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Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
Vietnam War
William Jones
Interview Length: (01:30:17:00)
Pre-Enlistment / Training (00:00:09:00)
Born on June 26, 1947 in Kalamazoo, Michigan (00:00:09:00)
Jones’ mother’s family lived in New Hampshire while his father’s family lived in Ionia,
Michigan; he split his time between living in Michigan and living in New Hampshire,
with the bulk of his younger years spent living in New Hampshire (00:00:17:00)
o Jones attended Catholic parochial school and then Manchester West High School
in Manchester, NH; he originally took the entrance exam for another high school
but the majority of his friends were attending West High School, so he decided to
attend there instead (00:00:35:00)
Jones’ father worked as a truck driver and his mother was an LPN (Licensed Practical
Nurse) (00:01:22:00)
o After school, Jones normally stayed with his grandparents until his father was
able to pick him up after his father got out of work (00:01:34:00)
When he was a senior in high school, Jones considered joining the Air Force; everyone in
his family had either served in World War I, World War II, or the Korean War and his
father in particular had served in the Air Force (00:02:10:00)
o However, in February 1966, Jones happened to be in a Marine Corps recruiting
station, where he talked with a gunnery sergeant (00:02:35:00)
o At the time, the Corps only offered three and four year enlistments and one of
Jones’ main motivations was to serve long enough that his GI Bill would pay for
his college (00:02:47:00)
o Due to the draft, Jones realized he had to decide quickly because if he was
drafted, the military was going to put them where they wanted (00:03:24:00)
o Jones chose the Marine Corps over the Air Force because he liked the dress
uniforms and the Corps had a solid history; because he had been a history buff in
high school, Jones liked the history of the Corps (00:04:04:00)
The Air Force also had a good history fighting in World War II and Korea,
but Jones liked the Corps’ history more (00:04:20:00)
When he joined in 1966, Jones had a ninety-day delay program, so he did not ship out
until August 1966, during which he and his family watched the news and saw what was
going on in Vietnam (00:04:41:00)
o Jones also discussed the war in his history class with his teacher, a former Marine
pilot during the Korean War (00:05:05:00)
o Apart from discussing the war, Jones also talked about the anti-war protests going
on around the country (00:05:27:00)
Before joining the Corps, Jones wrote a letter with the help of his
girlfriend to the Manchester Union Leader, a statewide newspaper,
deriding the anti-war protestors (00:05:29:00)
�
Based of a film shown by the Marine recruiter, Jones explained that
despite it being an unpopular war, the soldiers went where they were
ordered to go (00:06:35:00)
The next day’s morning edition of the paper had the letter in it on the top
of the front page and the paper wanted Jones to come in and have his
picture taken and redo part of the letter (00:08:02:00)
Jones expected the letter to go into the “letters to the editor”
section and when he wrote several other letters later, that was
where they went (00:08:41:00)
Jones went to Parris Island, South Carolina, for boot camp (00:09:28:00)
o The men were picked up from the airport by buses and their recruiter had told
them what to expect but it was not them same until the men experienced it for
themselves (00:09:37:00)
o The recruits actually arrived a day late because they missed the flight out of
Newark, New Jersey (00:09:50:00)
o They got onto the base at eleven o’clock at night and when they went through the
main gate of the base, the men were talking amongst themselves about how they
needed to be ready (00:10:09:00)
o When they got on the base, a drill instructor got on the bus, explained that the
men now belonged to the Marine Corps and that when he said so, the men were to
get off the bus and stand on the yellow footprints outside (00:10:40:00)
o The men went through the barracks and signed the paperwork, then moved
through the showers and finally through processing, which included being issued
clothes (00:11:25:00)
o After processing, the men moved to an area, were told their drill instructors would
pick them up later and told not to sleep; however, they rotated men as guards
while the others slept (00:11:59:00)
o At four in the morning, their drill instructors picked the men up and marched
them back to their barracks; while the other platoons were able to place their bags
on trucks, Jones’ platoon had to carry their bags on their backs (00:12:39:00)
o The next morning, the men went through testing, which helped the Corps with
training as well as helping decide which job description they would have and
whether they would receive any additional military schooling (00:13:15:00)
Jones was lucky and the Corps sent him to three different schools in
Quantico, Virginia (00:13:42:00)
The boot camp experience was pretty close to the experience portrayed in movies such as
Full Metal Jacket (00:14:04:00)
o One major difference was the men did not take live ammunition off the firing
range; they gave the men three opportunities to get rid of their live ammunition
and if they did not, then the men faced possible time in jail for each round they
still had on them (00:14:07:00)
o The men had four drill instructors who were good to the men but firm; if any of
the men screwed up, they got in trouble (00:14:42:00)
The men slept in air-conditioned barracks and sometimes after dinner,
when one man or another had screwed up, the drill instructors made the
�
men due large amounts of PT (physical training) and they turned the air
conditioning off in the barracks (00:15:58:00)
One man’s muscles cramped up, so Jones and some other men had
to put cold towels on the muscles in an attempt to get the muscles
to relax (00:16:32:00)
o One recruit referred to his rifle as a gun and the drill instructor told the man to
bring over his “weapon”; when the recruit did so, the instructor told him it was a
weapon, not a gun, and the recruit was going to dance around the barracks with
his rifle until he realized that (00:17:03:00)
The other men had to stand and watch the recruit dance without smiling,
which was difficult (00:17:42:00)
The training was difficult because the instructors had condensed twelve weeks of training
into eight and seeing and hearing what other platoons had to go through while the men
were resting made Jones realize how rugged the training was going to be (00:18:15:00)
o During bayonet training, Jones’ opponent hit Jones in a place he was not supposed
to, so Jones hit the opponent twice in the head (00:18:41:00)
o When the men were about to graduate, they had to go on a three-mile run but
Jones had hurt his knee during hand-to-hand combat training, so the drill
instructor said he and a few other men who were injured did not have to run to
course (00:19:14:00)
Word eventually came down that the men might have to run the course on
graduation day, so the drill instructor had to explain that the men were
injured (00:19:55:00)
The injured men were given the choice and Jones decided to run the
course, during which two of his buddies stayed near the back and paced
him through (00:20:13:00)
o Two weeks before graduation, Jones looked back and questioned whether he
would have gone through the training again (00:20:47:00)
He decided that he would because everyone else in his family had gone
through boot camp and Jones used to hear the stories (00:21:05:00)
o The first time Jones and the other men were standing in the food line when one of
the drill instructors got right in a man’s face and derided the man for crying
(00:21:44:00)
The incident made Jones question whether he had made the correct
decision in joining the Marine Corps over the Air Force (00:22:14:00)
o There were more heavyset men in the platoon called “fat bodies” and the drill
instructors made sure that the men who had to eat lightly ate separate amounts of
food (00:22:26:00)
o The drill instructors still cared about the men; for example, during about the third
week, Jones got a blister near his Achilles tendon and although he tried not to
show it, the senior drill instructor caught it (00:23:08:00)
When Jones explained he had a blister, the drill instructor asked to see it
and when Jones showed him, the instructor sent him to sick bay
(00:23:38:00)
�
When Jones returned to the barracks, the senior drill instructor chewed
him out for trying to hide the blister; he explained that despite
appearances, the drill instructors did care about the men (00:24:16:00)
o There were one hundred men in the platoon and six men ended up washing out
but they did end up picking up three stragglers (00:24:44:00)
After completing the eight week boot camp, the men had a graduation day, during which
Jones was able to see his mother and his girlfriend and was able to be with them until
seven o’clock that evening (00:25:43:00)
o The men then received their orders at eight o’clock that night for where they were
assigned to go (00:25:57:00)
o There were also some reservists in the platoon and the drill instructors chided
them and tried to get them to switch to a full enlistment (00:26:02:00)
o Half the platoon received WESTPAC orders, meaning they were going to
Vietnam (00:26:34:00)
Jones did not want to go right away to Vietnam, so he discussed getting
school through the Marines with his recruiter and having passed the
aptitude test, Jones was able to (00:26:43:00)
o The men had to shut their lights off by nine o’clock and they were told that
someone would be coming in later to make sure their lights were off
(00:27:09:00)
The one drill instructor who had been to Vietnam talked with the men who
had WESTPAC orders and explained what to expect while telling the men
who would receive schooling that they were blessed and that if they
eventually went to Vietnam, they needed to hear it too (00:27:22:00)
The next day, the men boarded the buses for Advanced Infantry Training at Camp
Lejeune, North Carolina (00:27:56:00)
o The experience there was a lot better than the eight weeks of boot camp; the men
had a lot more freedom in the barracks and when they were eating (00:28:08:00)
o It was nice to be called “Marine” because the men had earned the title, although it
eventually reached the point that the men wanted to be called by their names, not
just “Marine” (00:28:44:00)
o The men lived in good barracks and ate good food (00:29:07:00)
o The men went though all the different types of training, including: night training,
an infiltration course with bobby-traps, as well as weapons training with the M1
Garand, the M-60, grenade launchers, and hand grenades (00:29:09:00)
o Some of the instructors had spent time in Vietnam while others had only served as
instructors up until that point (00:30:34:00)
o The training lasted for weeks and Jones was able to go home for Thanksgiving
after he reported to the base at Quantico, Virginia (00:30:56:00)
Jones went to Quantico for more schooling (00:31:07:00)
o The Marines sent Jones through logistics training as well as a little bit of
intelligence training, training with optical instruments, such as range-finders on
tanks and fire-control scopes mounted on 105mm artillery guns, and supply
training (00:31:26:00)
There was a little bit of a difference between logistics training and supply
training but they were mostly doing the same thing (00:31:57:00)
�
In logistics, Jones worked with combat support, warehousing, and unit
requisition forms and he worked with supply units to organize how the
supplies arrived and who received them (00:32:04:00)
With some units, Jones and others had to make sure that they had all their
supplies aboard ship when the units left the United States and sailed to
Vietnam (00:32:34:00)
The ships would be in port two weeks before leaving, so Jones and
others would make sure everything was in order (00:33:17:00)
Jones and the other men knew what each unit would need if they
were going to a specific area and would pack the ship with it, as
well as some extra supplies the men thought the unit might need
once they were in the field (00:34:19:00)
o Jones stayed in Quantico for two weeks and completed his schooling before
receiving his orders for Vietnam (00:34:45:00)
Vietnam Deployment (00:35:01:00)
Jones got to Vietnam on a flight from California to Da Nang (00:35:01:00)
o The military used a combination of civil airliners and military aircraft to transport
soldiers to and from the country (00:35:20:00)
Jones’ first impression of Vietnam when he got of the plane was the heat (00:35:33:00)
After reporting in, Jones and the other men went to see the corpsman, who talked with the
men about what to expect climate wise (00:35:38:00)
o The corpsman also advised the men not to get sun-burned and to that end, the
military provided sunscreen (00:35:53:00)
Following the corpsman’s lecture, Jones and the other men went through indoctrination
then reported to headquarters supply for the 1st Marine Division in Da Nang although the
main division was headquartered in Saigon as part of I Corps (00:36:34:00)
o Jones’ duties will in Saigon consisted of warehousing and preparing manifests
(00:37:02:00)
o Jones was a corporal at the time and worked with the more senior NCOs as well
as the unit’s XO (executive officer) and CO (commanding officer) (00:37:06:00)
The unit’s CO was a captain who had risen through the ranks, which was
nice because if a man screwed up, the CO would chew him out but he also
knew what the men were going through (00:35:01:00)
The CO might deride the men and call them names but he also respected
them (00:37:44:00)
o The men worked in the warehouse section of the base in Da Nang, making sure
the supplies coming in the United States was correct, and in offices on another
part of the base (00:38:16:00)
o Mostly, Jones’ unit worked as combat support (00:38:54:00)
Whenever a Marine unit would request supplies, the requisition form
would move through various units in the chain of command although
sometimes, the forms came directly to the unit (00:39:00:00)
The men then had to process the form and there were times Jones spent
more time in the office working on forms than in the warehouse
organizing the supplies (00:39:17:00)
�
Once the forms were complete, the men organized the requested supplies
on a palette that was then loaded onto either a Chinook helicopter or a
Deuce-and-a-Half truck (00:39:34:00)
The men supplied Marine units in the field, meaning sometimes the
requisition forms were for survey equipment or more weapons,
ammunition or provisions (00:40:04:00)
o The men also worked with communication units if the units needed new
communication equipment, while other logistical units worked with the Marine
air wing (00:40:55:00)
o The men also did inventory control making sure they had enough inventory of the
supplies they needed (00:41:45:00)
After completing their inventories, the men sent requisition forms back
stateside for the supplies they needed (00:41:59:00)
Jones wishes the system had been more efficient than it actually was; the system was
efficient but Jones and others wanted to get the supplies out quicker to the units who
requested them (00:42:27:00)
o Apart from paperwork, the men also dealt with some bureaucracy that made sure
everything was done the way it was supposed to be done (00:42:55:00)
Jones and two other corporals got in trouble when a Marine unit requested
equipment they needed badly, such as ammunition and M-60 machine
guns, and the three men jumped said unit ahead of other units waiting in
the queue (00:43:21:00)
When the XO found out, the men explained that they thought the one unit
was more of a priority than the other units but the XO did not view it that
way (00:44:13:00)
When Jones returned to the United States, Marines in the frontline units told him that he
did what he had to do so that they could do what they had to do (00:44:50:00)
o Jones and the others felt a little guilt because they were not out in the field
fighting, especially when they heard stories from other soldiers (00:44:57:00)
While on the base, the men had to watch out for saboteurs amongst the large civilian
population that worked on the base (00:45:52:00)
o The men tried not to let their guard down because even though they were in a
“secure” area, they had to remember where they were, a country they were at war
with (00:46:04:00)
o One time, a guard did see something and they captured a Vietnamese who was
marking the base off for mortar strikes (00:46:21:00)
o During the Tet Offensive, the base was attacked and Viet Cong tried to get onto
the base three different times (00:47:03:00)
During the offensive, the men on the base scrambled to get to the different
locations assigned to them (00:47:36:00)
Jones’ unit was expected to go out into the compound with their weapons
with the explanation that the job of any Marine was to be a rifleman first,
everything else second (00:47:47:00)
The men went out to bunkers with their weapons and secured their
building (00:48:09:00)
�
During the offensive, a lot of the enemy were stopped at the gate but some
did make it onto the base, but they too were stopped before they could do
any real damage to the base (00:48:30:00)
It was scary to get shot at but the men’s adrenaline was going and they did
not think about it until after the fighting stopped (00:48:39:00)
There were also some mortar and rocket attacks on the base but those were
concentrated around where the aircraft were sitting; however, the pilots
flew the aircraft out quickly so the attacks would not damage any
(00:49:17:00)
The mortar and rocket fire was target but the men were able to
repeal it rather easily (00:49:48:00)
Jones did not much contact with any Vietnamese, civilian or military (00:50:09:00)
o Once in awhile, someone from the Vietnamese military would come into their
area and talk with the CO (00:50:11:00)
o Some of the female Vietnamese civilians on the base washed clothes while the
Vietnamese men helped clean the barracks (00:50:30:00)
The men stayed in barracks on the base along with men from other units in the Marines
headquarters (00:50:52:00)
Jones was able to get off the base a couple of times but he mostly stayed on because he
felt more secure there (00:51:32:00)
o It was possible for soldiers to go into the civilian parts of Da Nang although
whenever they did go, the soldiers went in as a group (00:51:50:00)
A couple of men took weapons with them in holsters (00:52:12:00)
o There were still a few men who took more risks and went into the city more
frequently (00:52:25:00)
Jones believes that the morale within his unit was good; the men knew the situation and
what they had to do (00:52:47:00)
o Occasionally, there were some men who got in trouble, but as not talking properly
to an officer, and they were punished but there was never any major incident
within the unit (00:53:11:00)
o When he got to Vietnam, Jones tried to do his job they way his superiors wanted
him to do the job (00:53:32:00)
However, on some occasions, Jones and other men improvised and cut a
few corners to get the job done faster (00:53:46:00)
o The men somewhat tried to keep abreast of the situation in the field and they
would see units coming in from the field (00:54:30:00)
o The Americans were supposed to be in Vietnam to help to South Vietnamese and
Jones remembers one time in the barracks talking amongst themselves and
comparing the conflict to the American Civil War (00:55:05:00)
At times, the men felt like they were being held back from doing their job
they way they wanted to do it (00:55:28:00)
The men also felt that, based on their own impressions, sometimes the
units in the field were handcuffed in doing their job (00:56:01:00)
However, the men did not want to become too involved in the political
aspects; they were there to do a job, so they kept their heads down and
pushed through (00:56:42:00)
�
Although Jones never actually went down to Saigon, some men in the unit did end up
going (00:57:03:00)
o On the other hand, when the men were able to go out of the country, Jones and
some other men went to the Philippines (00:57:18:00)
o There was also had in-country R&R, which consisted of going to Saigon or
another area in the country (00:57:45:00)
o A couple of times, the men went to the beach and had a party (00:58:20:00)
Post-Vietnam Service (00:58:33:00)
Jones spent twelve months in Vietnam (00:58:33:00)
o One night while walking to see a movie, he felt pain on his; he had cysts in both
his feet but they had never bothered him (00:58:40:00)
o He was due to rotate back to stateside and the Marines told him that they wanted
the leg pain looked at when he got stateside (00:59:03:00)
o When he got back to Quantico, he had surgery on both his feet at the Naval
hospital to remove the cysts and was laid up for about a month (00:59:12:00)
After he got out of the hospital, Jones was assigned to the headquarters battery at
Quantico; he was told he would be stateside for six months but after three, he received
orders for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (00:59:53:00)
When he got to Guantánamo Bay, Jones was assigned to the Marines barracks, where he
ended up working with the Navy due to his training in logistics and supply (01:00:13:00)
o He also worked with base security and the Marines assigned to guard the fenceline of the base (01:00:42:00)
A friend of Jones in the Navy commented when his ship stopped at the base that the men
on the base had a “fort-like mentality” given the base’s location on the island
(01:01:11:00)
o Technically the base was still part of Cuba and the American government paid
rent to him every year for it through a Swiss bank account (01:01:35:00)
o At the time, the perimeter was always manned by Marines guards and although
there was a Cuba guard post, no one ever manned it, which is not the case today
(01:02:34:00)
o The Cuban civilians were nice to the personnel on the base and as a result, there
were eighty civilian Cuban workers on the base; some worked in the base’s
bowling alley and others in the snack bar within the bowling alley (01:03:13:00)
One time, Jones and another man were driving a jeep past the outpost
when the Marines manning the outpost asked if they wanted hamburgers;
the Cubans working at the snack bar were going to make extra hamburgers
and give them to the guards as they left (01:03:43:00)
Both Jones and the other Marine said they would, so the guards told them
when to come back and when they did, the Cubans had left three paper
bags full of hamburgers (01:04:21:00)
o Whenever the men checked the perimeter, they knew they were being watched by
Cubans on the other side (01:04:59:00)
The Marines had alerts but they were more like training in the event that the Cubans
would come through the base’s first, second, or third line of defense (01:05:52:00)
�o People in the administration build would tip the Marines off as to when their
colonel set the timer for everything to go off; an alert might go off at four in the
morning but the men would already be dressed in the their uniforms and had all
their equipment nearby (01:06:07:00)
o Jones’ detachment of Marines slept in a separate building from the main barracks
and they were able to get into their jeeps and move out faster (01:06:37:00)
The barracks were on a hill that the men had to go down before joining the
road that led out to the perimeter and the main gate (01:06:50:00)
o The Marines went through the drills once a month and one time, the alert went off
in the middle of the week and normally the drills did not take place until the end
of the week (01:07:37:00)
The men all rolled out and at that particular time, Jones was walking to the
barracks; when he heard the alert, he looked out into the bay and saw three
Navy destroyers beginning to maneuver (01:07:51:00)
Everyone else began moving and looking for the ammunition, which was
padlocked; the men ended up breaking the padlocks with the butts of a
couple of rifles, after which they passed out the ammunition (01:08:17:00)
The trucks rolled up and Jones ordered his to make sure the road was
secure so that the rest of the men could get down the hill and out to the
perimeter (01:08:50:00)
When Jones left, he took extra ammunition with him for the men manning
the north perimeter of the base; when he got there, he ordered the platoon
back from the first line of defense to the third line (01:09:24:00)
There were three guards to a guard tower and each guard had five
rounds apiece for his rifle (01:09:54:00)
o Jones heard that shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis, a
Marine in a guard tower wanted to test if the rifle could
really go one thousand yards and he inadvertently killed a
Cuban soldier, which caused a firestorm at the UN and the
guards only having five rounds; whether the story is true or
not, Jones does not know (01:10:22:00)
o Five rounds apiece would not do much so the guards were
told to fall back to the third line of defense to pick up extra
ammunition (01:10:58:00)
Jones also brought a jeep with a mounted M-60 machine gun and when he
arrived, he and the other men waited (01:11:17:00)
Jones later heard that the Marines set a record time in getting out
the perimeter and into position (01:11:22:00)
The men eventually found out that the colonel had been trying to set the
alert to go off for Thursday and had accidentally tripped it; normally the
men had classes after breakfast but on that day, the classes were cancelled
and the mess hall stayed open through the midday meal so the men could
unwind (01:11:34:00)
o Another time, Jones and some other men were off-duty and standing near the
outdoor movie theater when they saw a Russian ship moving across the canal,
something was which not allowed on Sundays (01:12:09:00)
�
As two Navy tugs went to investigate, the men went back, got their
uniforms on, and then drove to the north perimeter and got into a guard
tower to get a better view of the situation (01:12:30:00)
There was a sandbar separating the canals and when the two tugs arrived,
they tried to stop the ship but the Russian captain kept forcing the ship
forward (01:12:55:00)
One of the destroyers eventually weighed anchor and went to GQ (general
quarters) and the men watched as jeeps mounted with M-60s and a .50
caliber moved along the perimeter (01:13:11:00)
The men also learned that the other Marine platoons had been
readied near the barracks in case anything did happen
(01:13:48:00)
Fortunately, nothing happened during the incident; the Russian captain
eventually stopped the ship and the Navy tugs were able to get a hold of it
(01:13:57:00)
Jones spent twelve months at Guantánamo Bay, after which he still had another year left
on his enlistment (01:14:28:00)
o Once, Jones had the opportunity to be a disc jockey for the Armed Forces radio on
the base and one night, a general on the base came through the radio station and
he asked Jones if he liked doing the job; Jones said he did and the general
suggested doing it as an MOS (01:14:53:00)
The general said he would have Jones out of Guantánamo Bay within a
week and taken to wherever they trained the broadcasters (01:15:52:00)
However, if he wanted to do that MOS, Jones might possibly have had to
extend his enlistment for another four, possibly six years, whereas if he
got out of the military, he could go to college and then be able to make
more money (01:16:02:00)
Jones though about the offer but the general wanted an answer the next
morning; however, Jones was still leery about the extended commitment
he would have to give and he declined (01:16:34:00)
At one point, Jones did give some consideration to staying in the military; he could do
night class at college but staying in meant more inspections and peace time activities now
that the Vietnam War was winding down (01:17:01:00)
When he left Guantánamo Bay, Jones was given three choices as to where he wanted to
go and he put Quantico first, Camp Lejeune second, and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,
which was near where he had lived in New Hampshire, third (01:10:22:00)
o He got Camp Lejeune, so he joined the 2nd Marines Division, 10th Marines
Headquarters Battalion, where he went back to doing supply; Jones’ new CO was
similar to his former CO in Vietnam, willing to let the men get away with certain
