Activities relating to Company I, 138th Infantry, 35th Division, American Expeditionary Force reunions. (38 items), 1934-1937
Scope and Contents
Among the materials in this collection are a reminiscence, a biography, company histories, minutes, reunion announcements and reports, general and specialized membership lists, correspondence, press clippings (all of which have been photocopied), bills and receipts, and assorted printed materials, including programs, tickets and invitations, cemetery maps, commemoratives, and a song. The Active Duty Series includes two chronological histories of Company I (one of which appears to be a first draft of the other) and a number of clippings dated 1918-1919 from St. Louis-area newspapers highlighting the efforts of Company I and its men. An interesting document in this series is a typewritten reminiscence titled “The Diary of a St. Louis Doughboy” by Private Al. J. Westing of Company I, most likely written in 1919. This 45-page reminiscence, written in verse, relates the author’s experiences during his period of active service, and colorfully details the soldiers’ daily lives, from the gas and trenches of front-line duty to the endless marching, training, and waiting while fighting body lice and enjoying French wines. Materials from the company’s postwar Reunion Association Series constitute the single largest series in the collection. Among these are a number of specialized and general membership lists for the period 1930 to 1973. The specialized lists include a list of reunion chairmen (with deceased chairmen noted), reunion and picnic locations, and number attending for the years 1930 to 1969. In addition, there are four partial and complete lists of deceased Company I veterans; many of the entries on these lists are annotated with the veterans’ places of burial. The general membership lists include lists of local and/or out-of-town veterans of Company I for the years 1935, 1937, 1938, 1943 (updated from 1941 list), 1961 (updated from 1955 list), 1966 through 1971, and 1973. The majority of material in this series documents the group’s activities between 1934 and 1948, and includes minutes of meetings, announcements, and reports of events and annual reunions, printed tickets for social events, and press clippings about Company I and its veterans. The series contains printed items including a song from the 1926 reunion, a ticket from a 1933 dance, a 1955 invitation to a memorial service for the commander of the 138th Infantry, and commemorative items for two deceased Company I veterans. The series also contains newspaper clippings that deal mostly with the veterans as individuals rather than as an organized group. A final folder in the series contains bills and receipts dated 1968 to 1976 from florists, printers, and restaurants who provided services to the group. The 1921 Funeral of Captain Alexander R. Skinker Series documents the St. Louis funeral of Captain A.R. Skinker, Company I’s commanding officer and winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The series consists primarily of correspondence among the event’s planners and the funeral participants. This correspondence falls into two time periods: January to April and August to September 1921. An enclosure to a September 9, 1921, letter from H.D. McBride, chairman of the Arrangements Committee, provides a detailed schedule of events for the funeral. Also included in this series are a biography of Captain Skinker, written circa 1923 by his father, Thomas K. Skinker; a program from the 1918 commemoration service for Captain Skinker; press clippings from 1918 to 1921 dealing with Captain Skinker’s heroic actions and his funeral; and a cemetery map showing the location of his grave.
Dates
- 1934-1937
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Extent
From the Collection: 0.25 Cubic Feet ( (1 box))
Language of Materials
English
Creator
- From the Collection: United States. Army. Division, 35th. Infantry, 138th. Company I (1917-1919) (Creator, Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center Repository