Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945; Baseball players--Wisconsin;...
Katie Horstman was born on April 14, 1935 in Minster, Ohio. Before joining the All American Girls Professional Baseball League she played baseball with her brother John. She started playing softball with the Catholic Youth Organization (CYI). At...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army
James Clark was born in September 1920 in a farmhouse in Wayne County, Michigan. Growing up, Clark had a difficult childhood, including a diagnosis of tuberculosis, moving to Arizona for treatment and back to Michigan, and his family losing their...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University
Robert Davis worked as an engineer for Westinghouse and was a professor of engineering. Mr. Davis had degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Michigan. He was active in the public schools and was a local...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings;
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army
Donald Jandernoa served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945. He trained as a B-24 pilot and flew missions for the 15th Air Force, based in Italy, in the later stages of the war. He describes the training process and his combat experiences in...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University
George Cass Shelby was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 5 December 1878.
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army
This interview provides a more complete account of Dr. Clark's experiences during the Battle of the Bulge than his original interview did. When the Battle of the Bulge began on December 16th, 1944, James Clark was serving as part of the medical...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
Carl J. Strom is a WWII Veteran who served in the United States Army in France and Italy from July 1942 to May 1945. Strom was a platoon leader in ompany B, 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division and fought at the Rapido River crossing, Monte...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University; Women
Helen Gast was born 7 August 1910 in Grand Rapids. She married George Jackoboice in 1937. They had three sons. Mrs. Jackoboice died on 31 December 2008.
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army; Video recordings
Erling Smestad enlisted in the Michigan National Guard in 1938 and served in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division until June of 1945. His unit trained in Louisiana and was shipped first to the East Coast and then back across the...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University; Women
Mary Baloyan’s parents came from Armenia in 1897. She was the first Armenian girl born October 13, 1899 in Grand Rapids. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1922. She later was a teacher at Ottawa Hills High School, JRCC, and in...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945; Baseball players--Illinois;...
Jacqueline Baumgart (nee Mattson) was born in Waukegan, Illinois. She grew up in Waukegan area and played with the neighborhood boys. She played outfield positions as a kid. In 1942, her family moved to Milwaukee, WI where she played with as a...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945; Baseball players--Indiana;...
Lois Youngen was born in a small town in Ohio in 1933. She grew up playing baseball with boys from her town, and played on a boys’ team for several years before switching to a girls’ softball team while in high school. She learned about the...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American;...
Edward Morrin was born in East Boston, Massachusetts on June 21st, 1926. At the outbreak of World War II, Morrin attempted to enlist but the Army denied him because he was only seventeen and needed permission from his parents, although both his...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University; Women
Ruth Grinnell was born in Grand Rapids in 1890. She graduated from Vassar College. In 1921, she married Dr. John Hodgen. She was the Secretary-Treasurer of Grinnell-Row Company for 62 years. She was involved with St. Cecilia’s, the Ladies...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army
Henry Vandermeer was born in the Netherlands in 1931 and lived there during the Nazi occupation. His family emigrated to the United States in 1952, and he served in the US Army. He was sent to La Rochelle, France, where he worked in an army...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University; Women
Elizabeth Welter Wilson was born in Grand Rapids on 4 April 1921. Miss Wilson attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She was acquainted with well-known stage personalities, among them Helen Hayes and Shirley Booth. Miss Wilson...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives,...
Mary Louise “Wimp” Baumgartner was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1930. She played in the AAGPBL from 1949 to 1954 as a catcher for Peoria and South Bend. She went to college in the off season, and after the league folded she became a teacher...
Jose Jimenez was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico and lived in Chicago. He discusses his experiences as the leader of the Young Lords and an activist for Latin Americans.
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. Navy
James Wykstra was born in 1947 in the town of Cutlerville, Michigan. After graduating from high school, Wykstra felt it was his duty to serve in the military. In August 1966, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserves. Following completion of basic...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University
Siegel Judd was born Siegel Wright; after his parents died, his father's sister and her husband adopted him. Mr. Judd attended Dartmouth College and served in the navy during WWI. He married Dorothy Leonard in 1898. He went to law school,...