things (01:17:58:00)
On one occasion, some men took their time off and went to Washington
D.C., which they were not supposed to do, and their car ended up breaking
down; when the men got back to the base, they told the CO the truth and
as punishment, the men had to paint the barracks one hour each night for
five days (01:18:17:00)
�o Another time, the CO put through Jones through military driver school because
Jones went and moved a six-by because he got tired of waiting for his deuce-anda-half to load (01:20:01:00)
Jones did so well that every so often, the regimental gunnery sergeant
would request that Jones help him as an instructor at the driving school
(01:20:32:00)
Post-Military Life (01:20:56:00)
When he finally did get out of the military, Jones attended Michigan State University and
graduated with degrees in HR and business (01:20:56:00)
He made the conscious decision that if someone asked him whether he had served, Jones
would say he had served in the United State Marine Corps but he would not go beyond
that (01:21:11:00)
o He knew what the negative viewpoint of former soldiers was that had been
propagated by the media (01:21:25:00)
o When he was asked one time, Jones said he did serve in the Marines but he
considered all the soldiers to be his comrades-in-arms and they did not need to be
treated badly (01:21:49:00)
Jones did see a lot of the anti-war protests when he was in Quantico and when he and
other men would leave the base dressed in civilian clothes (01:22:30:00)
o One time, Jones and some other men saw some protestors about to burn the
American flag; Jones and the other men ran over, knocked to protestors down,
and protected the flag (01:22:48:00)
o Two of the protestors got up and complained to the D.C. cops, who said they had
not seen a thing; later on, one of the cops pulled the men aside and thanked them
because they could not do what the men did (01:23:03:00)
o The men also visited Arlington Cemetery, which left a major impression on them
(01:23:31:00)
After getting his degrees, Jones went into sales because he liked that line of work
(01:23:53:00)
o He eventually went to work for a placement agency where he worked for twelve
years before he had a chance to create a franchise offering temp and permanent
workers, which he has done for the past twelve to fourteen years (01:23:58:00)
Jones learned more about sacrifice while serving in the military as well as more respect,
which reinforced what he had learned when he was younger (01:24:39:00)
o During the first Desert Storm, Jones and other veterans made the decision that
those soldiers would not go through what they went through, so every week the
veterans marched down the main street of Holland (01:25:04:00)
o During an anti-war protest in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan for the more
recent war in Iraq, Jones called into a local television station and commented
about how the protestors needed to realize how things would be different and how
the protestors needed to show respect for the soldiers (01:25:51:00)
Jones had no problem protesting government policies but he draws the line
at protesting against the troops; the troops are deployed where ever they
are told to go (01:26:58:00)
�
Although he was close to some men who ended up dying, Jones realized that they were
either in a warring country, in Vietnam, or in the middle of the Cold War, at Guantánamo
Bay and death could happen at any time (01:27:54:00)
o There were some Vietnam veterans serving at Guantánamo Bay and they realized
they had to protect not only the civilians on the base but also the Marines who had
come fresh out of boot camp (01:28:19:00)
He did not go to the Vietnam Memorial when it first opened but he did end up going with
some other people later (01:28:57:00)
o He went with a lady friend and they took their time going down; when they
eventually found the name of a friend of Jones’, they made a rubbing
(01:28:15:00)
o The lady friend later told him that one moment Jones doing fine and the next
moment, he was crying, after which the others who were there gathered around
Jones and supported him (01:29:43:00)
�
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
JonesW
Title
A name given to the resource
Jones, Williams (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jones, William
Description
An account of the resource
Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1947, William Jones divided his younger years growing up between Ionia, Michigan and Manchester, New Hampshire. After graduating from high school in Manchester, Jones followed family tradition and enlisted in the military, specifically the Marine Corps. After completing basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jones went to the Marine Corps' base at Quantico, Virginia for training in supply and logistics. When he finished training at Quantico, Jones deployed to Vietnam, where he served with the 1st Marine Division in Da Nang as part of a supply and logistics unit. Following a yearlong tour in Vietnam, Jones returned to the United States before deploying overseas again, this time to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Once his tour at Guantánamo Bay was complete, Jones returned to Camp Lejeune, where he finished the remainder of his enlistment.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)
WKTV
WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
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
2011-02-10
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/4224cbaaae123c0daf0de4589a970dac.mp4
e511e85a16f5380682569c0280e07f68
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b1884403e5516763d3763f075d3d071d.pdf
e69090dbb9c3803dfe417d8859e44fac
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Herm Jongsma
(01:26:00)
Pre Enlistment
• Had to transfer to numerous schools as he was growing up (00:45)
• Born in 1931 (01:45)
• Father sold apples and baked goods on the street corner (02:00)
• His father would also listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on WGN as he got
dressed in the morning (03:30)
• Herm later joined the school choirs as well as the church choir (04:30)
• Graduated mid-year in 1950 (05:20)
• Father opened a floral shop when he was in high school (06:25)
• Too young to understand what it meant when America went to the Second World
War (07:33)
• Didn’t truly appreciate the deaths and the impact it had on people (08:00)
• During high school, Herm took a college prep course (09:15)
• Decided to become a heating engineer after high school (09:30)
• Had to serve an apprenticeship before you could get into the trade (11:00)
• After being turned down for an apprenticeship, he decided to go to Calvin College
(12:10)
• Decided to be a math teacher while at Calvin (13:30)
• After getting a bad grade in math, he decided to switch to a biology major (15:00)
• Decided in 1952 to join the military after he heard about Korea (15:30)
• Wanted to be a pilot or navigator (15:45)
• Was informed by the recruiting office that Truman had stopped enlistment in the
Air Cadet program (16:30)
Draft and Training
• Was drafted before he made a decision about which branch he wanted to serve in
(17:15)
• Went to Great Lakes Naval Training Center to be inducted (17:30)
• Then flew to California (17:35)
• Had never flown before, and thought it was really nice until they hit turbulence
(17:55)
• Had to make a forced emergency landing in Arizona (18:20)
• Had basic training at Fort Ord (18:45)
• Scheduled to go to Intelligence School (19:00)
• A lot of PT and physical activity involved in basic training (19:25)
• Used live ordinance towards the end to make sure people stayed down (19:30)
• Never was comfortable with bayonet practice (20:00)
• 8 week program, and some were shipped out after that (20:15)
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Came down with chicken pox, which set him back 3 days in training, and was
forced to join a new unit (20:45)
Had seven days between the end of basic training and the beginning of
intelligence school, but had to take a full leave before that (22:00)
Went to light mechanics school at Fort Ord instead (22:30)
Could be stationed anywhere in the far East (23:00)
Korea
• Got new orders in Tokyo to go to Korea (23:15)
• Went to Pusan, Korea, and was in the combat zone (23:20)
• Thought he would be running around as a driver on call instead of a mechanic
(24:40)
• Was bombed on the first day he was there, however (25:50)
• Had to quickly learn the difference between incoming and outgoing shells (26:30)
• Also had to deal with shrapnel as he drove around the camp (28:30)
• Only let his brother know that he was in a combat zone (29:00)
• Volunteered to go work with the Greek Expeditionary Force, which was attached
with the 15th Regiment, 3rd Division (29:45)
• Greek force was a battalion large (30:00)
• Only time he heard English was with the few other Americans who were there
(30:45)
• Had ripe olives, olive oil, cognac and ouzo delivered to the officers tent from
Greece (31:30)
• When guests came, they went to Officers Mess tent and served water glasses of
cognac (33:00)
• Greeks were very organized, professional, very military (34:45)
• Very skilled in hand to hand combat (36:00)
• Herm’s job was to maintain contact with the Koreans and companies of the 15th
Regiment (36:30)
• Was stationed right behind Outpost Harry the whole time (38:00)
• Outpost Harry had direct access to Seoul, so China wanted to have it (39:50)
• Had several battles around the Outpost, sometimes at night, and affected him
emotionally (41:20)
• Many of the attacks were reminiscent of trench fighting in World War One
(41:50)
• Often outmanned 20-30 to 1 (43:15)
• Each wave of men got closer and closer past the Concertina wire (43:40)
• The Chinese reported that 4200 men died in 9 days (44:00)
• 100 men defended the outpost for a day, then were refreshed the next day (44:45)
• Only 2 men were listed MIA, and one captured from the Greek army during the
whole war (45:20)
• When the artillery let up, you knew the attack was coming from the soldiers
(46:15)
• Had to use hand to hand combat frequently (47:00)
• Often wondered why he walked out of the war with no wounds (47:15)
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Thinks that while the darkest times were occurring, he recalled a song from the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir that helped him not be alone (48:00)
Nobody ever asked him about combat or Korea when he got home (49:00)
Never told his parents that he was in combat, made up stories in letters (49:20)
Told his youngest brother years later that he was in combat (51:30)
Believes the real heroes of the war were the ones who paid the ultimate price
(52:20)
Feels that the United States did not provide them with proper equipment for the
war (53:20)
Received M1’s, which is very accurate, but not good in close contact or at night
(54:30)
Chinese used the “burp” gun, which wasn’t accurate, which doesn’t matter at
night (55:00)
Herm later acquired a grease gun, which was similar to the burp gun (56:00)
Carried it in his jeep at all times (56:20)
Towards the end of the war, the Chinese used a lot of heavy artillery (56:45)
Russians also gave the North Koreans T-34 tanks (57:00)
United States ruled the air for the whole war (58:00)
Took very heavy hit, and was called off the line with the Greeks (01:00:00)
Loaded in to trucks and quickly moved away because the Chinese broke through a
line (01:01:00)
All the artillery was no more than 6-8 feet in front of the other (01:01:30)
All of it was going at once (01:01:40)
Got to their destination and Herm waited, but moved off to the side just in case
artillery hit up there (01:02:45)
Koreans had turned and ran where the Chinese broke through, but were able to
plug the line back up (01:03:30)
Ceasefire
• A few weeks later, the Armistice was signed (01:03:40)
• Stayed in his foxhole while the artillery was going over head, until the very
second they agreed to a cease-fire (01:04:40)
• Spent 5 or 6 months on the front lines (01:04:50)
• Greeks imported more units after the ceasefire (01:05:00)
• Got a lot of downtime after the ceasefire, went to Japan for a little bit (01:05:30)
• Met a lot of Greeks, celebrated Easter with them and played soccer with them
(01:06:05)
• The whole Greek army attends church when they were able to have it (01:07:00)
• Met some Koreans and traveled throughout South Korea during this time, as well
(01:07:50)
After the War
• Was invited back in 2006 by the Korean government to visit as guests of the
Korean government for 6 days (01:08:15)
• Toured a museum, and saw a diorama of the wave attack he experienced
(01:09:00)
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Older Korean people were very thankful to him for his service (01:10:20)
Korean children are taught English (01:11:05)
Was discharged 30 days early at Great Lakes (01:11:50)
Returned to school a totally different man (01:12:15)
Began teaching school in southern California in a suburb of Los Angeles
(01:12:40)
Each summer break he would take classes at various California colleges for
graduate school training (01:12:50)
After 5 years, he had 2 sons and wanted to get his masters degree (01:13:20)
His salary was 3500 dollars, which also included coaching (01:13:40)
Signed up for a National Science Foundation grant and was accepted for that
(01:14:00)
Went to the University of Michigan for his masters (01:14:30)
Did work with electron micography there (01:14:50)
Went back to teach high school in Joliet, IL for 29 years (01:15:20)
Taught in the classroom, chairperson of the math/science department and
administrator of the building (01:16:00)
Had 5 deans and 8 counselors under him, but did not like that part of his job
(01:16:50)
Loved teaching, not administrating (01:17:00)
Went back to the classroom (01:17:15)
Taught gifted kids (01:17:30)
Was asked by the administration at the district level for his last 11 years
(01:17:50)
Also taught at anatomy and physiology at a Lewis University and Joliet Jr.
College (01:18:20)
Retired to MI because of his brother and wife (01:19:00)
Works with the Tell America group to tell high school students about the Korean
War (01:19:30)
Wants kids to understand why America went to Korea in the first place
(01:20:00)
Gives the kids a history of why Korea happened, starting in 1910, when the
Japanese invade Korea (01:21:00)
Russia didn’t want to let the North Koreans have elections, which divided the
country (01:23:50)
Has one member of Tell America that was a prisoner of war, which is very
interesting to hear his stories (01:25:00)
�
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
JongsmaH
Title
A name given to the resource
Jongsma, Herm (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jongsma, Herm
Description
An account of the resource
Herm Jongsma was born in 1931, during the Depression. As a result he moved around a lot as a child, but ended up going to Calvin College for a brief time. He was drafted to the Army in 1952 to serve in the Korean War. He was a light mechanic, but served as a liaison with the Greek battalion on the front line north of Seoul.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.)
BCTV
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
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
2008-09-18
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/ea6e152b1ec2732b6b7db9dcb74e0651.jpg
effbbd2ad18f21a06bb9164d80f9cd49
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_ProcessFilm_P_058
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938-06-01
Title
A name given to the resource
Jonio #58 in plaster, looking Souteast
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of two men standing over mastodon bones in an excavation site at Jonio Farm. Another man is visible working in the background.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Archaeology
Archaeological sites
Excavation
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Michigan
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/2df8f1de07c4953db1e66235c930109f.jpg
a9692c081d3ee46292e09a3d46020f06
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_ProcessFilm_P_044
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938-05-13
Title
A name given to the resource
Jonio Excavation
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of an excavation site at the Jonio Farm. Numbered markers are scattered among the excavated areas. A dog is visible sitting and a man can be seen working on the right side of the image.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Archaeology
Archaeological sites
Excavation
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Michigan
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/acc3b1323e2735a43c3da678aeaee075.jpg
83a4c611bfc34b1fc07be5f1be4ff3ad
Dublin Core
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Title
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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
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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
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Merrill_ProcessFilm_P_060
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938-06-01
Title
A name given to the resource
Jonio pelvis bones in plaster
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of four men working on the mammoth skeleton excavation site at Jonio Farm. At the left, a man leans over a mammoth pelvis bone in plaster.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Archaeology
Archaeological sites
Excavation
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Michigan
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
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Image
Format
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image/jpg
Language
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eng
Creator
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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/f1de927dd731ad333e635dc524f5eb32.jpg
309696ebe550266b1790e4595c4ad8a1
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_ProcessFilm_P_053
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938-05-28
Title
A name given to the resource
Jonio site map
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of a map of the Excavation at Jonio Farm.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Archaeology
Archaeological sites
Excavation
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Michigan
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/f23d1ea52cf4ec1d7bcf5e61a05fcdcd.jpg
68c0003449824acbe922fd0b1ebca5f0
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_ProcessFilm_P_054
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1938-05-28
Title
A name given to the resource
Jonio statistical sheets
Description
An account of the resource
Black and white photograph of the statistic sheets from the mastodon excavation project at Jonio Farm.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Archaeology
Archaeological sites
Excavation
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Michigan
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/5b35d541b4befbade66c26ad1ec7dff3.mp4
427d59aecd3aa225816b4036f343cb5e
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/15a66974523fd5a5ebc3528820b64e96.pdf
3c11699c8a59d609cd4f37729591ff8e
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans' History Project
Cornelius Jonker
World War II
58 minutes 34 seconds
(00:00:20) Early Life
-Born in September 1924 in Rusk, Michigan
-His father was a pastor for a local farming church
-Moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan when he was still very young
-Grew up in the southeast part of Grand Rapids and attended school there
-Father insisted that he always did well in school in the areas of "conduct" and "effort"
-He was the second oldest child and had three siblings
-One older sister and a younger sister and a younger brother
-Younger brother was killed in a car crash when he was only twenty two
years old
-His father died at sixty one years old due to health complications from smoking
-First house that he remembers living in was on Dunham Street in Grand Rapids
-Able to walk to school from that house
-Lost that house during the Great Depression
-Moved to a house on Alto Avenue (also in Grand Rapids) and attended Oakdale School
-Parents bought a house on Warden Street and he spent his teen years there
-Lived there when he received his draft notice
-Attended Grand Rapids Christian High School
-Graduated from there in 1942
(00:04:45) Getting Drafted
-Received his a letter ordering him to report to Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 18, 1943
-In Kalamazoo he was given a physical exam, told he could choose the Army or
the Navy
-Chose the Navy and was given a colorblindness test
-Didn't pass the test so he was reassigned to the Army
-He was sworn in and given a week to go home before reporting for duty
-On March 25, 1943 he was taken to the train station in Grand Rapids with his friend
Maynard
-They were en route to Camp Grant, Illinois to be processed
-Remembers getting on the train with Maynard and seeing men gambling
-It was a definite culture shock for him
-Got to Camp Grant and was given a uniform, vaccinations, and an aptitude test
-He took the typing test and was classified as a 405 Clerk Typist
-Got assigned to the infantry which he wasn't excited about
-Fortunatey, he was assigned to a service company in a regiment
-Meant that he would be in the rear, mostly safe from
combat
(00:08:36) Basic Training
-He boarded a train and was sent down to Camp Butner, North Carolina
�-Once there he boarded a two and a half ton truck and was taken to the training camp in
Camp Butner
-Got assigned to K Company for the duration of basic training
-Basic training lasted six weeks
-Sergeant training him wasn't happy about training men that weren't going to fight
alongside him
-Training consisted of running, hiking, and going to the rifle range
-Had to go on the "infiltration course" (nicknamed "Widow's Course" by the men)
-Crawling under barbed wire while live rounds were fired over your head
-In the middle of basic training he was able to take a driver's training course
-Lasted two weeks
-By the end of it he had a license that said he could drive anything up to a 2.5 ton
truck
(00:11:04) Stateside Duty
-At the end of basic training he was assigned to be an assistant truck driver
-Assistant truck driver basically did all of the work, truck driver just drove the
truck
-At one point he had an operation on one of his toes due to an infected and ingrown nail
-Man named Corporal Simms came to him and said he needed an assistant
company clerk
-Cornelius took the job and became lifelong friends with Corporal Simms
-As the assistant company clerk he would type up rosters and set payrolls for the men
-Got to know the history of the men in his regiment
-Cpl. Simms was made head of the payroll department which made Cornelius the
company clerk
-Became a Technician, 5th Class
-He was reassigned to be the mail clerk for the company
-Typed up paperwork for the 1st Sergeant and also collected and distributed mail
-Eventually was reassigned to be a truck driver and went overseas as a truck driver
(00:17:24) Serving in Germany Pt. 1
-When he was in Germany there was a time where he needed to go collect ammunition
-Went out on the Autobahn to an ammo dump and collected the ammunition
-Had to drive back at night without the lights on
-Eventually made it back to 2nd Battalion safely
-They were just inside Germany, close to the Belgian border
-Saw a lot of bombed out towns
-Air Force and ground forces had gone in first and driven the Germans out
-His job as a truck driver was to make sure the troops had enough ammunition
-Periodically saw a German V1 "Buzz Bomb" go overhead
-If the rocket engine turned off then he knew that it was coming down and took
cover
-At night a lone German plane would fly over their position and randomly drop bombs on
them
-Nicknamed that plane "Bed Check Charlie"
-Dropped devestating antipersonnel bombs
-In the town of Simmerath there were jeeps trapped in the town
�-Germans had the town covered with artillery fire making it difficult to get in
-He volunteered to be one of the drivers to go in to recover the jeeps
-Got into the town and started taking artillery fire
-Shrapnel landed in the mud at his feet and was so hot that it
sizzled
-One by one, they managed to get the jeeps out of the town
-Had to dodge German artillery on their way out
(00:25:04) Deployment to the European Theatre
-He was assigned to be a truck driver before his unit left the United States
-NOTE: He was most likely in the 78th Infantry Division
-Went up to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on October 5, 1944
-NOTE: In the interview he says 1943, but the year would have actually been
1944
-Left on October 13, 1944 aboard the USS General G.O. Squier
-Had to sleep in the hold on canvas cots in tight sleeping quarters
-Fed two meals a day
-Stank so bad in the galley that he ate on the deck of the ship
-Some men got seasick, but he did not
-They were part of a twenty ship convoy
-Arrived at Plymouth, England on October 25, 1944
-While aboard the ship he would watch the other transports and the destroyers escorting
them
-Able to make it to England without incident other than a few U-Boat sightings
-Prior to leaving the United States he had bought a pipe and a can of tobacco
-Would pass the time on the ship sitting on deck and smoking his pipe
-Also had cigarettes available and they were only five cents a pack
-Quit smoking before he came home
-He wasn't nervous about going overseas
-He had his faith whenever he felt any uncertainty or apprehension
-Never felt despair, or fear for his life though
(00:29:42) Arrival in the European Theatre
-After landing at Plymouth they took a train to Bournemouth, England and continued
training
-Boarded a troop transport and sailed across the English Channel, landing at Le Havre,
France
-In Le Havre there was a lot of rubble and he could really see the effects of the
war
-Boarded a "40 and 8" boxcar (designed to carry forty men, or eight horses)
-Traveled in that across France bound for Belgium
-It was rainy and muddy
-When they got to Belgium they slept in barns
-Remembers that the Belgian farmers were very friendly and very helpful
-By now it was November 1944
-NOTE: The 78th Infantry Division reached Belgium on November 27, 1944
(00:32:07) Serving in Germany Pt. 2
-Simmerath, Germany was close to the Belgian border
�-Had been reduced to ruins
-Used the basements of buildings because those were still intact
-His company followed infantry as they advanced into Germany
-The 78th Infantry Division captured the Schwammenauel Dam in early February 1945
-In early March 1945 they captured the Ludendorff Bridge (aka the Bridge at Remagen)
-Germans tried to destroy the bridge before its capture, but failed
-After it was captured by U.S. forces the Germans tried to bomb it at night
-Remembers American antiaircraft batteries firing at the German planes
-Eventually the Germans were able to destroy the bridge
-Proved to be irrelevant, U.S. forces were already across the river
-After the bridge was destroyed Army Engineers set up a pontoon
bridge
-Didn't know much about the progress of the war, just knew that they were advancing
-Only a few months after the the Ludendorff Bridge, Germany surrendered on May 8,
1945
(00:36:35) Incident with German Prisoners of War
-After crossing the Rhine River he was traveling as part of a small, three truck convoy
-They stopped on the side of the road to eat some lunch
-They saw an American soldier running towards them, shouting for help
-He led them to where he had come from which was a nearby road
-Turned out that this man and a few others had captured some
Germans
-In the process of transporting them their jeep had struck a land
mine
-Two of the Germans had been killed and the third was in
shock
-Two of the American soldiers were wounded
-Cornelius and the other drivers called in assistance and medics
(00:41:42) Other Duties in Germany
-One of his other duties as a truck driver was to transport dead GIs
-Remembers recognizing one dead soldier as a medic that he had known in the
U.S.
