls She trained at Wayne University in Detroit, Michigan for the first six months (04:53) o After the six months at Wayne University she went back to Butterworth Hospital until being sent back to Detroit (05:06) o For her last six months of training she was sent to Percy Jones Hospital (Battle Creek Sanitarium) in Battle Creek, Michigan (05:45) The best part of her training was being able to be in contact with a lot of people She remembers her instructors from training (07:36) After she graduated from her training she worked at Butterworth Hospital �                o She then transferred to Fort Custer near Battle Creek, Michigan (08:26) o She worked in the Mental Ward of the hospital where soldiers with mental problems would go o She stayed in this position for a couple of years (08:38) Once she got married, she transferred to a hospital in Des Moines, Iowa (08:47) o She had many different kinds of patients o There were some patients that had all of their limbs blown off At Battle Creek, some of the German POW’s were in the hospital (09:46) o The POW’s would help out in the hospital o She never got to know them very well o The POW’s were always treated well by the Americans (10:03) A normal day involved getting up early, being on duty at 7 A.M., getting off at 3:30 P.M., sometimes working nights, and off duty time was filled with any other activities that they wanted The hospitals then had much more personal contact than modern hospitals (11:36) o There was a lot more charting when she was working in the hospitals because patients would have to stay longer than they do now (12:03) She dealt with the traumatizing events in the hospital by not dwelling on them and focusing on her work She was able to stay in contact with her family during training through a telephone (13:02) o She was able to go home sometimes as well  They would have one day off every week (13:10) The food at the hospital was always good After their shifts, the nurses would often read, play cards together, go shopping, or any other leisure activity (13:53) o They would sometimes go out to Grand Haven or Holland, Michigan at the beach Many of the soldier patients would get together when they could to have fun and pass the time (15:05) The nurses were supposed to be in bed by 10 P.M. One of her friends at the hospital had a husband who was a POW (17:09) o He eventually came back to America and was fine One day in the hospital, one of her friends pulled her slip down to the floor (18:14) There was one time when a man was smoking in a room with oxygen tanks and he threw the cigar near the tank and there was a small explosion (19:08) There were always special meals for holidays o If she was not working, she would go home (19:55) The nurses received one week of vacation every year She was in Grand Rapids, Michigan the day the war ended (20:45) o All of the nurses went down to Monroe Avenue and celebrated o Personally, she thought it was great the war had ended  She was still young and did not understand the ramifications of war (21:21) � She did not understand how it affected the entire world After Training – (21:50)     After her training was finished, she went to get a job at a furniture factory (21:59) She then got a job in the cafeteria at Butterworth Hospital (22:16) Her experiences made her not like war and wish that there were more diplomatic answers for differences in the world (23:53) o She does not like the way things are currently going on in the world o She believes that we should take in honor in what we are doing and that we should fight for our country (24:19) Her experiences helped make her a person that can understand what it is like to be a patient (25:06) o She has more empathy for families and the patients � 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 Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. 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 JacksonG1259V Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Gloria (Interview outline and video), 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jackson, Gloria Description An account of the resource Gloria Jackson was born in 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She graduated from high school in 1942, just before being accepted into the Cadet Nursing Corps. She trained at Butterworth Hospital, Wayne University, and Percy Jones Hospital (Battle Creek Sanitarium). She also worked for some time in Des Moines, Iowa after getting married. She remembers seeing German POW's in the hospitals. Gloria was in Grand Rapids, Michigan when World War II ended. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lane, Anna (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Cadet Nurse Corps Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American 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 Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-06-06 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 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/723e1149949ad19be41178c356866bda.jpg ecb97fe84dcb9eab53aca7222af29146 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 JacksonThomas_Photo01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985 Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Thomas Description An account of the resource Thomas Jackson, Education, Grand Rapids Board of Education Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 1985s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a2f2bec5d3c8c3fdbbe5d0077978156a.jpg 16920e5f61f177f71aad222ba4394d26 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 JacksonThomas_Photo02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989 Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Thomas Description An account of the resource Thomas Jackson, Education, Grand Rapids Board of Education Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 1989s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b5baa3ba3cf4eb4f9f5ea351966fa91f.jpg 05219e6ba58357c37d0b6250fe47340f 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 JacksonThomas_Photo03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Thomas Description An account of the resource Thomas Jackson, Education, Grand Rapids Board of Education Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6c4a5eb75c8d065c98d5bc7e9b7feff1.jpg f6869559f9b0b54793e4d90497563e99 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 JacksonThomas_Photo04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Thomas Description An account of the resource Thomas Jackson, Education, Grand Rapids Board of Education Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c850598cee4977045c964e477d2a18ba.jpg d78d2829d585b5b0326511857a058e1b 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 JacksonThomas_Photo05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Thomas Description An account of the resource Thomas Jackson, Education, Grand Rapids Board of Education Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cc7751ed32e051b688ab4c0022f791ca.jpg af4666403be9a2f507f5802bb14b848f 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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 JacksonThomas_Photo06 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Jackson, Thomas Description An account of the resource Thomas Jackson, Education, Grand Rapids Board of Education Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b0310e6651222dcc26e45319224bb3fa.jpg ea061b679fa700370619e18b946f31b4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/16f627ea2842d033ebb295cfa9a92a40.jpg a7de28b4c31ea7f4094347fd838538fc 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 Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans 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-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl 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 RHC-144_Termaat_PHOT_1940s-Jacob-Balder-recto-img425 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940 Title A name given to the resource Jacob Balder, 1940 Description An account of the resource Portrait photograph of Jacob Balder, circa 1940. Balder was Pieter Termaat's comrade in arms in underground activities and was executed in Dunes in 1944. Subject The topic of the resource Dutch Netherlands Portrait photographs World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Netherlands -- History -- German occupation, 1940-1945 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> 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 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/b44a7156d4269cbe9bf3762bf29c2281.jpg f524b17dc642e427e6be117432081990 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 Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. 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 Merrill_FilmPacks_V_14_007 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938-08-11 Title A name given to the resource Jacob Parker and Joanna Stearns stone, Bell Rock Cemetery Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the gravestones of Jacob Parker and Joanna Stearns (range 4 row 8). The gravestone on the left of the frame reads: "Here lyes Buried y Body of Mr. Jacob Parker Who Departed this life Octo.br 31st 1694 Aged 42 Years." The gravestone on the right of the frame reads: "Here lyes Buried y Body of Mrs. Joanna Stearns Wife to Cap John Stearns (Former Wife to Mr. Jacob Parker) Who Died Decembr 4th 1737 in y 79th Year of her Age." Subject The topic of the resource Malden (Mass.) Gravestones Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 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/03be4268e9377239b35b01ea868bb2dc.mp3 ad90104b82af0bfb110ed478a3f09165 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 Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Pentecost XI Series The Human Story: Paradigms of Grace Scripture Text Genesis 27:38 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI 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 KII-01_RA-0-19950820 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-08-20 Title A name given to the resource Jacob: Expletive Deleted Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on August 20, 1995 entitled "Jacob: Expletive Deleted", as part of the series "The Human Story: Paradigms of Grace", on the occasion of Pentecost XI, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Genesis 27:38.