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World War Two Wwii

Articles

7 items

Illinois State Normal University’s Cook Hall gymnasium, seen here in September 1946, provided temporary housing to newly enrolled World War II veterans awaiting the completion of off-campus federal housing units.

Back to school 1946 meant return to normalcy
The start of 1946-1947 school year, coming as it did a full year after the end of World War II,...

Article

Campaign to aid Britain comes to Bloomington
On Dec. 5, 1940, two of Bloomington’s favorite sons returned home to call upon Americans to sup...

Article

Donated Vrooman letter speaks to wartime loss
Faced with the enormity of the Second World War, it’s often difficult to put a human face on th...

Article

Killed in a P-61 crash, 2nd Lt. Loren Kane was buried in a U.S. military cemetery in the Philippines before his body was returned to Bloomington three years later for reburial.

Fallen sons repatriated after World War II
In the years following World War II, the remains of tens of thousands of American war dead retu...

Article

Halloween 1945 followed world war’s end
World War II still loomed large over American life during the Halloween season of 1945. The sur...

Article

ISNU welcomed veterans after WWII
After World War II, Illinois State Normal University put out the welcome mat for returning sold...

Article

a family stands in front of a fireplace, looking at stockings hanging

War’s end makes Christmas ’45 extra special
On Dec. 22, 1945, President Harry Truman switched on the twinkling lights of the nation’s Chris...

Article

Blog

7 items

McHistory: Newly donated World War II diary shares POW experience of Normal resident

Blog Post

McHistory: World War II in McLean County
Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 130: Dogs of War, 1946 Bella and Her Two Surprises
U.S. Army veteran Dwight Pierceall of Normal received quite a shock on June 6, 1946, when he op...

Blog Post

Photo of the Week, 18: 1,000 License Plates Contributed in WW II Drive
During the Second World War, communities such as Bloomington scrounged for scrap metal to boost...

Blog Post

Two Pieces of World War II Accessioned into the Museum's Library and Archives
In the last week, the Museum has accessioned two unique pieces of World War II history: a P.O.W...

Blog Post

U.S. Declares War The Pantagraph, December 8, 1941
The U.S. Congress declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, in response to the attack on Pearl...

Blog Post

WW II Rubber Shortage Shirley Farm, March 1942
Arnold Beatty (left) and Colman Hicks, at the O.V. Douglass farm outside of Shirley, demonstrat...

Blog Post

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

1 item

Farm Improvements
Farm improvements, such as fences, barns, sheds, and grain storage were expensive additions. Bu...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

25 items

Augsperger, LaRue
LaRue Augspurger’s diary records her observations, experiences, and adventures at Mennonite Hos...

Finding Aid

Beel, Floyd E.—World War II Army Air Force Service
Floyd Everett Beel was born to Leown Iri and Emma Jane Calvert Beel in Decatur, IL, on February...

Finding Aid

Clarke, Marguerite E.
Marguerite E. (Dobson) Clarke (1916-2007) was a lifelong resident of Bloomington. She received ...

Finding Aid

Craig Family
This collection covers day-to-day events in Warren F. Craig’s life starting in the late 1930s t...

Finding Aid

Delbridge, Mary E.
The Mary E. Delbridge Collection is organized into ten folders by date and subject with two scr...

Finding Aid

Dunn, Richard T.
Richard Thomas Dunn was born on August 21, 1918 in Normal, IL, to Richard Francis Dunn and Clar...

Finding Aid

Freed, Bill & Ruth (Klein)
This collection includes photos, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, land deeds and abstracts of t...

Finding Aid

Hall, Robert S. Diary
Normal native and lifelong resident Robert S. “Bob” Hall (1915-1976) graduated University High ...

Finding Aid

Holder, John
The Holder collection consists primarily of materials from John’s time of service in the U.S. N...

Finding Aid

Huber, Dale Railroad Ephemera
Dale Huber (1917-1985) was born April 15, 1917, in Gridley, Illinois. He married Opal Drake on ...

Finding Aid

Johnston, George W. and Alice M. Collection
George W. (1901-1988) and Alice M. (1905-1991) Johnston were both active in the American Legion...

Finding Aid

Kelley, George R.
The letters of George R. Kelley relate to the life and times of a McLean County serviceman duri...

Finding Aid

Manahan, Eugene
Lester Eugene Manahan was born to Benton and Lillie Manahan in Arrowsmith, Illinois, August 30,...

Finding Aid

McLean County WWII Memorial
The WWII Memorial Committee was formed in the fall of 1994 after Normal Mayor Paul Harmon notic...

Finding Aid

Middleton, Richard & James Gill
This collection contains newspaper clippings, genealogical research, annual reports, WWII forms...

Finding Aid

Morgan, Raymond “Doc”
“He was a humble person, a fine golfer and a great gentleman.” So opined Bloomington Country Cl...

Finding Aid

O’Hara, William J.
William J. O’Hara (1896-1986) was born in the Hudson area, the son of Owen and Johanna O’Neil O...

Finding Aid

Schultz, Herman C.
Herman C. Schultz (1912-1995) was born in McLean County, Illinois.  He was inducted into the Un...

Finding Aid

Sterzbach, Robert WWII
This collection holds the correspondence between Robert Sterzbach and Alyne Tracy from January ...

Finding Aid

Streid, Robert
Robert Eugene Streid, born July 28, 1916, was a lifetime Chenoa resident farmer educated in the...

Finding Aid

Washburn, Dorothy M.
Born in 1904, Dorothy M. Washburn was a daughter of M/M George Washburn of Bloomington.  George...

Finding Aid

World War I: State Council of Defense
During the summer of 1918, the State Council of Defense of Illinois organized local committees ...

Finding Aid

World War II Collection
World War II erupted in September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and ended with Japan’...

Finding Aid

World War II Home Front Oral Histories
The Interviewers were senior students of W. Michael Weis, Ph.D., Professor of History at Illino...

Finding Aid

World War II Magazine Collection
The World War II Magazine Collection contains publications that were kept or found by residents...

Finding Aid

Oral Histories

4 items

Howard and Elaine Bell
Early Bloomington family, WWII veteran, Depression era history, Elaine was active in community ...

Oral History

Oscar and Ruth Waddell
WWII veteran, skilled employment at GE, breaking employment barriers, home ownership, Willis St...

Oral History

Robert Gaston
Barber, WWII veteran, Chamber of Commerce Board member....

Oral History

Wilbur Barton
Early Normal family, ISNU grad & athlete, WWII veteran, teacher/principal....

Oral History

Speakers Bureau

1 item

Women Called to Action: Women in World War II

Speakers Bureau