(00:42:19) End of the War
-When the war ended they weren't able to celebrate, but they were relieved that it was
over
-After the Germans surrendered they were sent to Bad Wildungen
-It was a spa town that had hot baths
-It was a nice place to be
-They could go hunting in the woods around the town
-There were German prisoners of war that would do menial tasks and help
hunt
-He was sent up to Maastricht, Holland on temporary duty for six weeks
-This was around August 1945
-He was stationed there with three (or four) other men from the regiment with
their trucks
-His job was to take men from the train station to quarters in Maastricht
�-The next day he would take them to resort towns for R&R
-After dropping them off he'd pick up troops that were done with
R&R
-He was picked for that duty because he kept his truck clean and
presentable
-The atomic bombs were dropped on Japan while he was stationed in Maastricht
-Good news because the division had been slated to participate in the invasion of
Japan
-After he was done at Maastricht he returned to his unit
-Got promoted to be the motor pool sergeant
-Part of the occupation force in Berlin for a little while
-Got to see how ruined the city was
(00:47:30) Coming Home
-After Berlin he was sent to Camp Chesterfield, France to wait to be sent home
-Sailed home on the SS George Washington
-Same ship that President Wilson used during WWI to discuss the Treaty of
Versailles
-The voyage home was very rough
-Landed in New York in January 1946
-First thing that he did was go to a restaurant and order a steak
-A couple in the restaurant paid for his dinner out of gratitude for his
service
-From New York he took a train to Camp Atterbury, Indiana
-Honorably discharged there and then went home to Grand Rapids
-He had been in the service for thirty four months
(00:50:02) Leave Time in the Army
-He didn't have a lot of furlough time when he was in Europe
-Most of his liberty was when he was still in the United States
-Most of what he saw in Europe was what he saw while moving through Belgium and
Germany
-Only got to come home once before he was sent overseas
-Remembers that his mother thought that she would never see him again
(00:53:38) Reflections on Service Pt. 1
-Certain that being in the rear was a blessing
-Doesn't believe that it affected him that much
-He was offered a chance to reenlist and get promoted to master sergeant
-Refused the offer though
-Didn't hate being in the Army, just wanted to get out and go home
-It didn't take anything away from him, and it definitely helped him to grow up
(00:55:47) Life after the War
-He started his own business later in life
-After the war he was working in a factory running automatic screw machines
-He and a friend started their own business in Hudsonville, Michigan
-It became very successful
-Named Topcraft Metal Products
-Started that business when he was 47, and retired when he was 64
�-Came home and just moved on with his life
(00:57:37) Reflections on Service Pt. 2
-He is not ashamed of being a soldier
-Thankful that he survived and is still around
-Made some great friends in the Army, but also made some "enemies"
�
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
JonkerC1771V
Title
A name given to the resource
Jonker, Cornelius Richard (Interview outline and video), 2015
Description
An account of the resource
Cornelius Jonker was born in September 1924 in Rusk, Michigan. When he was young his family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and he grew up there. After turning eighteen he received his draft notice and was sworn into the Army on March 18, 1943. He was processed at Camp Grant, Illinois and was sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina where he received basic training and driver's training. While at Camp Butner he served as a clerk and then as a truck driver for the 78th Infantry Division. In October 1944 the 78th Infantry Division left for the European Theatre, and by the end of November 1944 he was in Belgium. While in Europe he and his division saw action at Simmerath, the Schwammenauel Dam, and the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. After the war, he was stationed in Bad Wildungen, Germany; Maastricht, Holland; and Berlin, Germany. He was eventually sent home and was discharged from Camp Atterbury, Indiana in January 1946.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jonker, Cornelius Richard
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Moore, Deb (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
United States. Army
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
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
2015-05-15
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/c3759c082fb95b408f14ad4377331109.pdf
b8a72c2bf8092f2d6e9d67d7b58432a9
PDF Text
Text
Speaking Out
Western Michigan’s Civil Rights Histories
Grand Valley State University Special Collections
Interviewee: Jordan Serla
Interviewers: Julie Doescher, DeVonte Jones and Krysten Velderman
Supervising Faculty: Liberal Arts Department
Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections
Date: 12/15/2011
Runtime: 01:05:44
Biography and Description
Jordan Serla discusses growing up gay in a small town.
Transcript
Julie: How old are you?
Jordan: I’m 18
Julie: And, what is your gender?
Jordan: Uhm… male (laughs loudly).
Julie: What is your sexual orientation?
Jordan: I’m gay (laughs).
Julie: If you could describe yourself, uhm, how would you like, identify yourself? Using anything you can
think of by using 3 or 4 words.
Jordan: Definitely diva, uh, I can be a bitch (everyone laughs). Uhm, I’m a riot. I’ve never had someone
hang out with me that didn’t want to hang out with me afterwards (laughs). Uh, you can ask Rachel I’m
a riot (laughs). And, I’m crazy.
Julie:(laughs) Okay. (all laugh).
Julie: Tell me a little about your childhood, what it was like growing up.
Jordan: Uhm, I grew up like, like, if you saw me now, you would not even dare to think that I grew up the
way that I did. Uhm, I grew up in, well I started out in Saginaw Township, which was a nice little town, I
mean if you get to the wrong side of Saginaw it’s a little bit iffy there, but (laughs) I grew up in the
Township area, I went to school there blah, blah, blah. Had an awesome childhood in, for the most part,
but I mean uhm, and then I moved to Decatur, do you want all of the childhood details? (laughs)
Page 1
�Julie: Yeah, definitely!
Jordan: Okay (laughs). Because uhm, I mean, when I was little I, in probably 2nd grade, I filed child abuse
on my dad, my step dad because he was very, very like, aggressive.
Julie: It was your step dad?
Jordan: Yeah
Julie: Okay
Jordan: Like, I mean there were lots of times, where he would just like. I remember one time I left my
coat on the floor downstairs, and he just picked me up and whipped me down the stairs and I smacked
my head on the back, on the table that was down there.
Julie: Oh my gosh.
Jordan: Yeah, it was bad. Like, any time he came around me, like one time he chased me down the stairs
and picked me up, and I just pissed my pants because I was so scared (he laughs).
Julie: All gasp, oh my gosh.
Jordan: I was pissed cause I loved those jeans (laughs)
(Everyone laughs loudly.)
Jordan: But uhm.
Julie: And was your mom and real dad present or?
Jordan: Uhm, my mom and real dad separated when I was one. So, my step dad came into my life when I
was 3, married my mom when I was 5, uhm, around 6 is when he started getting like, aggressive, and
violent towards me and my brother. And uhm, like uh, it was just… I knew it was wrong and my brother
just like, never did anything about it. Like, any time child protective services would try to help, he would
deny it and then like, my mom would go in and tell them I was crazy. (laughs)
Julie: Is your brother older or younger?
Jordan: Yeah, he’s 21.
Julie: Okay
Jordan: Yup
Julie: But, uh.
Julie: So your mom didn’t do anything or?
Jordan: Nope, she denies it to this day.
Julie: And your dad, does he know anything?
Page 2
�Jordan: Yep, yep he knew about a lot of it, he tried to do what he could, but uhm, I mean when you’re,
he’s a cop, so you can’t really do anything.
Julie: Yeah.. okay.
Jordan: And uhm, so that’s how that went. Uhm, it continued for a long time until I started getting older
and he started calming down. Stopped doing it as much, like, stopped all that. Uhm, like, it happened a
few times when I was in, like 7th and 8th grade. That kind of stuff, that was after we moved to Decatur.
Julie: Okay
Jordan: I went from like, a normal suburb life to like, hick town in the country (groans)
(All laugh quietly)
(He laughs.)
(We all laugh.)
Jordan: Uhm, that was kind of an interesting place. It just, like I think that’s the place that made me
strong. Uhm,
Julie: And why is that?
Jordan: Uhm, just because like, being the way I was, like I mean, I wasn’t open. But, I still, you could
kinda tell.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like, I wore fashionable clothes, and, like, my hair was always done up and stuff like that, you
could tell but I still reached my way to the top of the popularity pyramid at a hick town.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like, high school. Like, if I can do that, then what can’t I do.
Julie: Is your, do you talk to your step dad?
Jordan: Uhm,
Julie: Like, right now or?
Jordan: Uhm, if I go over there I’ll say high and that’s it. I don’t talk to him unless I need him.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: For various cop stuff, (laughs)
Julie: And, would you say that your family is close? Or your you know, with your brother, you only have
one brother?
Page 3
�Jordan: I have 6 siblings.
Julie: Oh wow. Okay
Jordan: Eh, yeah.
Jordan: And the thing is, my dad, uhm, he had my older sister. She’s 26. She’s heavily into meth
(laughs).
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: Everyone’s got their problems.
(Everyone laughs).
Jordan: Uhm, she, she does, yeah we don’t really talk to her right now, because of all that, but yeah,
uhm. And then I have two half brothers from there I have a step brother that’s from my dad’s new wife,
uhm, and then I have two little sisters that my mom and step dad had, uhm, like, when I was 7. My little
sister was born when I was 7, yeah. And then the other one when I was 10.
Julie: Okay. And then are you close with them, or
Jordan: Not really.
Julie: Okay
Jordan: I mean I was really close to my sister, she was my idol, and like, growing up it was like Shawna…
she was there. She was the coolest sister ever, but now it’s like…
Julie: Oh. The one that
Jordan: Yeah… that one. Uhm, yeah now it’s like, I can’t believe what you turned into because you had
so much potential.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: And that kind of thing, but uhm, my brother is the one that I’m closest with.
Julie: Okay
Jordan: Uhm, he’s actually, like, cause we grew up every day together. Like, he was my only, he’s my
only full blood brother.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like all my other siblings are half siblings, and uhm, well… yeah so that’s the ones I’m close with.
As far as my other family goes, I’m not really a family person. I’ve always felt closer with my friends than
I ever have with my family. Uhm, my mom even though all the stuff with my childhood I try to move on
with it because, when no one else was around, me and my mom had a bond that was like no other.
Page 4
�Like, we just get each other we have the same sense of humor, like, just do the same things. Like, both
hard core bitches (all laugh).
Julie: And your dad?
Jordan: Uhm, my dad. I got a pretty good relationship with my dad. Uhm, I just saw him a couple of days
ago. Like I mean, I’ve been around my dad, when I was… uhm sophomore year, my whole life, ever
since, probably like 8th grade I’ve gone down to Saint Joe, and, uhm, stayed with my aunt and uncle, like
all summer, and like the weekends and stuff like that. Like the weekends after I got my car and I could
drive down there.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: But, I would go and stay the whole summers, and they gave me a job so I could make money,
uhm, they put me in a good environment, uhm around kids where I could learn and like, they just taught
me a bunch of stuff that, you know, like your parents, my parents didn’t give a shit enough to tell me,
and my dad couldn’t be there for me, so,
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Uhm, there was that. So that’s how I ended up in Saint Joe. Uhm, how I moved, I moved junior
year to Plainwell, and that was pretty much the breaking point of that was going to Saint Joe and seeing
my uncle and living with them for the summers and weekends was like what kept me going in life. It
was just, it kept me motivated. And uhm, let me know what I wanted in life. And, uhm, my step dad
uhm, didn’t like that, and we were seeing a therapist, a family therapist at the time. Because… they
thought I was crazy (laughs nervously). But, uhm, and then the therapist said that he needs to spend
more time with his family, and that’s the last thing I wanted to because I hated them.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: And, so, I told my dad that they weren’t going to let me go over to my aunt’s house anymore,
and, he’s like, well that’s it and he told my step mom, and my step mom’s like okay, you can move in
with us next year. Start school over here, and uhm, that’s what I did. I moved to Plainwell, bigger
school. More opportunities, loved it. Graduated early, I haven’t been in school (gasps) for like 9 months
now, (laughs).
(All laugh)
Jordan: It’s been awesome.
Julie: Uh-huh.
Jordan: I start school in December though, but it’s a school that I actually like.
Julie: Okay. And, uhm, what would you say your hobbies are, what do you like to do?
Jordan: I like to draw (quietly laughs) Looks around because there are paintings up on his walls of his
artwork.
Page 5
�(All quietly laugh).
Jordan: I like to paint.
Julie: Uh-huh (laughs) Obviously.
Jordan: I love to shop, and I love to spend money.
(All laugh again).
Julie: that be something… painting… that be something that maybe would be a possible career choice?
Jordan: Uhm, the arts is a career that I’m going into.
Julie: Okay
Jordan: If, like, you look at the artistic point of view, I’m going into cosmetology.
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: Uhm, my dad’s best friends daughter is a runway model out in L.A.
Julie: Wow.
Jordan: So, as soon as I finish school, I’m gonna go to Chicago next year, get some experience, like learn
how to do what I need to do, and then I’m goin straight out to L.A. and work my way to the top.. A-List,
here I come!
Julie: (All laugh) Awesome, so what would you want to do as your career, like, be a hair stylist in L.A.?
Jordan: Yeah, for celebrities. I’m gonna be a platform artist I never wanna work in a salon, after I get my
experience because I’ve worked in a salon as a receptionist and I’ve seen how evil those bitches are. And
I do not want to live a life where I have to go to that every day, and deal with that, and just, the petty,
stupidity. So I’m gonna be a platform artist, and do my own stuff. I’m gonna do hair shows, celebrities,
that kind of thing. Runways, all that stuff.
Julie: Okay, awesome.
Jordan: That’s the stuff that I like. I don’t want to be tied down (half laughs).
Julie: Uhm, so you said that, uhm you were really close with a lot of your friends, as oppose to family,
uhm, so what kind of people did you hang out with? Has it changed from who you hang out with now in
high school, or?
Jordan: Uhm, I’ve always been really good at finding like, legit friends.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Page 6
�Jordan: Like, uhm, I’ve had the same, I’ve always like, because I am gay, I’ve always needed a guy best
friend and a girl best friend. My guy best friend I found when I was in 6th grade. We’re still friends to this
day, like, talk to him all the time.
Julie: Wow
Jordan: Uhm… so, it’s been a long time (laughs)
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: So, but I’ve always switched girl best friends because I’ve never found the right fit.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: And, but when I do pick em, I pick them really good. Like, all my best friends that I have had, I
still talk to em. Like, I still talk to them and I’m still close with them it’s just there not.. there. Right now
I’ve I’ve found the one.
(All laugh).
Jordan: Like, it’s Tara (laughs). She’s my best friend. Like I could talk to that girl about anything, so
comfortable around her.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like, we do the most stupid shit ever (all laugh). We just sit there and laugh.
(Laugh again).
Jordan: Uhm, so like as far as friends go, like, I mean, the kind of friends that I hang out, have all varied,
uhm, I’ve figured out that, although I listen to pop music, and I love country, and like, all that bubbly like,
like (laughs) dancin music, uhm.. I love all that. And all, my two closest friends are all like into die hard
death metal screamo, like nasty like I feel like Satan’s gonna come out of my radio (all laugh again).
Uhm, so there like, there kinda rocker-ish.
Julie: Uh-huh.
Jordan: Yeah.
Julie: So they’re different from you?
Jordan: Yeah.
Julie: You like that?
Jordan: Yeah, they’re like opposite of me. Uhm. Like I don’t get how I can become such good friends
with people like that. But, it just happens (laughs).
Julie: Yeah
Page 7
�Jordan: Love it
Julie: Uhm, are you religious?
Jordan: Uhm, I’m not really religious.
Julie: Okay, have you ever been or are your parents?
Jordan: Parents, definitely. My mom always told me that gayness was devil spirits in your brain
possessing you. Which now, just sounds crazy to me.
Julie: Uh-huh.
