Month: November 2013

A Poor Defense: Sherman tanks in WW2

Posted on by Victor Riveros

Contributed by Nicholas Hopkins

A Glimpse of the lives of American soldiers constructed with materials of the 3rdArmored Division Archives, housed at the University of Illinois Archives Research Center.

“Sherman Tank” RS 26/20/70, MMischnick Sherman, Germany, February, 15-26, 1945.
“Sherman Tank” RS 26/20/70, MMischnick Sherman, Germany, February, 15-26, 1945.

Experiencing WWII from the inside of a M4 Sherman tank was famously dangerous. Henry J. Earl retells his experience with the Sherman in a 1983 letter to Lt Colonel Haynes Dugan, one of the G-2 intelligence officers for the 3rd Armored Division. Continue reading “A Poor Defense: Sherman tanks in WW2” →

Students to Servicemen, 1917-1919

Posted on by Angela Jordan

Nearly a century ago, the Great War drastically changed the lives of servicemen and their families.  Over 3,000 University of Illinois alumni and students joined the military and Dean Thomas Arkle Clark faithfully corresponded with many students, alumni, and parents about military service, war experiences, and potential University admissions.  Servicemen and their families appreciated Dean Clark’s concern, for in the words of Edmund Allen, “It surely helps a lot to know that the folks at college haven’t forgotten, and it keeps the ties that hold us to the best things in life a little tighter around us.”[1]

Below are letter excerpts from University of Illinois servicemen during the Great War found in War Service Records, 1917-19. Continue reading “Students to Servicemen, 1917-1919” →

Why Home Accounts Count, 1936

Posted on by Angela Jordan

McLean County Store, Illinois, 1936

In 1936, as part of the College of Agriculture Extension Service, Ruth C. Freeman from the Home Economics Department prepared the presentation Why Home Accounts Count for McLean County, in cooperation with the McLean County Home Adviser Clara Brian and account-keeping families in McLean County.[1] Continue reading “Why Home Accounts Count, 1936” →