Jordan: Uhm, I don’t believe in the Bible. I believe that uhm, if you look it up; the opposite of godly is
religion. And uhm, so I’ve just I kind of believe what I believe. I believe that there’s a greater thing up
there. Cause, like I mean, when I’ve been in shitty situations I pray, and, everything gets resolved so, it
makes me feel like there’s something up there, and just the thought of it makes me feel more
comfortable.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Knowing that, there is something. But as far as like, the Bible goes, and sinning. I don’t believe in
sinning, that’s crazy. How can, how could you just be put on this earth, and, then given, how is a man
supposed to die for your sins and, like, now like, you can sin and be forgiven? Like, I don’t believe there
are sins, I believe that there is choices that you make, and there’s right and wrong choices, of course,
but as far as sins go, and there’s something wrong, and like, God’s just frowning down on you for doing
that, like, that’s just crazy. (Laughs). I just don’t believe in that, and if you do, that’s fine. But, that’s just
not something I believe in.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like, I mean, I believe Jesus is there. I believe God ‘s there, but, as far as like, God doesn’t like
that, that you did that, like, I don’t like that.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: I mean I do believe in karma, what goes around comes around. And, I mean I’ve definitely had
my fair share of bad karma, and I’ve had my fair share of good karma (a horn beeping goes off from his
cell phone) and I’m at that point in my life where I realize, doing stupid things like stealing from people,
like that (points to a gnome he stole) brings bad karma. Like, I mean, that’s not something I want in my
life, and you know, I’ve gotten a couple doses of good karma in my life and I like it too much to give it up
(we laugh) (he laughs), so ha.
Julie: And when your mom did tell you that uhm, she didn’t, you know, uh, did you believe that at the
time? Were you young? Or, like does she still think that, tell you that? Or has she changed?
Jordan: (Laughs) Uhm, she won’t tell me that now because I’m pretty sure she has an idea (we laugh).
She’s always asking my brother, and my brother’s like “Uh I don’t know ha ha”
Page 8
�(We laugh).
Jordan: He’s like, it’s not my decision to tell her.
Julie: Uh-huh.
Jordan: Cause it’s not, but uhm. (Laughs). Well, uhm… like I mean it was always in the back of my mind
growing up. Like, just like, uhm. I was actually home schooled for two years. I missed that part in my
schooling debate that I was telling you about.
(All laugh).
Jordan: Uhm, 7th and 8th grade I was home schooled which I look back, and am so thankful I was because
that’s like your awkward stage where you have time to grow, and I was like, the, I was the, really big like
loser, like dirty kid, like uhm. I just, like, the bad kid that’s always gettin into trouble at school.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: And, like, 5th and 6th grade, and then 7th and 8th grade I had time to grow and like find myself
without all these other kids around me judging me all the time, ya know, that kind of thing, I got a
chance to kind of like, figure it out, and what I was doing, and like, stuff like that, so. When I went back
to high school my freshman year, I was, uhm, it was like my year of adjustment like getting back into
everything, and ya know, I was, I made a lot of other friends, and like, some of the people I grew up in
5th and 6th grade like, like, they were a lot different towards me now, and somehow I worked my way up
from the chain, and everybody loved me now. Like I can still go back, like I can go to a football game,
and they’ll all be there. And I’ll walk through, and they’ll be like AHHHH, (laughs), like they’ll still be all
like crazy towards me.
Julie: (All laugh). That’s awesome.
Jordan: Like they’ll still be all crazy towards me.
Julie: Uhm, when did you first know, was there a point?
Jordan: I’ve always known.
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: Always.
Julie: So like, really young?
Jordan: Yeah.
Julie: And what, why happened? Was there any significant moment, or no?
Jordan: Uhm, I don’t know you know you can tell that I’m really girly.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Page 9
�Jordan: Like, I’ve just always been that way. Like when I was little, I used to dress up like a girl. Like I
mean I know that’s really weird, but yeah I totally did. And all the time so. My whole family just
thought it was weird, but they thought maybe we just have a weird kid. Like, so I’ve always known.
Uhm, I don’t know I remember watching tv and like, stuff was getting more sexual and there were guys
on the tv that were shirtless and I was like, damnn (laughs).
(All laugh loudly).
Jordan: So, like I mean I just kind of, like girls, like when you, when you start liking boys you don’t like
boys when you’re little, you know, you just don’t. But I remember being little and like being in love with
Nick Carter from Backstreet Boys.
(All laugh).
Julie: Uhm, so, do…have you told your, have you, you’ve told your parents? Or no? Or do they just have
some kind of clue? Have you told your brothers and sisters?
Jordan: My mom is on to me (laughs). My brother, he, I have like, when I was 15, well since I was 15 I’ve
had like an iPod Touch, and I always have these gay apps where I was able to talk to people, and stuff
like that, so one time, and I always kept my iPod locked, and then one time I let my brother into it, and
he found it, and like with my friend Holly, who lives with me right now, (laughs), so, well she doesn’t live
with me right now but she lives like over there in the same apartment complex, but, uhm, but, uhm… oh
snap what was I saying. I hate that I get sidetracked, stoner mind.
Julie: About Holly, and…
Jordan: Oh, well they found that, and like two years went by. And never, never said anything to my
brother, even though I knew he knew, because Holly told me of course, and uhm like, him and Holly
dated for a while, and like had a little thing, but never really dated, but that’s how I know her and now
we’re like tight. She comes over here every night after work and we have girl talk.
(All laugh).
Jordan: Like, she’ll come over here tonight. Uhm, but… my brother and me, I don’t even remember
exactly how it went down. I think he said something and I was just like whatever, because my junior
year of high school, I moved to a new school. The way I looked at it is, like Decatur, I already ran that
school. Like I already know what it’s like to be the most popular kid in school.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: And like, I knew what it was like to be that, you know when I moved to Plainwell, I just wanted
real friends. You know? Like, I didn’t, I didn’t want all the showboaty every time I walked down the
hallway. Like, I didn’t care about that anymore. I just wanted to have a good high school experience for
the time that was left there.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Page
10
�Jordan: Uhm, so when I got there, I didn’t like seek anything out. I still became pretty popular there just
on my own, but I didn’t like, I didn’t like go to all the parties that they went to or stuff like that. Uhm, I
didn’t like go to the football games or anything, I just hung out with my friends. And like, I had a really
close group of friends. Like, one of my closest friends that I used to sit with at lunch every day, every
time like, we had trimesters, and we’d always switch lunches and stuff like that, and somehow he always
ended up in my lunch, but Drake Black goes to uhm GVSU, and we went to high school together. Uhm,
but yeah, he was one of my close friends. I just had this close circle, like, if we hung out after school
we’d all hang out, like a bunch of stoners.
(All laugh).
Jordan: But, like we’d just hang out and do our thing, and uhm, but it was a lot of fun. I found a lot more
enjoyment with life by just enjoying it, instead of seeking it out and throughout my high school years
when I was living with my mom I was so angry all the time, like, I was such a bitch. That’s how I got to
popular, because there were like these girls that would like, think they were all that, and I would just go
up and say it to their face, you’re fat and you’re nasty and you’re a piece of shit get the heck out of here.
Ya know, I’d just like, I would just give it to them and everyone loved that. Like, they loved having that
person who would just say it to their face because no one else would. Ya know, you’d be like “Oh my
god I hate that girl, she’s so stupid. I wish someone would just go up and tell her”, and I would be like,
I’ll do it.
(Everyone laughs).
Jordan: It was just all my anger, and I’ve always been ruthless like that.
(Laughter again).
Julie: And did your friends, and your friends knew. Did you ever talk to them about it? Or they just
knew?
Jordan: Uhm, my friends at Decatur didn’t know.
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: Like, I mean I’m sure they had their suspicions.
Julie: And you never talked about it?
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Now they know. I mean, if you saw the outfit that I showed up in for graduation there, like I
went back and watched all my friends walk, of course. Uhm, but if you saw what I wore, it was pretty
obvious. And like, I just, once I moved to Plainwell I stopped caring what people thought, and so I just
kinda like, if people asked if I was gay I would be like, yeah (laughs) I am.
Julie: But, before uhm, you moved there, you said you would say no? Or would you deny it?
Jordan: Yeah, I would totally deny it.
Page
11
�Julie: Uh-huh.
Jordan: I wasn’t comfortable there. And plus it was like a total hick town, but, the thing is like I’ve gone
back totally openly gay, and like, when I wear shorts, I wear short shorts. Like, ya know and like, in the
summer, I’m totally dressed like a slut, but.
(Everyone laughs).
Jordan: Like I went back there, and like, they all still like, treat me the same. Which just goes to show ya,
like the people that lived there. They were good people.
Julie: Yeah, definitely.
Julie: Uhm, so, who was the hardest person to tell in your life, or,
Jordan: Is going to be?
Julie: Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Jordan: Uhm, probably my dad because he is so oblivious.
Julie: Really?
Jordan: Yes, like. I, I’m the biggest girl in the world. He likes to hunt, and like do all this stuff. Like don’t
get me wrong, I can shoot a gun like no other. I was down, I went shooting down with Greg at the
shooting range, like when you shoot the clay pigeons, well, I went down there and there’s just like all
these manly men with their guns and I’m like walkin up in some tight ass jeans with Ugg boots and my
hair and a scarf. And like, they’re just looking at me like, what the fuck is this kid doing here?
(Laughter)
Jordan: I get out there with my gun, just, bam bam bam!
(Laughter again)
Jordan: And they’re just like, (mouth open). Cause I shot better than like most of them. Like my dad’s
always taken me shooting and stuff like that. He tried to get me into hunting but, my first time deer
hunting I swear to God I just sat there, I was just like (crosses his legs and looks up in the air and sighs
many times).
Jordan: (All laugh). Really? I’m goin back, I’m gonna eat (he laughs). Sat out there for maybe an hour
(we laugh). And then I was like, this is stupid.
Julie: But you don’t think that your dad knows?
Jordan: Umm, like, my, my step mom has like said things to my siblings, and my siblings have said things
to me about her saying things to them about it, and like, my dad is just so oblivious to it. And it’s like so
weird, like because, any time he wants to do something. Like, he likes to garden and I’m like ew dad, no.
I don’t like dirt; it gets underneath my fingernails (we laugh). It dries out my hands, and it’s disgusting!
Page
12
�(All laugh again).
Jordan: And, uh, it’s just so bad because he’s seriously like, sooo straight. It’s ridiculous. Like my dad’s a
whore. Well, like not right now but he was. (Laughter). He’s just like, pussy pussy pussy. And he’s
always talking about it still, still to this day. And I’m just like, ew. (All laugh again loudly).
Julie: Uhm, who would be the easiest person to tell and why?
Jordan: Like, that I haven’t already told?
Julie: Yeah.
Julie: Or who was the easiest person, that you just knew from the minute that you were gonna tell
them, it was gonna be okay?
Jordan: The easiest person to tell was probably my best friend in Plainwell High School. Her name was
Kelly. Have you met Kelly? (Looks over at his friend). Ginger, long hair. Red hair, she’s like the prettiest
ginger you’ll ever see, because a pretty one doesn’t come around that often. Uhm, but yeah, she’s
probably the easiest just because like, as I said, when I moved to Plainwell I just didn’t care anymore.
Like I just wanted to be liked for me.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like..
Julie: And what happened, how did she react?
Jordan: She loved it.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like, have you ever met a girl who doesn’t want a girl best friend?
Julie: (Everyone shakes head, agrees) I know, what?
(Everyone laughs)
Jordan: Like I..
Julie: So true.
Jordan: Like, when I was in high school I’d get all these girls that would like, wanted to go shopping with
me, blah blah blah, and stuff like that, and to me, like, that’s not what makes a friend. Like my best
friend Kelly, like that, we were best friends through high school, we were still just talking today, she
texted me but I ignored it today because I was out, but, uhm, like we still talk all the time that’s where I
got the cat from. And like, we’ve been shopping together once. And it didn’t happen until two years
after we were best friends.
(All laugh).
Page
13
�Jordan: Like, that just goes to show you all these girls come up and go, let’s go shopping blah blah blah,
it’s just like, I’m lookin for real friends, not these girls that just want me to go shopping with them just
because they think I have good taste. Like, you can just tell, everyone wants a best gay friend.
Julie: Okay, uhm, are you involved in anything like, community outreach, or something like that? Or
were you in high school?
Jordan: Uhm, I did not do anything in high school. Extra curricular was not my thing. I hated high school
with a passion that burned like the sun. I loved friends, I loved going in there every day like and,
seriously throughout entire high school I didn’t care where I was, never wore sweatpants to school.
Always in jeans, always dressed up, always did my hair, like a bad hair day happened.. twice in my entire
4 years.
Julie: Oh my gosh.
Jordan: Yeah, like I never just put it up in a clip or something. Like I always, I always did it. So it was just
like always perfect there. And like, uhm, I just, I went for the friends. I hated high school and I didn’t
want to help out my school at all. I didn’t do any of that. Depending on the job that I get when I’m up
here, because of what I’m looking into, uhm (chuckles), it will determine. Because I thought, maybe
getting into some charities, for uhm, people who have had siblings or something that are involved in
meth, or helping a little bit in the gay community, but I believe that the gays are fine they’re just big
drama queens.
(All laugh).
Julie: Uhm, how did you feel after you told people, uh, did you think it was a mistake? Do you have any
doubts, or?
Jordan: Uhm, the first person I ever told was my best friend Matt.
Julie: And, how old were you?
Jordan: I was, in 7th grade. Wait no, probably 8th grade. Because we were friends all throughout 6th, and
like what not, and like we were just best friends so I mean, I knew I had to tell him. So basically I just
started toying around with him, because I was always, always very “toyative” with people. Uhm, I don’t
even know if that’s a real world.
(We all laugh).
Jordan: But it described and uhm. Like that’s what, I uh, kind of toyed around with the idea. He thought
I was just joking at first, and then I told him and he took it really well so eventually he kinda just found
out that for, legit I was and he took it just fine, so after that, I mean I still went through high school with
an indicator like, trying to like, just keep my rep the way it was. Keep myself at the top, cause in a
school like that you don’t want to fall down to the bottom.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Page
14
�Jordan: And uhm, (laughs), yeah.
Julie: Uhm, have you dated anyone, like, for a long time, or recently?
Jordan: It’s funny that you, brought that up because, 3 days ago was my anniversary for being single for
3 years. (Laughs) So way to bring that up!
Julie: (All laugh), sorry!
Jordan: No, the way I look at it is, the only thing that I’ve ever had is a one night stand, which, I mean,
that’s just the kind of person I am.
Julie: And, do you like that? Is that, would you want a relationship?
Jordan: Eventually. But where I’m going in life, I don’t want anything gettin in the way of that. Like I see
all my girlfriends that like, go out and they date these guys and then they feel like shit afterwards and
then like, they fuck with them and it’s just so much boy drama… I don’t want any of that. Like, right now
Julie: You just want to have fun.
Jordan: I just want to have fun. Honestly there’s nothin wrong with me being the way that I am I don’t
think. Like, I’ve never really felt the urge to, like I mean I went on a date today, but, like, just out to
lunch, but.
Julie: But you do date people?
Jordan: I mean, it depends. Like, I’m waitin for the right one. I’m very picky. I mean I’ve gone out with
people, but I’ve never dated them dated them. Like, this is my boyfriend. (Ha). Like I’ve never had that,
I mean, basically when I get a little bit tipsy I get a little slutty, and one thing leads to another, and I have
a night of fun and that’s it. And then I’m content for awhile.
Krysten: How do you meet these people?
Jordan: I’ll meet them at a party, online, whatever. Like, don’t worry, online I’m very careful. (He
laughs). I’m not like, okay let’s meet right now! You can come over no one’s here.
(All laugh).
Jordan: No, it’s like, I’m very careful. I make them send me like multiple pictures, and if any of them
look photo edited, or like, like, like, you just went to Google and googled someone hot, and like put
them on there. Hell no, you’re not comin anywhere near me. Like I’m very careful about it, but cause
like I might be a blonde, and I might be a little bit ditzy, and I mean, but I got a brain on me. (Laughs)
Krysten: That’s good.
Jordan: Not gonna lie about it (he laughs).
Julie: Uhm, what is your definition of discrimination?
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�Jordan: Like, what do you mean?
Julie: Just, whatever you feel like, if… if anyone’s ever discriminated against you, and what you think?
Jordan: I’ve never been offended by much. As I said, I feel like the gay community’s just a bunch of
drama queens and they just need to chill out. Like, I went to hick town high school and I was just fine
there. Like, if I can make it through that then.. they can make it through crap. I mean, the word
“faggot” pisses me off, only if it’s said multiple times. Like, but that’s a fightin word. If someone called
you a faggot wouldn’t you like, get ready to beat their ass?
(We laugh).
Jordan: Yeah, if someone came up and was just like, faggot, like, no one likes that word. But, that’s
probably the only word like, gay discriminative that I don’t like. But if like someone just says it to me
when I’m walking past them, then I’m just like, whatever. But, no one has ever really discriminated
against me in a way that’s really upset me.
Julie: Okay.
DeVonte: Have you ever been mistreated, like after you came out?
Jordan: Uhm, I mean, like when I went, in high school at Plainwell, I had this like, class, and it was just
like, oh my God it was wretched. It was a math class, and of course I got stuck with, and it was the only
class that I’ve ever had to take for an entire year at Plainwell. Uhm, because we run on trimesters so
every twelve weeks we get new classes, new schedules, new teachers, new everything. Which I loved
that about it, because it was more collegy. Like, less prisoney.
(Laughs).
Jordan: And uhm, these, this class of people was the one that I got stuck with for 3 trimesters because it
was, uhm, a 1.5 credit class and uhm, which is just awesome that I got an extra credit for doing stuff that
people would only get one credit from, but, like, there was me, and then there was this weird girl that
sat above me, in front of me, or no it was this kid, and then this weird girl, and then there was just weird
people. Ya know, like just those nerdy kids that no one talks to. (Laughs). Well they all sat around me
and I kind of sat in the back of them, and there was like the punk ass kids that thought they were too
cool, in a little L, and there was probably 4 of them. And then on the other side they would all move
their desks to the other side, it was like, oh my god, it was like, the trailer park, like, nasty, like redneck
hillbillies, oh my god, they were completely wretched (laughter). And they would sit there and make
derogatory comments about everything and about everybody, and the stuff that came out of their
mouth, you could tell they were just so uneducated, and like, like, half of them failed the class. It was
just really, really dumb. Like, I mean, and, they’d sit there and some of them would bash on me, and
like, I’d just smile, and be like “stupid idiots”. Because I got the highest grade in the class. I passed
Algebra II with a fucking 98, beat that (laughs).
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�Jordan: Uhm, like I’d always wear Uggs, and they used to like say, “girl boots”, and like, like, just like, say
something, like, crap what would they say. Something about I’ll whoop your ass in your girl boots, or
whatever, but then I just think to myself and say, why the fuck do you even care?
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Julie: And what did people around you say, like what did they think or did they do anything or did they
just like?
Jordan: I have like, like Tara, when she sees people look at me bad, like she goes full force, like bitch on
them. Like we were sittin at Cedar Point, and there were these two little girls and they were (laughs) 9
or 10, (all laugh) and they like look back at me, and the one goes up to the other one and goes, “he’s
gay”. Tara’s like, “YES, he is”.
(Everyone laughs loudly).
Jordan: And then they’d like, keep looking back, and then Tara would just be like “What bitch”? Her
parents are right there and they kind of look back, and I’d like look at them like, “what, do something
bitch”? Like, she fires me up about it. I don’t usually notice anymore, cause like I just live my life and
focus on what I’m doing, and like, that’s just how I am but she’ll point it out to me and be like, “that
bitch over there just gave you a dirty look” and then I’ll be like (covers his mouth) Oh my god (all laugh).
And just stare her down, and make them feel so comfortable that they have to leave. You’re pathetic
(laughs). I win. (we all laugh).
DeVonte: Do you think you have like, influenced other people to come out?
Jordan: No.
Julie: Do you have any friends..?
Jordan: Uhm, my friend Drake that I was telling you about that goes to GVSU, he’s probably my only gay
friend. Uhm, the thing is, like, have you noticed that girls hang out with girls, and guys hang out with
guys. Well, I’ve always been like a girl so, I’ve always hung out with the girls, so when it comes to gay
friends, it’s like I don’t really have any because I don’t really hang out with boys. And like, the,
extremely flamboyant like, gay people, like I just don’t like them very much because I feel like, I feel like
they’re kind of annoying, (laughs) just a little bit. And I know I’m annoying to some people, because
they can’t, they don’t like seeing that, but ya know, I feel like they’re always out for drama and like,
always out to see who did this, who did that, and like, they’re attention seekers like no other, and it
annoys me. So, I don’t have a lot of gay friends.
Julie: Is your friend Drake, uhm, did he come out before you, after you?
Jordan: Before I think?
Julie: Okay, so you knew him.
Jordan: But, I give him props for that because he was at that school his entire life and he did it.
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�Julie: Wow.
Jordan: Where, I moved schools, and then did it. Which, moving schools is scary, but, the people you
grew up with, having to tell them that, like after, like hiding it for so long. And he’s not the kind of gay
kid that you can tell is gay. Like, he’d have to tell you. Like, and those are the kind I like. I just like real
people.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: You do what you do.
DeVonte: So, when you came out, how was it? Were you relieved, or like?
Jordan: It kind of just happened (laughs).
Julie: It’s just kind of new still?
Jordan: No, it’s just a part of who I am, I mean like, you don’t go up to someone and like, I would never
go up to someone and say, “Hi I’m Jordan, I’m gay”.
(All agree).
Jordan: Just like you wouldn’t go up to someone and say “Hi I’m Rachel, I’m straight”.
(All laugh).
Jordan: Like, you just don’t do it. Like, it’s just a part of who I am. Like I mean, if you want to know, I’ll
tell ya. Like, it didn’t really change a lot in my life, other than the fact that I didn’t feel like I had to hide
it anymore. I was able to become more myself than I ever was. And like, my friend Holly, she knew me
before and after. And like, she sees me after, and she’s like, “I’m so glad, cause it’s not like you weren’t
fun before, but you’re like ten times more fun now just because you let go, you let loose”. Uhm, so I’ve
always been kind of like a loose canyon, just letting it go, and doing what I want to do. I don’t care what
people think. Uhm, except old people. I don’t like to be around old people.
(Laughter)
Jordan: Like, I feel like there always lookin at me. (Laughter again). There always sittin there and
watchin me, and those are the kind of people that I mind being judged by (he laughs). It’s like oh god!
So, I, will never work at nursing home, or like
Julie: You would never do their hair?
Jordan: No! I just don’t like old people. Like, and that’s another reason why I would never wanna work
in a salon. Like, old people come get their hair permed, and stuff like that. And then like, the last when I
was working reception at Rivé, I got Connie’s client Wilma come in there, and she was tryin to convert
me to born again Christian, and I was like, lady I’ve been through all of that (laughs), and she was like
“Well you just give me a call when you go to church” and I’m all like well I’m gonna be busy the next
couple of weeks. (All laugh). And she’s like, “well the Lord is, you don’t make time for the Lord he’s
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�gonna come get chu”. Or something like that, and then like, like, it was just crazy and I never called her.
And then like, last time I went into Rivé I brought my friend Haley lunch cause we were really tight when
we worked there; she does hair there and uhm I brought her lunch, and I like call her and I’m like, fuck
it’s Thursday, is Wilma comin in? (All laugh). Cause I mean, I still remember like, the, weeklys, like the
people who come in and I’m like, oh crap it’s Thursday. Aww, she comes in to get her hair done on
Thursday and I just had to call and make sure she wasn’t comin in cause I didn’t wanna run into her.
“You never called me, the Lord shouldn’t have to wait for you”. (All laugh again). And like, it was just
too much, it’s just like, I live my life the way I wanna live it. That’s another example of my, religious
beliefs (laughs), so.
DeVonte: Do you think your parents would like, accept the fact that you are a homosexual?
Jordan: Yeah, I just don’t want to deal with it right now. Like it’s just not something that I want to do
right now. Right now I’m very content keeping them out of my life, like I don’t expect them to like, like if
one day I get married, I don’t want them there.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like, that kind of thing. It’s just weird I don’t want them there.
Julie: Why though?
Jordan: I don’t know, like, I shouldn’t really care because, I mean I don’t care what people think, but I
believe that gayness is passed down, uhm. I believe it’s genetic. I don’t know how it started spreading
so fast lately, I think it’s because everyone’s just like not scared anymore, but I feel like it’s always been
there. Uhm, because my grandpa, who is dead (laughs) now, he was gay. And uhm, he grew up back
when that wasn’t okay, so, he married my grandma and everything like that and they were married their
whole lives cause they were very strict Catholics. Uhm, but, she used to own a store in Grosse Point,
where they sold baskets, flowers, and stuff like that. I don’t know, they just did it cause they liked it
they were already like multi-millionaires and like, lost it all because they were stupid.
(All laugh).
Jordan: It’s cause they were selfish, they gave us like 15 bucks for Christmas every year, I was like fuck
you bastards. You have a $20 million dollar house and you’re giving us 15 bucks for Christmas.
(Laughter).
Jordan: But uhm,
Julie: And when did he come out? Did you know?
Jordan: He didn’t.
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: Uhm, my grandma caught him with a man. At Grosse Point, made him pick everything up and
that’s how they ended up in Harbor Springs.
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�Julie: Uh-huh.
Jordan: Which is where my grandma still is.
Julie: And they didn’t stay, they stayed together?
Jordan: Yep, Catholics… crazy.
Julie: Did you know him?
Jordan: Yeah, oh yeah. He just died last year.
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: But (laughs), sorry his funeral was hilarious.
(All laugh and are confused).
Jordan: I know that’s like sick sounding, but, oh my god it was just funny. Like I was sittin there just
holding the coffin, and like, the priest or whatever comes up and there are like little boys in white robes
and he like rubs his face and sprinkles the holy water at my grandfather’s coffin, and he turns over and
rubs the other little boy’s face and sprinkles more on their with his little thing and I’m just like sitting
there holding my dead grandpa’s coffin, and I’m like (starts cracking up). I had soars on the inside of my
mouth that day from holding my laughter in. (All laugh). Cause like, and they would change like, “bless
the father, bless the mother” all together and I was like, what the hell? Then they’d be talking some
jibberish and it was like, scary, it was like what the hell is going on? I’m like, I had my nails painted and
everything for that one, so I’m goin up to take communion and I like took the bread, and I’m like this
bread is gonna be like dry as fuck I’m gonna wait until I get to the wine to eat it. And then he like stops
me and is like “No! You eat it here!” And he looked right at my nails and he was like, like, I should’ve
just been like, yep that’s right! (laughs). It was just like, that thing. But my Uncle, uhm, which is my
dad’s brother. He lives over in Detroit, he’s also gay. So far it’s hit every generation for the last 3, so I
told my brother, you’re gettin gay kids (laughs). Ha Ha!
Julie: Are you close with your Uncle?
Jordan: No, no he’s, he kind of lives in his own little world. Which is what I want someday. Like, I mean
they get together for thanksgiving and Christmas, and his partner comes with him. He’s got a partner,
and his partner’s kind of a bitch, but he’s really funny. But uhm, like that’s just what they do. They
show up for important events. And that’s what I’ll plan on doing some day. But, as far as having my
family live next door and see them all the time, and have them come play with the grandkids, like that
kind of stuff, like that’s not happening. That is not happening; I’m livin my own life and I don’t want you
guys all over in it (laughs).
Julie: Do you want to get married?
Jordan: Yeah.
Julie: So you see yourself getting married and having kids?
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�Jordan: Yeah, I have my fantasy planned out like every teenage girl does.
Julie: Would you mind sharing?
(All laugh).
Jordan: Uhm, I, I mean, when, when I am where I fully wanna be, uhm. Actually I had a dream the other
day, and it was really scary because I ended up getting killed in it. But it was like everything I’ve ever
wanted and then my husband tried to kill me and then he eventually did but. And then for some reason
I, okay no I can’t get into the details of everything
(All laugh again).
Jordan: But uhm, not sexually (laughter), but it goes on forever there’s so many details. But uhm…
uhm.. what I want someday is, like.. just like the perfect family for me. Like, I want two kids, boys cause
I hate little girls. Like I mean if I could just skip like, if they could start out as a baby, and then like, skip
like 4-14 with a girl, I’d take a daughter but like you can’t skip those ages and I absolutely hate them
through those ages, like, I mean I didn’t even like Charlie (looks to his friend). Like I really didn’t like
Charlie and the only reason I could tolerate Morgan was cause she was so dumb (everyone laughs). But
uhm, yeah, so I want two sons that’s it. Uhm, I already have them named. But uhm, and then I wanna
wake up in the morning, and just, get up, get my kids ready, take them to school, go do some celebrities
hair, like go work out and run some errands, go pick up my kids, and then just spend the rest of the day
with them. Like, cook dinner, wait for the hubby to get home, like that kind of thing.
Julie: But you want like, a kind of more traditional, it sounds like you want more of a traditional, like go
cook dinner for your husband, take care of the kids..
Jordan: Yeah, I mean, that’s how I feel it should be.
Julie: Okay, is that how your family was or?
Jordan: In a way yeah. I mean my mom and step mom have always cooked for my dad and stuff like
that, but I mean I want to be able, like my mom was very neglecting. Like I don’t think she liked to be
around very much, especially when I was home schooled she was never really around. Which was weird
because she was supposed to be home schooling me (laughs). Uhm, like she was never around and like,
I mean I feel like that’s, that’s why I was so, like fucked up for awhile. And like seriously, I, I had a drug
addiction when I was like 16 that I got myself out of. Like I was snortin adderal up the nose, every day,
all day, 3 times a day, never slept, never ate, and then in between adderals I was taking vicadin up the
nose. I was just, totally crazy and people would see it, and like, eventually someone told me, but I don’t
want my kids to ever have to do that and like, I’ve hidden my whole life from my parents. Like what
they see is just, my bedroom and like, and what I go out in, which sometimes I would have to change in
the car because I was not going to dress like that when I went out, and like that kind of thing so, like I
mean I know, like I started wearing short shorts around my dad, which is kind of weird but I keep them
at a decent length. Like up here (points to the middle of his thigh) instead of like right there (moves his
hand slightly up). I have changed in my car, like after I left my house so they didn’t ask or anything, and
like, say something about what I was wearing. That kind of thing. Uhm, but I have had to hide my life
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�from them and I don’t want to do that with my kids. Like I want them to tell me everything if they’re
going to go drop acid with their friends I want them to tell me. Like, (laughs), like I mean… and I just
want that, that, nice bond. Like that’s more of my traditional views on that.
DeVonte: Uhm, would you ever consider getting an operation done?
Jordan: No.
Julie: Why?
Jordan: When I was in my mom’s stomach she got an ultrasound done. Sorry, I’m gonna open a window
I’m hot.
(Opens window and talks about it locking).
Jordan: But uhm, I would never get that done cause I feel like I was made this way. When I was in my
mom’s stomach she got an ultrasound done and I was supposed to be a girl and I came out a boy, like,
Julie: Oh really?
Jordan: Yeah.. that goes to tell you something. And, I feel like I mean if you’re gonna go get an
operation that’s your business, but I feel like you were put on the earth the way you are for a reason, to
fit someone’s puzzle. Ya know? Like I mean I feel like everyone’s a puzzle piece just waiting to fill up
someone’s puzzle. Like ya know? And that’s what I’m waiting for that’s why I don’t really date.
(Laughs). Cause I haven’t found the right one.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
DeVonte: Do you think it was more of a friendly environment in Plainwell than it was in Decatur?
Jordan: Uhm…. Yes and no. I felt like in high school there were more assholes at Plainwell, but uhm, I
just did my own thing. So I didn’t pay attention to them. Like, I mean I just, like I got bothered less, just
because I didn’t pay attention to them, but. I mean after my brother’s class, my brother was in high
school, he was a senior when I was a freshman and we were in the same school and after he graduated,
like all those like assholes left, and then I was fine. So, I mean… they were, they were probably equal,
like I never really got bothered that much. My dad’s a cop, everyone knew it. You don’t fuck with the
cop’s kid.
(Everyone laughs).
DeVonte: Do you currently have a job right now?
Jordan: Uhm, I don’t. I’m really workin on it. What I’m getting into is, webcaming. Uhm, I know that
sounds like, bad, but like, for the money I’m gonna be making from it, it’s not that bad and uhm,
basically what’s gonna happen is I’ll sit there and talk to people, and if they want to take me into private
they’ll have to pay $8 a minute. Like 8 something a minute, and basically they can see what they want,
but. And then they can call me anytime, uhm, they just call an 800 number and uhm, it’ll be directed
towards my phone number so it’s kept completely private.
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�Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: And it’s 3-4 dollars a minute for every minute that they talk to me on the phone. So, uhm.
Julie: Wow.
Jordan: Yeah.
Julie: Where did you think of this idea?
Jordan: Dr. Phil (everyone laughs).
Julie: And are you like, gonna start it up soon or have you been thinking about it for awhile?
Jordan: Well, I just sent in my papers yesterday.
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: Uhm, for them to prove that I’m 18.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: So I can start doing that. Checks come in the mail every Tuesday. And, like, seriously you work
whenever you want, you just go into your bedroom, turn on the webcam, and at the end of it you walk
away with $300 and some bucks. I, I mean, there’s people that sit on that for 3 hours, and they make
just under a grand.
Julie: Oh my gosh.
Jordan: Could you imagine working for 3 hours and making that much money?
Julie: That’s crazy.
Jordan: That’s why I’m gettin into it. I mean, I knew I was gonna end up doin something dirty. I’ve
checked out stripping, but, I mean it’s just I’d rather have the privacy of my own home. And, choose
who gets to come into my sanctuary (he laughs).
(We all laugh).
Jordan: Uhm, even though stripping is something that like sounds really fun, the thing about me is that,
like, I was a die hard partier. Like I was 16, just got my car, ya know, just escaped my mom. I was die
hard partier. Partying every night. Like, just, that was when I had my problem (laughs). Uhm, so like
I’ve always been a partier, I’ve always been a little bit crazy. Uhm, I have one-night stands so, it’s like,
I’m clearly not that conservative about those kind of things. Like, I feel like that does come a little bit
with the gayness, but at the same time, not everybody’s like that. So I don’t know, I think it’s just my
personality, I mean, I, I don’t think of myself any less for it.
Jordan: (He laughs). You all shook your head at the same time, that was really funny.
Jordan: Haha yeah that was weird.
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�Krysten: How did you move up to Grand Rapids?
Jordan: Uhm, I moved up here for school. Uhm, Aveda Institute is right downtown it’s where I’m going.
Krysten: Oh, I’ve been there it’s nice.
Jordan: Yeah.
Julie: It’s so nice.
Jordan: Yeah when I saw it, I fell in love with it. Uhm, come get your hair done by me.
(He laughs).
Jordan: Cause then, when I become famous you can be like, “he did my hair”.
(We all laugh).
Krysten: It’s pricey.
Jordan: Yeah, it will be pricey someday; it won’t be when I’m in school.
Krysten: Well, for me to go in and get it done it’s still pretty pricey.
Jordan: Oh, yeah, (laughs). I mean, I’ve got a bunch of fake hair glued to my head so, yeah (laughs). My
salon bill’s not very nice either.
(We all laugh).
DeVonte: Are there any books or movies that you feel are most connected with?
Jordan: Uhm, (looks confused), no Brokeback Mountain! Just kidding.
(We all laugh).
Jordan: As far as movies go… I’d have to say my favorite is Easy A.
(The girls agree).
Julie and Krysten: That is a good movie.
Jordan: She is so like.. like I feel like that sums up a little bit of who I am. Like, minus the fact that of like,
like, how conservative she actually was.
Julie: Mhm-hm.
Jordan: Like, I’m the kind of person who could do that. Like, I mean, I just don’t have that emotion. Like
that, that, guilt factor. Ya know? I just loved her in that movie, like I felt like, that was just, wow!
(Laughs). As far as books go, I don’t read. Ever (laughs again). No, scratch that. I have read a series it’s
called Pen Dragon but it didn’t really relate to me at all. It was just really cool ha. Like it put Harry Potter
and Lord of the Rings to shame (we all laugh again).
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�DeVonte: Uhm, when you go to the restroom do you go to the male or female?
Jordan: I do go to the girls, and that is strictly for comfort reasons. I am ten times more comfortable
peeing in a woman’s bathroom than a men’s. Uhm, depending on my level of intoxication, is whether or
not I stand up or sit down. (Everyone laughs). And, what I feel like, it’s basically what I feel like. If I go in
there, and it’s a bunch of girls in there I’ll sit down so they don’t question because… ya know if you see
the feet pointing the other way you’re gonna be like, what the hell?
Julie: Yeah.
Jordan: But uhm, yeah, so that’s basically that. Just out of comfort.
Julie: Do you ever go into the men’s, or did you ever?
Jordan: When I’m with my dad I’ll go into the men’s.
DeVonte: And does it feel awkward going into the men’s?
Jordan: Oh yeah. I see urinals and I’m like what the hell?
Julie: Do people look at you differently or?
Jordan: No, but when I’m with my dad I usually tone it down.
Julie: Okay.
Jordan: Yeah (laughs).
Julie: By the way you dress, and so on.
Jordan: Yep.
Julie: Okay.
Julie: So, what do you hope, or what do you feel like politics, and gay marriage and everything that’s
going on right now. Do you ever watch the news? Do you think it interests you?
Jordan: I feel like the news to me is one of the biggest wastes of time. Because me being the single
person that I am, there’s nothing I can do. Like I’ve watched my whole entire life my dad, and my step
mom, and everybody watch the news, and get pissed off as hell. Like, just pissed, and like, stressed out
over it, but you know what? At the end of the day you can’t do anything, so why worry yourself with it.
So like, I don’t watch the news. I don’t pay attention to politics. As far as gay marriage goes, uhm, I feel
like, there needs to be something. I mean, maybe if you think that marriage is between a man and a
woman, it’s that. Maybe you should come up with something new for the gays, I don’t know. I don’t
care. It’s just when it comes down to it I want something like.. like that, says, listen this is my man, and
if he leaves me I’m gettin half his shit.
(All laugh and agree).
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�Jordan: If you cheat on me I’m gettin it all.
(Laughter again).
Jordan: I also have a very unique cheating possibility if you want to hear that.
Julie: Yeah, definitely.
Krysten: Sure.
Jordan: Okay. Uhm, when it comes to that, I feel like, like after awhile human beings are very sexual
beings, considering that humans and dolphins are the only like, things that have sex for pleasure.
Krysten: I’ve heard that.
Jordan: Yeah, so I feel like humans are really sexual beings, and I feel like your first five years of marriage
should be completely special and you should be completely loyal to your partner, uhm, but after that, if
you feel the need to cheat, or like go sleep with someone else, like you just can’t get it out of your head
and it’s all you think about, stuff like that. Uhm, I feel like, you should be able to do it. But, rule 1,
you’re not gonna spend the night over there. You’re not gonna sleep in their bed with them. It’s gonna
be sex strictly and you’re gonna come home and look me in the eyes and you’re gonna tell me exactly
what happened and if you can’t do that, then it’s obviously not that important to you. Like you know..
like that’s just how I feel about it cause like I’d rather have someone, like, tell me it’s gonna happen and
like, I need to do this, I need to do this to get over it, and if you can look me in the eye and do it, then
obviously it was at that point, but I don’t feel, I feel like the divorce rate is so high because of that.
Because people can’t realize how much of a sexual being humans are and the needs that they have. The
needs, the desires, like, civilizations have fallen from peoples desires and wants. Like, I mean, just give
them a little space, give them a little wiggle room (laughs).
Julie: Uhm, but, so, do you, you don’t really care if there was gay marriage legalized nationwide?
Jordan: Everywhere where I wanna live it’s legal (laughs).
Julie: Yeah.
Jordan: New York, L.A.
Jordan: Like, I mean I’m good with that. If they wanna call it something else, go for it and make the little
Christian people happy, but,
Jordan: As you’re wearing a what would Jesus do bracelet (he laughs).
(We all laugh).
Jordan: Yeah, it’s no big deal I’m just messin with you.
(Laughter again).
Page
26
�Jordan: I’m sorry, but uhm, I mean I think that’s the biggest thing, with the gays right now. Like I mean,
marriage. Like, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Like I mean, and as I said, gays are drama queens. Like, just
get over it. I mean, I do think they need to fight for the right to be bound together, but, I mean call it
somethin else, make it somethin else, cause, initially marriage is supposed to be between a man and a
woman. And I do, believe that. But I mean, will I get married someday? Hell yeah. But.
Julie: What advice do you have to anyone, for someone, that is coming out? If you have any?
Jordan: Just do it. Do it on your own terms, do what feels right. Suck it up and just do it. Like, cause
honestly it’s who you are and if you can’t live as who you are you’re not livin.
Julie: Yup.
Julie: Uhm, do you have any regrets about coming out, or telling people, or what their reactions or
anything like that or no?
Jordan: No, I’ve never had any regrets. I mean, I am who I am. And like I’ve gotten to that point where
uhm, just the way I grew up, with the childhood, moving around, like all that stuff that I’ve grown into.
That’s a lot. That’s a lot than what most like people, go through, as like, growing up. Uhm, like, just the
way that my life has been set up, I’ve lived a lot more than most people would. So I’ve had more
experience, I have that knowledge so I know that I just don’t live with regrets. Like I’m completely
happy, living like this. I don’t know, I think I got kind of sidetracked in this.
Julie: (Laughs). No that’s good.
Jordan: Okay.
Julie: Do you have any other comments that you want to say?
Jordan: What’s it like to be straight? No (everyone laughs).
Julie: I know now you’re going to ask us questions.
(Laughter continues).
Jordan: No, I’m just kidding I know what it’s like to be that. Uhm….
Julie: Have you ever been with a girl?
Jordan: Yeah.
Julie: And, did enjoy it or?
Jordan: I mean..
Rachel: (Jordan's friend) Do you remember how you told me?
Jordan: About what?
Page
27
�Rachel: Like when you were with a female rather than a male, ya know like the feeling or whatever. Like
that feeling you get.
Jordan: Yeah, I mean it still feels good, it’s a vagina.
Rachel: No, I mean remember you told me, like you said like, you know how like, when you’re with
someone, and you get like, not like the feeling of like, sex, or whatever, but like that connection or
whatever? How you said that you didn’t get with a girl.
Jordan: No, yeah you just don’t get it. Like when I see a hot guy I’m like holy shit. Like you know when
you go out with someone for the first time and you’re like really into him, and like, you get those
butterflies and you feel crazy, stuff like that. You don’t get that. You don’t get that sexual build-up, the
sexual tension, just being like, just, ah. Basically, you don’t get that. And that just goes to show that it’s
not a choice because like I mean I’ve tried. Like, who hasn’t tried? Honestly? And, you know what,
that’s probably the one thing that I regret… is hiding myself for so long.
Julie: And trying to feel, were you trying to like the person that you were with or something?
Jordan: Yeah, I mean like I liked them, and then like there were times when I like, I was like, I want to
date this person. But the more I thought about it, is like, I mean, after about a month I’m gonna lose
interest in them and not want to go any farther with this person and it’s not fair to them, so yeah.
That’s another reason why I haven’t dated because after awhile I’ll just lose interest and not even want
too.
END OF INTERVIEW
Page
28
�
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b0f462f9fa755005c9fdebd71401a7fd.mp3
3addb888916f0006ef1c95fe22975e35
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
Speaking Out: Western Michigan Civil Rights Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Civil rights--Michigan--History
Personal narratives
Oral histories
African Americans--Personal narratives
Gays--Personal narratives
Lesbians--Personal narratives
Bisexual people--Personal narratives
Transgender people--Personal narratives
Veterans--Personal narratives
Women--Personal narratives
People with disabilities--Personal narratives
Muslims--United States--Personal narratives
Hispanic Americans--Personal narratives
Homophobia
Discrimination
Islamophobia
Stereotypes (Social psychology)--Upper Penninsula (Mich.)
Description
An account of the resource
Collection of oral history recordings documenting the history of civil rights and social justice advocacy in Western Michigan. The collection was created by faculty and students as a project of the LIB 201 (formerly US 201): "Diversity in the U.S." course from 2011-2012.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Speaking Out: Western Michigan Civil Rights Oral History Project (GV248-01)
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
2017-05-02
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
GV248-01
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1930-2011
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
GV248-01_Serla_Jordan
Title
A name given to the resource
Jordan Serla audio interview and transcript
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Serla, Jordan
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Doescher, Julie
Jones, DeVonte
Velderman, Krysten
Description
An account of the resource
Jordan Serla discusses growing up gay in a small town.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Civil rights--Michigan--History
Gays--Personal narratives
Homophobia
Language
A language of the resource
eng
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
Sound
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
audio/mp3
application/pdf
Relation
A related resource
Speaking Out: Western Michigan Civil Rights Oral History Project
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-12-15
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/da3d978564f05a1c42a9d2cc6631029b.pdf
748b8b29e08c84f29b1aad29b50b28e7
PDF Text
Text
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
ANGELA LIND
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1975
477-1540
JOSE JIMENEZ, 46th WARD ALDER.MANIC CANDIDATE, PUBLISHES COMPLETE LIST OF CAMPAIGN
INCOME AND EXPENSES: CALLS ON REGULARS TO DO SAME.
Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez, 46th Ward Aldermanic candidate, issued the following
statement this morning.
"In the last months of this campaign I have been viciously and slanderously
attacked by my opponent, the present alderman of the 46th ward.
Among other charges,
he has stated to voters and to reporters that the fi.nancing of my campaign came from
'suspicious' sources.
His campaign workers have even said that my campaign was
finance d by the sale of drugs.
I am here today to put an end to these vicious rumors
by making a complete disclosure of my campaign finances, as I promised when my
candidacy was announced, and to call upon my opponent to do the same.
"I have filed my financial statements with the Board of Elections, which according
to Illinois State law, all candidates must do.
At the same time, this law only
requires a disclosure of finances beginning January 1, 1975.
Candidates may have
gathered in many hidde n contributions before that date and not be required legally to
disclose them.
Therefore I am making a full disclosure of!.!! campaign contributions
and expenditures since the beginning of my campaign.
"I am proud of the spirit of sacrifice that has made this campaign possible.
When we announced in June and even months prior to that, ordinary people, factory
workers and residents of this community had pooled their salaries to live more cheaply,
- more -
�and put money away in savings for this campaign.
sold at up to Sl a button.
Thousands of buttons have been
Many small contribut1.ons have come from concerned people
throuohout the ward and the city.
Artists and printers have donated their skills
and many are alAo working in the precincts.
Commur1ity organi.zations have allowed
t he campaiqn te1 use their mimeographing equipment and typewriters.
It has been
and is a real community based campaign that through hard work and sacrifice has
become an effective and professionally run campaign.
All campaiqn staff are
volunteer; there are no paid staff nor public relations consultants.
"I am calling on my opponent to disclose
~
finances as fully as I have: to
open ~p the records of the 46th ward regular organization and disclose his backers
to the public,
I am calling also for an end to rumors and mudslinging on the part
of his campaign and a return to a campaign based on the issues that affect the people
of our ward.
"We are confident of victory, because of the support of the people and because
of the commitment and self-sacrifice of our campaign workers."
SEE ATTACJ~D FINANCIAL INFORMATION
�NEWS
FROM • • •
Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez, 3500 N. Broadway,
Chicago, Ill. 60657
ADDITIONAL MATERIAIS,
SEE ACCOMPANYING RELEASE
FEBRUARY 11, 1975
For More Information, Please Contact:
Angela Lind
477-1540
FOR
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
JOSE JIMENEZ, 46th WARD ALDERMANIC CANDIDATE, PUBLISHES COMPLETE LIST OF CAMPAIGN
INCOME AND EXPENSES;
1.
Following is a summary of income and expenditures of this campaign for the
period August, 1974 through February 8, 1975 by category.
A.
Income
1.
2.
3.
4.
TOTAL:
B.
5~
6.
7.
a.
9.
10.
11.
12.
TOTAL:
c.
$5,509.62
1,956.61
210.77
1,165.21
8,842.21
-
general contributions
through sale of campaign buttons
collections at parties & meetings
loans
-
printing
paper & other office materials
postage
rent (includes security deposit)
utilities (includes phone deposits)
buttons
rental of billboard space
radio time
lumber & other conatruction supplies
typesetting & art supplies
Expenditures
1.
2.
3.
4.
$2,916.75
360.89
1,025.00
1,125.00
824.46
255.00
648.00
120.00
66.22
132.87
234.52
35.88
7,744.59
food
miscellaneous
Balance
Total Income
Total Expenditures
BALANCE FORWARD
2.
CALLS ON REGULARS TO DO SAME.
8,842.21
7,744.59
1,097.62
On Deposit
cash On Hand
BALANCE FORWARD
+
1,000.00
97.62
1,097.62
Following is a list of income for the period August, 1974 through February 8, 1975
by month.
A.
August, 1974
Button Sales
John Miscunski
Pierre LeBreton
TOTAL
294.50
250.00
100.00
644.50
- MORE -
�p. 2 of
supplement
CITIZENS FOR JOSE CHA-CHA JIMBNEZ
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION (Continued)
February 11, 1975
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JIMENEZ CAMPAIGN FINANCIAL INFORMATION (continued)
2.
List of income by month (continued)
B.
Septernber, 1974
NONE
c.
October, 1974
NON£
o.
November, 1974
Button Sales
Fat Kaplan
Robert Howard
Cesaro. Ballaftos
John Walsh
Elizabeth White
Sol Golden
Faith Schumaker
Susan Rosenbloom
Nick Norris
John Rossen
Steven Gold
Adeline Kashmere
Paul Siegel
James Ratner
Thomas Lindsey
TOTAL
E.
332 .11
224.00
20.00
30.00
10.00
10.00
10.00
s.oo
250.00
10.00
15.00
250.00
2.40
126.72
64.00
75.00
1,434.23
Decetllber, 1974
Collections
Button Sales
Catherine Archibald
Karen Richardson
Candy Espada
Gloria Perez
David Ballestas
Robin Kaufman
G. Marie Leaner
Manuel Barbosa
Joan Wallace
J. Hart
Marc Kaplan
c. M:::Millan
Faith Schumacker
Bob Gibson
John Sales
44. 77
487.00
250.00
20.00
2.00
10.00
10.00
s.oo
5.00
15.00
250.00
250.00
250.00
1.00
11.00
20.00
10.00
- MORE -
�p. !
~~BaUMY l l , 1975
c,~
supplement
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION (Continued)
for IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JIMENEZ CAMPAIGN FINANCIAL INFORMATION (continued)
2.
List of income by month (continued)
E.
December, 1974 (continued)
Chris Colon
Eugene Eulingberg
Barbara Lowenstein
Sidney Lens
Susan Avila
Paul Terkel
E. Cose
Leroi Jones
Zonzie
Lorraine Blue
Linda Turner
Frederick Spaulding
John Block
R. Bady
Ben Rodriguez
F.
25.00
25.00
s.oo
10.00
2.00
s.oo
.so
s.oo
10.00
TOTAL
15.00
s.oo
25 . 00
so .oo
25 .0C
s.oo
__
10 .00
2 ,4 18.27
650. 00
3,068 . 27
300.00
200.00
10.00
25.00
January, 1975
Collections
Benefits
Jeri Riddle
Frank Oliver
Ida Terkel
Rose Ratner
Sl!muel Betances
H.s. Morrison
Edwin Vagas
Alberto Mata
Margaret Schmidt
Richard Jackson
Toby Prinz
Henrietta Moore
Herman Gruber
Louise Chapman
G.
Carmello Rodr ig ue2
Nanette Rutherfor d
Pat Hughes
Sy lvia Ste ··art
Vera Lea f Pearl
Max Torres
Milton Certer
SUBTOTAL
Loan - Campaign for
Commun ity Contro l
10.00
10.00
Carl MacKi
Arnie O!-:an"':
Richard C,:fr1en
George Atk ins
Carol A. ~ola Hawk
Paul Moreno
Frank & Vivian Archer
Jorge Betluchamp
Pe ul & Heather B::,ct:
Miguel Chevere
Steve Romero
Randy Salt z
Cami lle Nash
SUBTOTAL
Loan - J ~mes Chaprran
TOTAL
22.00
93.00
20.00
25.00
75.00
15.00
75.00
1.00
20.00
20.00
10.00
10.00
5.00
rn.oo
10.00
20.00
1.00
5.00
20<'
,v
250 . 00
·2 .co
.!
5 .oo
:.s .oo
10. 00
20 .00
1s.00
5 . U(
360.0C
1 20 . 00
1,519 .oo
515.21
2,0 34.21
February 1st through 8th, 1975
A. Kautt
James Chapman
Fred Walker
Ellis Lev in
Collections
51.00
Buttons
843.00
Higni thio Lucas
10.00
Shirley Clark
5.00
Carlos Delgado
s.oo
Joe Giola
25.00
Hilda Frontaney
2.00
w.H. Ferry & Carol
Bernstein Ferry
500.00
Jack Spiegel
30.00
Laurie & Pierre LeBretonlS.00
K. Hummer
5 . 00
Roger s ~.enkiew:i.e~
John Bleck
Melvin Thurman
Carmen Velez
Lambert King
Norman Palmer
Thomas Shefcik
Pat
- MORE -
&
Tom Timm
s .oo
10.00
5.00
1 0 . 00
5 . 00
10 .C'}
s.oo
10.00
so.co
25.00
10.00
25.00
1, 6 0 1 . 00
�CITIZENS FOR JOSE CHA-CHA JIMENEZ
p. 4
of
FEBRUARY
11, 1975
supplement
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION (Continued)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JIMENEZ CAMPAIGN FINANCIAL INFORMATION (continued)
3.
Following is a list of expenditures for the period August, 1974 through February 8 ,
1975 by month.
A.
August, 1974
End of Month Balance:
644.50
120.00 - radio time
255.00 - buttons
7.06
End of Month Balance:
382.06
262.44
End of Month Balance:
262.44
NONE
B.
September, 1974
WEOC
Artesian Specialties
Bank Charges
'l'OTAL:
c.
$
October, 1974
NONE
D.
November, 1974
Kenny Paper Co.
Metro Media
Progress Press
Globe Posters
A & E Rubber Stamp
Wagner Litho
Midwest Printing
Kenny Paper Co.
u.s. Post Office
224.00
648.00
110.00
557.50
2.40
196.00
64.00
126.72
75.00
2,003.62
-
paper
rental of 12 large billboards for 3 monthA •·
printing
printing
rubber stamp
printing
printing
paper
postage
End of Month Balance:
-306.95
Computype
50.00
Tony Karnezis
375.00
Tony Karnezis
375.00
Waqner Litho
227.00
Illinois Bell Telephone 78.25
Ill. Bell Tel.
200.00
Wagner Litho
92.00
u.s. Post Office
300.00
Bank Charges
2.30
W.gner Litho
29.50
.u.s. Post Office
650.00
TOTAL:
2,379 .OS
-
typesetting
security deposit
rent
printing
advance payment
phone deposit
printing
postage
TOTAL
E.
F.
December, 1974
- printing
- postage
End of Month Balance:
January, 1975
Computype
Miscellaneous
75.00
4.20
4.15
7.87
-
typesetting
office supplies
lumber
art supplies
- more -
382.27
�CITIZENS FOR JOSE CHA-CHA JIMENEZ
p. 5 of
supplement
FEBRUARY
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION (continued)
Fl:>R IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JIMENEZ CAMPAIGN FINANCIAL INFORMATION
3.
11, 1975
(continued)
List of expenditures by month (continued)
F.
January, 1975 (continued)
Tony Karnez i8
Bank Adjustment
Berland Printing
Ill. Bell Telephone
Berland Printing
TOTAL
G.
26 • 54
201.24
31.00
375.00
20.25
360.00
515.21
120.00
1,740.46
-
food for warkers ' part,,
for voter registrution day
phone
rent
bounced check
printing
phones
printing
End of Month Baliince:
676.02
:food
February 1st through 8th, 1975
so.co -
Office
L
SUBTOTAL
Cash carried
forward
Berland Printing
Bank Charges
Berland Printing
TOTAL
25.34
3.57
6.74
13.13
48.78
-
see breakdown below
lumber & varnish
office supplies
food
lumber for signs
1.22 _/
870.75 - printing
6.27
290.00 - printing
23.60 - lumber for signs
1,239.40
End of Period Balance:
- 30 -
1,097.62
�
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
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-65_1975-02-11_aldermanic-press-release
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1975-02-11
Title
A name given to the resource
José Cha-Cha Jiménez Campaign Finance Disclosure
Description
An account of the resource
Press release from Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez regarding Jiménez' campaign finance disclosure and calls for opponents to do the same.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Young Lords (Organization)
Young Lords (Organization) History
Puerto Rican Civil rights
Puerto Rican Social conditions
Chicago (Ill.)
Civil rights movements
Community activists
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)
Relation
A related resource
Young Lords in Lincoln Park interviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1970s
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c3672f9c067170e533957d31a4cbbfe7.pdf
f15d2489cc1f1ff6f14613fdd4e76f08
PDF Text
Text
Tuesday January 14, 1975
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Every four years, right around election time, politicians seem to produce a few services and more promises.
We, who live around Wilton and Grace, know how long we
have waited fo~ a stop sign on our corner.
It is our
children who have had to dodge cars, and our seniors who
have had to hope some kind driver will stop and le~ them
cross.
It is unjust for us to only receive city services
around election time.
We have had to suffer due to this
type of politician for too long.
from a full-time Alderman.
We need full-tJme service
For this reason, we feel that
we want to share with you some points of information regarding our neighborhood and the stop sign.
We would first like to inform you about our organizational work.
Since June our campaign staffs have
assisted over 1,000 people with problems of public aid
and social security; over 600 with legal assistance often providing lawyers at little or no cost; over 1,400
with emergency food orders; over 600 with transportation;
advocacy and follow-up around medical problems; over 150
with various complaints to city agencies; over 400 with
housing problems of which 100 have been relocated in this
ward.
In early June, before Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez announced
his candidacy, we went to the Alderman's office to inquire
about putting stop signs on the corner of Wilton and Grace.
There had already been numerous accidents;
and after our
requisition was brushed aside, the accidents continued.
�You may remember the lady who was hit while riding a
bicycle, or the car that spun around and hit a
pedestrian,
or possibly you can remember other'incidents.
Actually,
obtaining a stop sign is not difficult,
es-
pecially if your Alderman happens to be on the Traf1ic Committee as our opponent is.
the Traffic Committee.
veying team.
The process is one of contacting
The committee then sends out a sur-
After they report back,
the Traffic Committee
then decides if that corner needs a stop sign or not.
The present Alderman did sign his name authorizing
a stop sign, but it actually has been the community
fighting for four years that gave us the stop sign on Wilton
and Grace.
Our opponent has always proven to us that only
when it is in his interest does he pay any attention at all
to our community.
(Such as a kite flying ordinance he tried
to pass, only because the kites had his name on it. )
And
now the st.op sign finally arrives close to election time.
We believe that the community will decide the future
of our neighborhood on February 25th.
If by chance you
have not had the opportunity to get to know us yet or our
candidate,
perhaps we will be seeing you at one of the
many coffees your neighbors are having for Cha-Cha.
For Further Information Feel
Free to
Contact Us
Citizens for
549-9457
Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez
�
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
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-65_1975-01-14_en-aldermanic-campaign-ltr
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1975-01-14
Title
A name given to the resource
José Cha-Cha Jiménez Campaign Letter
Description
An account of the resource
Letter to friends and neighbors about José Cha-Cha Jiménez's campaign for 46th Ward Alderman.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Young Lords (Organization)
Young Lords (Organization) History
Puerto Rican Civil rights
Puerto Rican Social conditions
Chicago (Ill.)
Civil rights movements
Community activists
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)
Relation
A related resource
Young Lords in Lincoln Park interviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1970s
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/923de2c1815832d508789e13fc665fbe.pdf
58d00401d988a79cc4605244e1edf95f
PDF Text
Text
·
._,se
alilJlmctti 11
4SW
=CMG
tU!,~~!!!!!
8,oadway, Chi<ago, Ill. 60657
(J12, 4n.mo
February 18, 1975
Dear Latino Voter,
In June of 1974 I, Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez, declared myself a candidate for
Alderman in this ward. That was a very important decision. Not only because
there has never been a Latino elected to the City Council or to the capitol in
Springfield, Ill., but also because for the first time someone was finally
bringing out the issues that affect all residents of this area -- especially the
Latinos.
I was born in the country part of Caguas, Puerto Rico and came to the U.S.
when I was two. We settled around Clark St. and Chicago Ave. (La Clark.) Before
I reached the eighth grade, I -- and many other families -- were moved 9 times by
Urban Renewal. We moved from slum to slum, because we were poor. Because I was
young and there were many gangs, I too joined a street gang. However, because my
mother taught catechism classes in her own home in the slum, and because she was
very religious, she aided me in quitting the gang at the early age of 18 years
old. This was also around the time of the large Democratic Convention in '68
and after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King.
I decided I would start an organization to help Poor People -- especially
Latinos. I started the Concerned Puerto Rican Youth, then, the Puerto Rican
Progressive Movement, and later I reorganized the street gang I had been a
member of into a Political Organization fighting for Civil Rights. We set up a
"Free Breakfast for Children Program", a Free Health Clinic, a Free Day Care
Center, a Cultural Program, a Free Clothing Program, and a Free People's Law
Office with 10 lawyers to help the community. Because housing was the main
reason we got involved, we negotiated many times for low-income housing. For
example, we negotiated $600,000 for low-income housing before we were finally
pushed out again by Urban Renewal.
From "La Clark" they pushed many of us up here to Lakview and Uptown. Each
time they made us promises for better housing, schools, jobs, etc., etc., but
never kept them. This is why I am running for Alderman. I don't want Latinos
and other Poor People to be pushed around anymore.
The present Alderman is part of the same group of people that has been
pushing us around. He cl.aims that he has built recreation centers, schools, and
even a library. When I talked with officials from the library and the recreation
centers, they informed me that the present Alderman never helped them but only
came to their Open House. And you yourself know that in our area, no schools
that will benefit us have been constructed.
EL AMANECER DE UN NUEVO DIA
THE DAWNING OF A NEW DAY
�So far since June my campaign has registered over 5,000 persons to vote,
and the preBent Alderman won with only 7,000 votes in the last election. We've
also helped over 4,000 families with our legal, welfare, medical and emergency
food programs. At Christmas we gave food and toys to over 2,000 families. My
campaign is also the only campaign that has come out with the issues. The other
campaigns have only spread rumours and slung "mud" at us.
We stated we will fight to help small landlords and force the big landlords
to fix up their buildings. We will fight for important decisions to be made at
the community level, so that we the People can have a voice. We will do anything
we can to help the little man.
We have a good campaign and for the first time it really looks like a Latino
can win. However, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT. I've aiways said that "individuals
don't make change -- only. the People united can make change."
This is a non-partisan election; so it doesn't make a difference whether you
are Republican or a Democrat. Either way -- you can still vote for me. Vote for
whomever you want for Mayor. But remember -- Democrat or Republican -- we are
first Latinos and for Alderman VOTE FOR JOSE CHA-CHA JilIENEZ.
Sincerely,
h
Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez
�
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
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-65_1975-02-18_en-aldermanic-campaign-ltr
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jiménez, José "Cha-Cha"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1975-02-18
Title
A name given to the resource
José Cha-Cha Jiménez Campaign Letter
Description
An account of the resource
Letter to Latino Voters about José Cha-Cha Jiménez's campaign for 46th Ward Alderman, in English.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Young Lords (Organization)
Young Lords (Organization) History
Puerto Rican Civil rights
Puerto Rican Social conditions
Chicago (Ill.)
Civil rights movements
Community activists
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)
Relation
A related resource
Young Lords in Lincoln Park interviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1970s
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6dc9361a7267c202e205e7010fe8af6b.pdf
4a8ab3a35d2bd124677a2095f2165338
PDF Text
Text
el 18 de Febrero, 1975
Estimado Votante Latino,
En junio de 1974 yo, Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez, declare mi candidac{a por
Alderman de este ward. Esta fue una decision muy importante, no solo porque
nunca se ha electo un Latino al City Council o a la legislatura en Springfield,
pero tambien porque par primera vez uno de nosotros tratara de resolver los
problemas que afectan a todos los residentes de esta area, especialmente a los
Latinos.
Yo nae{ en las afueras de Caguas, P.R., y vine a los EEUU cuando tenia dos
a~os. Primera vivimos cerca de la Clark y Chicago Ave. Antes de llegar al .
octavo grado •mi familia se hab{a tenido que mudar ya nueve veces, por culpa de
"Urban Renewal''. Nos teniamos que mudar de un barrio pobre a otro. Como era
joven y habian muchas gangas, yo tambien tuve que entrar en una. Pero mi madre
daba clases de catecismo en nuestra sala, pues era muy religiosa. Me influyo
lo suficiente para que dejara la ganga, cuando tenia 18 a~os. Esto ocurrio
durante la Convencion Dem6crata aqui en 1968, y despues de la muerte del Dr.
Martin Luther King. Decid{ entonces comenzar una organizaci6n para ayudar a
personas pobres, especialmente a Latinos.
Hae! naci6 The Concerned Puerto Rican Youth; despues The Puerto Rican
Progressive Movement. Aun mas tarde re-organize la ganga a la cual hab!a
pertenecido y la converti en una organizaci6n pol{tica para luchar par las
derechos civiles de nosotros. Organizamos un programa de desayunos gratis para
los ninos, una clinica gratis, un day care center gratis, programas culturaleb,
ropa gratis y una oficina legal gratis con 10 abogados para servir a la comunidad.
Mejores viviendas fue la razon principal de nuestro envolvimiento. Negociamos varias veces para proporcionar viviendas para personas de baja entrada
econOmica. Por ejemplo, negociamos para que se asignaran $600,000 para viviendas
para personas pobres,
Pero al final tuvimos que mudarnos una vez mas. Nuestros planes conflijian
con los de Urban Renewal. Desde la Clark nos hecharon a muchos de nosotros
hasta aqu{ en Lakeview y Uptown, y cada vez con promesas de mejores apartamentos,
escuelas, trabajos, etc., etc. Pero las promesas nunca fueron cumplidas.
Par eso soy candidato para Alderman. Yo no quiere que se abuse mas de los
Latinos y de otros pobres. El Alderman que tenemos ahora pertenece al mismo
grupo de personas que nos han estado empujando por anos. El dice que ha
construido escuelas y centros de recreo, y hasta una biblioteca. Cuando hable
con las personas de la biblioteca y de los centros de recreo ellos me dijeron que
nuestro Alderman nunca las ayudo, pero que s! vino al Open House! Y usted mismo
sabe queen nuestra area nose ha construido ni una sola escuela para nuestros
nii'ios.
�Desde junio mi campana a registrado a mas de 5,000 nuevos votantes, y
nuestro Alderman actual gan6 en las ultimas elecciones con solo 7,000 votos.
Hemos ayudado a mas de 4,000 familias con nuestros programas medicos, legales,
de welfare, y de comida para casos de emergencia. En Navidades repartimos
comida y jugetes entre 2,000 familias. Mi campana a sido la unica que a traido
a la luz los problemas reales. La campana de las otros candidatos solo a regado
runores y nos han atacado maliciosamente.
Lucharemos por ayudar al pequeno propietario, y forzaremos a las grandes
propietarios que reparen sue edificios. Lucharemos par que decisiones importantes
se hagan al nivel de la comunidad, par que el pueblo tenga una voz. Haremos todo
lo posible por la persona de la calle.
Tenemos una buena campana. Por primera vez luce que un Latino puede ganar.
Pero NECESITAMOS TU AYUDA. Siempre he dicho que "individuos solos no producen
el cambio -- que solo personas trabajando unidas producen cambios."
Esta elecci6n n6 es partidaria. N6 importa si eres Dem6crata o Republicano,
De una forma u otra puedes votar por m!. Tambien vota par quien quieras para
alcalde. Pero recuerda -- Republicano o Democrata -- primero somos Latinos.
VOTA POR JOSE CHA-CHA JIMENEZ PARA ALDERMAN.
~- !b-~n
Sinceramente,
Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez
�
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
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-65_1975-02-18_sp-aldermanic-campaign-ltr
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jiménez, José "Cha-Cha"
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1975-02-18
Title
A name given to the resource
José Cha-Cha Jiménez Campaign Letter
Description
An account of the resource
Letter to Latino Voters about José Cha-Cha Jiménez's campaign for 46th Ward Alderman, in Spanish.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Young Lords (Organization)
Young Lords (Organization) History
Puerto Rican Civil rights
Puerto Rican Social conditions
Chicago (Ill.)
Civil rights movements
Community activists
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)
Relation
A related resource
Young Lords in Lincoln Park interviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
spa
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/05a87f633060d2abbd4f474b2ff87876.pdf
bd0765158afa9cb800bee85cf70127cd
PDF Text
Text
April 02, 2020
I think it is safe to assume that most people I know feel like the month of march actually had 62
days. COVID-19 has taken the lives of many and the disease is only spreading. Governor
Whitmer has more or less kept the health of the population in mind and as a result there have
been many changes. As a result of these state changes, education has been affected at all
levels. Universities are still running, but have transitioned to online coursework. Many students
have been asked to leave the university dormitories. To my understanding, people are allowed
to stay if they have nowhere to go back home to. My wife Nikita and I have fortunately not been
affected too much by this aspect as we live off campus in Grand Rapids, MI. This means that I
did not have to worry about relocating last minute, however I know some of my friends have had
to do so. Some of them literally left the state as their homes were elsewhere, such as Illinois,
and other states. I’m starting to miss them a bit.
Initially I thought it would be great to just stay home and work on my academics. However not
soon after the public schools also closed down and as a result my 3 children have been at home
since then. What this means is that Nikita and I are now online college students, parents, and
novice homeschool teachers. This has been quite a challenge and i’ve had to learn that as
much as I would like, I can’t do it all. As a result I’m sure my kids get less learning time than
they did before at school in an effort to give every aspect of my life right now a fair amount of
attention. I’ve reduced my sleep hours(to a reasonable 6 hours) in order to do as much as I can
while awake. I do end up taking a nap in the middle of the day which more or less equates to
the same amount of total sleeping hours. However at least this way I have some time after the
kids go to bed when I am still awake and able to work without disruptions.
There have been some good things that have come about this change. I have been able to slip
in some more spanish into my kids vocabulary. I have also learned how to take productive
breaks. In practice this means I do some sort of non academic activity with the kids in order to
clear my mind and well, be a halfway decent parent. Nikita is an early childhood development
major so I often feel like I'm not good enough. She’s never specifically made me feel this way,
but because of all of the things she learns, I sometimes feel guilty and maybe set the bar too
high on myself on what a good parent should be. It can get stressful at times, especially now
that we are home a lot! There are only so many rooms that I can use to try to destress.
People ask things like “Can your in-laws help take care of the kids?”. Which, ok fine. It’s a good
question to ask just to consider it as a possibility. The reality is that my parents live in California
primarily. Nikita’s biological mom now lives in Holland, MI, and her step-mom lives in Gladwin,
MI. It requires some traveling to get to either one of them and it is not anywhere ideal to go to
them every day for help watching the kids. However, even if for some reason financially
traveling that much made sense, we are not the only grandchildren that would be asking for help
and as a result we minimize the amount of time they visit. Today is one day where Nikita took
the kids over to my mother-in-law in Holland and we will soon start to paint some of the walls in
the house. We have been putting this off as it is difficult to do so with the 1 year old at home.
��
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-02_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-02
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 1
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8e7ca91f6ca68baea6d565c1ef5bb8f0.pdf
913144375c1964fc71d3ce7dedb7ed33
PDF Text
Text
April 18, 2020
Today should be an interesting day. I have a coding competition scheduled from 7 to 10 pm. I
did some practice, but really nothing substantial enough to be considered a good amount of
practice. I’m excited about this. The COVID-19 quarantine has allowed me to practice my
python programming a little bit. I think that it’s more or less my hobby, even though I
occasionally have to use it for my projects.
It’s allowed me to start forming ideas of my research with searching games. David has
continued to help me with my questions which I am very much so grateful for. Anyways, it’s the
weekend and I’m sure Nikita will want to do things with the kids, either outside or indoors. If it
ends up being indoors, maybe we could play a board game or something. Elena has also been
wanting me to do yoga with her. There is this person on youtube who does yoga for kids, and
she really enjoys it. Although we don’t really have that much floor space.
Yesterday ended on an interesting note. Nikita made some hamburgers and fries; that was
super bomb. We watched Boruto together, and actually we watched a good 3 episodes. This is
more or less a triumph of parenthood. I mean most of the time the kids just want to climb on
their mom and we hardly get to talk, let alone sit next to each other for more than a few minutes
at a time. Also, someone (probably Elarik) cracked one of the iPad’s screen. It was kind of
frustrating, but it is what it is. Especially since we didn’t buy a screen protector for it. It only had
a case. I suspect the case kept it going as long as possible, so it did it’s job. Nikita overheard
elise and elena talking, and more or less saying they have no clue what happened to the tablet.
They usually tell the truth about things that happen. So it’s quite possible they told the truth
when we asked them what happened. I could get the screen fixed, but with the current
quarantine, I haven’t bothered to check if Genius is open, which I'm assuming that it’s not since
it does not seem like it would be an essential business.
Anyways, I just got distracted and started looking at their website, and it appears that they are
still open for business. I will try calling at 10am, It’s possible they haven’t updated their website.
If it’s open I’ll probably get it checked out. Hopefully it’s not too much to get it fixed!
Anyways, today should be another interesting day. I think i’m going to go make some coffee in a
bit and start my day. Although I think I’ll try to hang out with Nikita again after the baby gets his
morning snuggles in. He sure does love being held by his momma in the morning when he
wakes up. He wont have it with anyone else. I’m currently sitting next to elena as it’s a bit
quieter in this room. She’s still sleeping and probably will be for a minute, she went to bed a little
later than usual yesterday, but It’s fine.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-18_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-18
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 10
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f48e68f10ff724277af794c37c6952de.pdf
667f09d261a36e2321447c2e9b1e4c6f
PDF Text
Text
April 19, 2020
What a wild night yesterday. So I had signed myself up for a coding competition, which I then
proceeded to forget about. Then about 1 hour into the competition, I remembered and signed on
as fast as I could. Anyways, the competition is 3 hours long, so I logged in with less than 2
hours left. I completed one(out of 4) problems in the first 30 minutes. Then I went on to the
second problem, I finished coding my solution and hit submit, only to realize after some
frustration that I had read the prompt totally wrong. Anyways, the competition ended and I as
not able to type my solution in on time. Either way, I knew I had a solution, so I kept working and
what happened was that even though I had a solution it didn’t meet the memory allocation
requirements set in the competition, so that was kind of a bummer.
As I was getting ready to transition into a video call with a group of peers, I hear 5’ish loud
bangs outside. When I asked Nikita what happened, she said she saw two vehicles dash in
opposite directions after the gun shots. She proceeded to call 911 and reported what had
happened. It turns out that two people were shot and injured, but nothing life threatening, at
least that’s what Nikita was told last night when she provided the police with information. I will
probably do a search on the internet later to see if more details have been released to the
public, but wow that was wild. The shooting happened literally within 30 feet of my house!
On a high note however, one of my friends asked for help in her analysis studies. Unfortunately
I wasn’t able to help as much as I thought. However, I felt confident that I know what I did and
not what I didn’t. It’s strange, when you are in different math modes. One mode could be, “I
have no idea what to do”, another is “I think I know what needs to happen” (and your wrong), or
“I think I know what needs to happen” (and you know your wrong), or “I think i know what needs
to happen” (you are sure you are right). When I was helping, I made it clear to say when I felt I
was right about a process but the details were wrong. That is a very neat feeling, because it tells
me I know enough about math to know that I am probably wrong about a detail, and also
enough to know that I’m going in the right general direction.
Also, Nikita and I were able to watch some more Boruto yesterday. It was only like 2 episodes,
but that is way better than nothing. The show is getting really good, although we both admit that
it’s not as good as Naruto, but maybe we are just biased. I started scoping out the new Digimon
show that recently started airing. I remember watching the original series as a kid. I think I want
to watch it again, maybe big girl Elena might find it interesting. I used to think it was the coolest
thing ever as a kid. My dad even took me to watch “Digimon The Movie”, it was pretty epic if you
ask me.
I’m looking forward to the day. It is currently 7:30am and I’m ready to start. I plan on cleaning up
the house a little more or I guess I should say that is the focus for today. Nikita has committed
herself to doing the laundry while I did the same for dishes that get used through the day and I’ll
probably end up cooking dinner and doing some other things as well.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-19_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-19
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 11
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/860345d46bc8e0b9db6b2a638c0be934.pdf
3b44ffa0ed22a827c12ecc22d5b2e49d
PDF Text
Text
April 21, 2020
Another morning. There are some parts about being more or less allowed to just be at home
that I am enjoying. I’ve been able to work on things a little more efficiently now that I know what
times of the day that the kids need attention and I can use the rest of the time for whatever work
I want to get done. Yesterday we went for a walk down two blocks. It was interesting to
‘rediscover’ our neighborhood. There were not many people around, but there were some that
stepped outside to have some fresh air. I also learned recently that the McDonalds that is right
down the road has partnered with GRPD in an attempt to promote less crime in the
neighborhood, so we shall see what happens with that as time goes on. I won’t be around to
see the long term change, but I sure hope that it happens because the neighborhood kids need
that stability so they can focus on what is important in life. That is family, education and their
interests and not drugs and money.
That reminds me, at some point we will need to start packing to go to New Mexico. I hear talk
that ‘the economy’ will open back up soon. I honestly would rather that it didn’t. Maybe wait until
sometime in late May? Perhaps this way it is most likely the case that I can move to New
Mexico and start my graduate school studies. I’ve been starting to study material for the exams.
Specifically I started going through the Hungerford text on Algebra, the Apostol book on
Analysis and the Gamelin,Green book on Topology. It has been interesting, but it has also
shown me how much I still have to learn to be successful.
I’ve been still working on my research on and off and was able to prove a thing. Specifically if
we have a searching game with two unknowns, the ideal first question would be to ask about
the first n/3 questions. This forces the responder to respond with ‘There is exactly 1 of the
secret numbers in your question’. This is because a response of 0 would leave ceiling(n/3)
choose 2 possibility pairs as possible solutions, a response of 1 would leave
(ceiling(n/3))*(floor(2n/3)) possibility pairs, and a response of 2 would leave (floor(2n/3)) choose
2 possibility pairs left as possible solutions. I was able to prove this with mathematical induction.
My goal is to write this up soon and then ask David what he thinks, and maybe get an idea of
how to proceed from here. What would be good would be to guarantee that on question two the
responder would respond with 0 or 2, preferably in general. Then the idea would be to alternate
between questions on forcing the responder to respond with 1 and then 0 or 2, and repeat. The
response of 0 or 2 reduces the search space, and the response of 1 splits the search space.
But then again, maybe it's actually ideal to force the responder to respond with 1’s all the time? I
believe this would have the effect of continuously splitting the search space where the
intersection of each question would narrow down what the two numbers would have to be.
I finally got around to filing the PUI form, this was yesterday. I had been denied for
unemployment benefits since I had not made enough money for the time frame they required
information. So we shall see what happens with that. Assuming I get it, it’s not much money but
considering how little we’re traveling and how we get food stamps, It should prevent us having
to use our savings.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-21_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-21
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 12
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6bfa1ad730f6f401bc9e8b545c1253bf.pdf
73bbd4022a1190542f6a51a8bc52d663
PDF Text
Text
April 22, 2020
Another day in quarantine. Oh well, it is what it is. The governor is doing what she can do to
help us all stay safe by extending this quarantine based on current numbers. At this point it feels
like I'm losing touch with reality and people outside. I don’t really know how to feel about that. I
can only imagine how people in true isolation must feel. There must be a lot of depression and
hatred towards the world. I’m willing to bet that there are people out there that are getting ready
to break down mentally. It’s saddening that this is a possibility. The worst part is that it’s
possible that some have already committed suicide, killed someone else, or convinced
someone else to kill. I don’t really know that this is real, but I remember hearing once, that
‘everything that you can think of is a thing’.
I understand that staying quarantined will save many lives by slowing the spread of the virus
and as a result hospitals would have plenty of space for ill patients. However, if my comment is
true, how many people are dying due to severed depression, isolation, and all those things?
Having people quarantined would save a lot of lives, I agree. However keeping people
quarantined might also leave them severely depressed. So much so that it’s possible people are
dying either through suicide, or assasination. Just last weekend there was a shooting right
outside my house. It would be unjust to say let's just proceed with life like normal so that people
that are easily depressed can get away from home because then COVID-19 spread would rise.
Likewise I don’t think it’s a good idea to just continue quarantine like there is nothing wrong. I
suppose the ideal situation would slowly reopen the world in a way that minimizes the amount of
deaths due to both covid 19, depression (and maybe even other factors?).
An argument like that however would never fly with public opinion. It is like saying some lives
don’t matter and even though we try to minimize deaths, there will still be some, and we would
be saying we are ok with that. This brings up one of the biggest topics, life. I think it’s safe to say
that most people wouldn’t want others to die from illness. If we could prevent someone from
dying from illness we should do what we can. If we can’t then we should try to find a solution, or
at least that is how most people see the situation. It is painful to lose people you love and care
about. As a result, a big part of human life is to preserve it by all means. Life is so difficult, or
maybe we make it difficult? Our society seems to believe that no one should die. However,
some believe there are too many people in the world, and others believe that it doesn't matter. If
we could cure all people from disease and injuries, the world would quickly have a large
population of humans. Maybe even to the point that the earth could no longer sustain us, then
what? Perhaps move to other habitable planets? Suppose that in each planet the population got
to a point where only natural death was the cause of death, well then these planets would not
be able to sustain the population, and an endless repetition of rehabilitating planets would
ensue. If space is infinite and there exists an infinite number of habitable planets then I suppose
this would not be an issue. But, what if there are only a finite universe and as a result a finite
number of habitable planets? Then what? I have no idea, I’m not a physicist. I don't know if the
universe is finite or infinite. I don’t know if there are a finite or infinite number of planets. I don’t
even know if humans would as a society agree and also accomplish riding the population of
disease either in the form of bacteria or virus or other. It almost seems as if dying of old age is
�the only acceptable death in our society. Dying of a virus or bacteria is highly not accepted even
if technically they are both natural causes. If Joe died of a virus and his friend Mark was ok with
this death people would jump at the chance to more or less tell Joe that he is insensitive, didn’t
care about Mark and wasn’t really his friend. So it seems that the need to save people from
death is more rooted in people’s emotional attachment to them and not so much if someone
should live or die. If COVID-19 happened in some isolated island and a large number of people
died, it’s possible that no one here or really outside of the island would care or even consider if
those people should have been saved. No one would close their economy.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-22_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-22
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 13
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/87427424f58d7b3ba826d8ad5cdc5b68.pdf
3fdf7ebcf150975cc4053999cefaaf64
PDF Text
Text
April 3, 2020
Yesterday Nikita took the kids over to grandma’s house in Holland, MI and when she got home
we decided we were going to finish painting the kitchen and living room. We have been putting
this off so long because it is difficult to do when you have a 1 year old running around. This was
in the afternoon, so we accomplished painting the walls and got halfway done with the trim in
the room when we decided that it would be good to call it a night. It was relaxing, and since the
kids were not home it was like going on a date. I was actually able to talk and say more than
one sentence at a time where normally I would get interrupted by a kid. Once we did that we
played some videogames together. It feels like years since we were last able to do that. It was
nice, we played Mario Party 9 on the Nintendo Wii. I’m pretty sure we stayed up till about 2am
this morning, which is also not typical for us.
Currently I have an assignment that I need to complete as soon as possible, or at least my part
of it. It is a mathematical modeling scenario on COVID-19. We are more or less taking the
mathematical model that was formulated for SARS-Cov and trying to see if we can fit it to the
current COVID-19 data. I’ve been able to approximate an infection rate of COVID-19 using
Python but I’m not sure how accurate it is, seeing how I’m not an epidemiologist.
When we made the transition to online classes, it was a bit stressful. This was not because I
was not used to independent study, but because the kids are always at home and it’s difficult to
get things done when the limited 24 hour day has to get shared. To date however I’ve received
reaffirming messages from professors telling me that I’m doing enough and that I shouldn’t
worry too much. I know some of my classmates are falling behind. Hopefully those professors
are being reasonable with exact deadlines like mine are. I know Nikita is also struggling a bit.
She is an early childhood development major, and most of her assignments are related to what
she would actually do in a classroom. As a result she has had to transition to teaching online,
but instead of having children as her audience, she has her professors. As a result she has
been required to use software she is not accustomed to. For example, she’s had to use
Powtoon and we had to work together to figure out how to do anything on it. I believe the key
thing is that we have to remember that we are all people and as long as we communicate with
each other the other party is most likely going to be understanding and responsive.
I don’t know how people see their professors, but I hold mine in good regard. They remind me
that not everything is work, and that I should not feel guilty to tend to other parts of my life.
Family is important to me, and sometimes I feel guilty when I’m not working to spend time with
them. So it’s nice to have them on my side. I hope that other professors are doing similar things
with the students they communicate with. Everyone has something outside of academia/work
they consider important. One of my professors Dr. Ortiz-Robinson has children and sometimes
during class sessions I can hear their faint sounds in the background and it makes me feel
better because there are people out there that understand my predicament. I have to admit
though, I miss seeing them in person. There is nothing like walking into a professor's office
hours, and talking about mathematics. On the other hand I’m grateful that more people are
learning to use video call software. It makes ‘meeting’ people that are say in a graduate school
you want to attend easier when you may not travel there. I’ve been able to meet Dr. Janet
�Vassilev, Dr. Jacob Schroder, and Dr. Alexandru Buium at The University of New Mexico and
learned a lot of new things.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-03_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-03
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 2
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b6146f791309273c7693477ac6c05ff3.pdf
11f99149150ddfc9e8596355e4d0c73f
PDF Text
Text
April 6, 2020
Monday, morning. There seems to be some sort of routine going on now. Elena Is still at her
grandma’s house in Holland, MI. Elise is watching cartoons and Elarik is running around the
house. There are some different things though. Nikita was still able to get surgery for her carpal
tunnel on Saturday, so she’s recovering now. It should help her be able to do more with her
hands once she recovers. I know she’s been having a difficult time writing for more than a few a
minute.
Most of my activities have revolved around work and school, at least up to last week when I
found out on Friday that I was laid off from my employment at Grand Rapids Community
College. My other activities have been just the usual chores at home, and trying to learn some
new things. I’ve been on a website named codeacademy and started learning about the terminal
and bash scripting. There are many different types of computer operating systems, but the ones
that seem to get quite a bit of attention are; Windows, OSX, and Linux Distributions. OSX and
Linux are both UNIX based systems and as a result are similar to each other. I was interested in
learning how to interact with the terminal for these operating systems, well specifically Linux
terminal, or BASH programming. I learned a little bit on looping structures and conditional
statements. I also learned some commands I didn’t know about before. One of them was the
touch command which can be used to create empty files. Pipe operator that allows you to
redirect output from one command to input to a different command. I learned how to use nano a
bit, which is a text editor that is run in the terminal. I’ve also tried to learn a little bit of italian. It is
really close to spanish and is a phonetic language. I bought a book of short stories to see if I
could go through it. So far I'm still on the first short story, and fully understand the first
paragraph.
What this means is that most of my hobbies, other than biking, hiking, and camping are mainly
solo activities. What this means is that I wasn’t a big participant of student organizations, sports
or clubs at GVSU when the school was still in normal session. As a result this Quarantine has
not affected me as much as others who were actively involved in sports, clubs, and student
organizations. I’ve been especially focused on finishing off the semester strong. This means I’ve
been paying extra attention to my class assignments, their presentation, and thoroughness.
Electronic Student Scholars Day is coming up on the 8th of this month and the lead up to
submitting our presentations was a bit stressful. Particularly because I didn’t know if I was going
to have enough time to finish. Fortunately I was able to pull through! It was difficult, but I didn’t
give myself enough credit.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-06_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-06
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 3
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/af5dac9bc122b1cb77d8a7b8a196ce3f.pdf
d1a35ae20b5ebf62d75023993b53d946
PDF Text
Text
April 7, 2020
It is currently 5:30 AM EST and I plan on trying out a new routine today, hopefully this will allow
me to get some work done early on before the kids get overly energized and need my attention.
I know both Nikita and I have been stressing for time, and so hopefully this way when she needs
to work on her academics, I can focus on the kids and not skip a beat with my work either. I
have to admit however, I’ve been ‘neglecting’ my work a bit by visiting my parents. They are in
town as well, as of almost two weeks ago at least. Usually they are in their home in Michoacan,
MX, or in California with my older brother. They bought their flights a while back and decided not
to try to reschedule. They are the kind of people who are more or less thinking, ‘i’m old and
have lived a good life, so why not’. I know that right now it’s a big taboo, but I have been visiting
them. They are currently over at my sister Nancy’s place. When I first moved to Michigan from
California, I had not seen them for several years, and even after that, the most I ever got to see
them was maybe once a year.
I know that Nikita has fears about going out at all, but I think we both agree that for the super
high benefit of the kids getting to see their abuelito and abuelita it is worth it. Because of my
university experience, I don’t have very many friends that share my culture, or language. As a
result my kids don’t get very much exposure to my culture and spanish other than when I visit
my family. As far as home life, as bilinguals and multilinguals, we tend to communicate in the
language that gets a message across quickly. This means that I usually end up talking in
english because Nikita is very well versed in it. One thing that I’ve tried to do is to get the kids to
watch cartoons in spanish. Elena, the oldest; is now finally starting to be ok with it, and actually
requested it last night. Elise gets really upset when I try to do it. I suspect that the only reason
she doesn’t like it is because the voiceovers are really bad. Elarik is only 20 months and hasn’t
yet started talking in sentences, so he doesn’t usually mind what we watch. However I suspect
that he notices the difference in voices from original english to voiced over spanish. The funny
thing is that I grew up on voiceovers because my parents naturally just watched tv shows and
movies in spanish. I even remember watching ‘old movies’ that were broadcast live on
Telefutura and hearing the announcer say ‘Nuevo Estreno’ (New Premiere) even though the
movie was released a few years back and nothing new.
Nikita has also been visiting her biological mom who now lives in Holland, MI. I think she really
misses most times. The girls definitely miss being able to visit her house frequently, which is
something they were able to do when they still lived in Grand Rapids, MI. She also uses this trip
as a time to stop at the grocery store for our needed items both food and sanitary essentials.
Last week we ran out of toilet paper and had to use paper towels, which is fine, it just took us a
while to locate some toilet paper. She was able to secure some yesterday. We have not been
able to visit her step-mom as that drive is a little longer and as a result Nikita feels that it is more
risky. Fortunately, her step-mom is tech savvy enough so that they can have video calls and
they communicate in that way.
My siblings have been doing well. My brother in law Alfredo recently came back to the states
after years of going through the legal process of becoming a US citizen. The funny thing is that
�most american’s think that it's like any other application process where you apply and within
weeks you are good to go. So when they hear that a person has to go back to mexico and do it
back legally it will be a short stay, almost like a vacation and then they come back a few weeks
later. This is not farther from the truth as the individual still has to have some sort of income for
their time there, to live and to pay all the required fees. Irma is definitely happier now, or at least
it appears to be so.
My sister Veronica has had a difficult time with Eddie now that he’s been home more. I can tell
because he needs a lot of attention and since she is still working, she probably feels like every
waking hour she is at home she needs to tend to him. He is a great child, but also has special
needs, and that can be stressful. Heck, my children have no special needs, and they can get
very overwhelming.
Nancy is doing well, she has married recently and is living a wonderful life here in michigan. She
moved here last year. Her and ‘Lobo’ (Fransisco) met 2 summers ago when my family came to
visit. It was definitely a difficult move for my niece and nephew however. I suspect it’s because
they had to leave friends behind, probably even a girlfriend or boyfriend.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-07_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
220-04-07
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 4
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0fd11be48db42c7e32e4abd7b96e8926.pdf
bdbbc794314b798fc834385c4c08a833
PDF Text
Text
April 8, 2020
Today is Elena’s birthday! Nikita and I put some decorations for the house together since we
can’t have people over. My sister made her a cake that had an LOL doll theme to it. We took
pictures and took the cake over to her grandma's house to eat. We realize this is a ‘big no no’
but honestly, you can only isolate yourself so much. There’s no point in isolation if at the end of
it all you wont get to see your loved ones. I fully realize this is a flawed statement but that’s how
we feel. To be fair however, we do take precautionary measures and use hand sanitizer and
other sanitary methods. Grandma (Melissa), or specifically Nikita’s biological mom lives out in
the country and as a result social distancing is not too difficult even within her house, as it is
pretty large.
As of right now we don’t know of anyone that is sick with the coronavirus. I know one of my
friends Michael is currently sick with a cold, but to his knowledge it is not COVID-19. I don’t
believe he is getting tested. I want to say that a week or two before classes were closed, I
myself had a really bad illness. I was treated for Influenza. However, I was not actually tested to
confirm that this was the case. The illness more or less had the symptoms of COVID-19.
Shortness of breath, a constant fever, fatigue, however I didn't have severe coughs, so maybe it
wasn’t. I’m pretty sure the kids brought it home from school. The youngest two started with
constant fevers and I started staying home with them, around the same time Nikita started
showing symptoms, and I followed right after. It took us all just over a week to feel decent.
During this time I’ve been wanting to learn new things on top of school work, and then realized
that I’m trying to do too much. So I've been looking at things to do for the summer. However, I’m
not sure that will even happen especially now that I’ve been laid off from my employment at
grcc. My Alayont Fellowship funding will end at the end of the semester, so I need to really start
looking for a job. It will probably end up being full time employment somewhere, or an
internship? I honestly don't know right now. My F-GAP advisor suggested some places to start
looking into, so I really need to get my resume updated asap. I don’t have this ready right now
just because most of my professional documents have been geared toward graduate school
applications. As a result I have poured lot’s of energy into my CV. I did find some places on an
initial search that might actually hire me, but I won't know until I update my resume, and start
networking.
There will be many people that will be out there looking for jobs. I hope that I get lucky with at
least one, especially since I’m really only looking for a temporary position during the summer
months. It’s a shame that I won't be able to spend the summer doing mathematics like I had
planned. But again like my advisor mentioned, this is an opportunity. I need to capitalize on my
current skill set and offer that to the society that I am a part of. The job might not end up being
mathematics, but I should be able to find a position that utilizes my talents.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-08_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-08
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 5
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/28f092ab813ad5f234a08e97c952334a.pdf
f31e37739f3ed3797663e4b72ca71c8d
PDF Text
Text
April 9, 2020
Another day! We are still alive, and healthy. We have not resorted to domestic abuse, which
apparently is on the rise, not surprising. Likewise my wife and I havent resorted to alcoholism
either, but apparently that is also on the rise, which I suppose is not surprising either. I can’t
confirm these claims on the increase of domestic violence and alcoholism in the general public
through any data. My statements are based purely on a small sample size and their opinions, so
who knows how accurate this is. Anyways, I’ve been able to make some progress in my classes
and manuscripts for both my Alayont Fellowship research and my Capstone Class. Without
going into two much detail my Alayont Fellowship involves research in Algorithms, while my
research in my Capstone class involves research in generalizing results in Euclidean Geometry
to Spherical and Hyperbolic Geometries. There is so much more I could do with either one, but
sadly time is running out and I must finish compiling my results soon. This is the nature of
research, you feel like there is alway something more you can prove, but also remember that at
some point you need to write up your results.
Elena ended her day very well on her birthday. She got plenty of gifts both in the form of cool
‘LOL’ clothing, to a bicycle. We spent the day at her grandma's house (Nikitas bio mom) and ate
cake with them. During that time she was able to have a video call with her Elementary school
classroom and during the call they all did a scavenger hunt. Some kids were very quick on the
draw. Although she was not at home, she probably didn’t know where to look for things, so
Nikita helped her out a bit. She was a good sport and was not too frustrated with losing. She
normally is very hard on herself when she doesn’t win at something. I recently started playing
Mario Party 9 with her. At first she would get very mad when losing a minigame, over time
however, I think she started realizing that just because you don’t win every single mini game, it
does not mean you will lose the whole game. I think this has helped her overcome her inability
to cut herself slack when things don’t go the way she would like. As a plus I get to play video
games while teaching my kid a life lesson. So I suppose that is a good thing that’s come out of
COVID 19. Although it makes me wonder, maybe I should be doing a lot more(less?) even
when there is not a pandemic going on.
On the other hand my middle child is having a really rough time. She is a very social kid, and is
very much missing the interaction she used to get with her friends and teachers. She is currently
in Pre-K so most of what she does is activity based learning. So when she can’t get that level of
continuous attention at home, it really puts her in a depression and sometimes she cries. She
will say things like “No one wants to play with me”, or “No one pays attention to me”. It saddens
Nikita and I, especially since we are trying to divide our time reasonably between school work
and family life. I suppose the ideal thing would be if we had minimal school and work
requirements so that we could provide each other more family attention. Maybe… I’m by no
means an expert in this topic. However it does make me think, how did people back in the day
do it? How much time was devoted towards child rearing and what was truly important? During
the time that I do commit to family, should I spend it doing academic things, non academic, or a
mixture of both? What are some realistic goals and expectations? There is no handbook for this,
and if it was I’m sure it would have been in my email inbox a long time ago just waiting for me to
�read it because I find that most suggestions come from a privilege point of view, where money
and resources in general is not an issue.
I recently read an article written by a father and the struggle him and his wife are facing with
having to work from home. The main theme was “parents are not ok”. I most definitely agree
with this. I’m tired of telling people, and sometimes myself that we are doing ok, that I’m doing
ok. I am not doing ok, I am stressed, I feel like I’m not doing enough, and I feel ashamed. I feel
ashamed because it seems like in our culture we are supposed to be good parents all the time.
We are suppose to be ok with the stress of having and raising children. We are supposed to not
have feelings of depression when our kids overwhelm us. I feel ashamed because I have these
feelings. I know Nikita does as well, but we manage. We put our happy faces on and tell the
world we are ok, because it is custom to say you are ok. Maybe this is also the conditioning that
our culture has given us, but who really cares about what we are going through? When being
asked how are you it’s just a formality to start a conversation? I see my wife’s struggles, and
she sees mine. Maybe that is the reason why we never ask each other directly how we are
doing, because it reminds us of the same questions that we feel people only ask out of an
obligation to our societal conditioning.
I don’t know, and if someone said they knew, I would be hesitant to believe them.
On a side note, this morning I talked to a graduate student at The University of New Mexico,
and learned a little bit more about the university. He was able to provide me with some advice
on how best to prepare for graduate school qualifying exams. Maybe that is what I will do this
upcoming summer; applying for jobs or working and studying on qualifying exams.
�
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
COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
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Identifier
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COVID-19_2020-04-09_GarciaJ
Creator
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Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-09
Title
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José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 6
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Text
Format
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application/pdf
Language
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eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ae201790da14b57b053bc451fcb4e8b8.pdf
70140cf9a62ea8fc0db3f846525184f9
PDF Text
Text
April 10, 2020
Yesterday I was definitely feeling some strong emotions, especially about parenting. Fortunately
as the day progressed it started getting better. I played mario party 9 with the kids. Played
outside and even got caught up in a mini snow shower(strange). I would have thought it was
hail, the way it suddenly came down. We quickly came back inside, we didn’t bother to check
the temperature. After dinner we went back outside and played for a few minutes, but the wind
chill was uncomfortable enough to where the kids didn’t want to be out for long. Then I played
with balloons with Elise and Nikita. They had still been out from Elena's birthday for the kids to
play with. Elarik accidentally(purposefully?) popped one of them by accident, he looked shocked
but ultimately let out a laughter that only he can put out.
On a work note, I had some time after the kids went to bed to look into my research a bit more. I
was able to identify three conjectures for future research. I’m almost convinced that they are
true and have an outline on how to prove each one. I also was able to look at a strategy for
online searching games or adaptive searching games. This is really exciting! I might continue
this in the summer if things work out. Also one of my friends gave me a link to a COVID-19 relief
fund application so that was nice, because that led me into a hunt for scholarship money for the
fall semester. I have a fellowship lined up, however, it would be nice to have some emergency
funds. The fellowship I'm sure is nice for an individual, but not as substantial for a family of 5. I
was able to identify two scholarships that I qualify for, so that was nice. I started doing some
preliminary research on what time of materials are needed.
Today I need to file for unemployment, I’ve been putting it off because I don’t like the idea of
having to do it, but I know it's necessary right now. I heard that recently the UIA’s web based
system has been revamped and as a result is more usable than in past years. I don’t really
know how that is all going to play out, but it’s the next thing on my to do list. I also have a phone
call to make for a possible employment opportunity, but that won't start until July. So that’s
unfortunate. Also it’s not even guaranteed since it’s tutoring, and if GRCC decides to close in
person instruction all summer, then there goes my job again as well.
Somehow I signed myself up for a coding competition that starts next week and I haven’t even
bothered to look and practice for it, so I better get on it. My thinking was that it is algorithm
based and so it would be a good way to look at new problems and find strategies that can be
proven successful through the power of mathematics. The main issue I have right now is that
I'm not too familiar with python’s standard functions for working with stdin, stdout, and stderr,
and how to flush the output. Anyways it doesn’t seem like it would be too bad, I just haven’t
done it.
Not much to report on today, I spent a good deal of time playing and working yesterday. I also
had a good laugh with peers from around the country on topics related to the history of
mathematics. I definitely appreciate them. Also, I received two books in the mail recently, one
on topology on the other on Algebra. I intend on using the this summer to prepare for qualifying
exams at the University of New Mexico.
�
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
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COVID-19 Journals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Description
An account of the resource
This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled.
The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Subject
The topic of the resource
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
COVID-19_2020-04-10_GarciaJ
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Garcia, José
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2020-04-10
Title
A name given to the resource
José Garcia COVID-19 Journal 7
Description
An account of the resource
Journal entry of GVSU student José Garcia relating his experiences as a student and parent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject
The topic of the resource
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng