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Re: 2nd Call for WWII Holdings



Joan -

Since I have been grumbling a little lately about Canadian content, I
suppose it is incumbent upon me to step up to the plate here...

The Municipal Archives-Windsor Public Library has holdings that could be of
interest to you, and do touch upon your subject from an international
perspective.  Windsor, Ontario, is directly across the Detroit River from
the city of Detroit.

The papers of Bruce J.S. Macdonald contain some very unique materials, not
the least of which was his tenure (1944-1946) as the commander of the
Canadian War Crimes Unit.  The social history component here is the
correspondence to and from his wife, Norma (these are two very useful
series because one can find letters and their replies between husband and
wife) .  One letter from Mrs. Macdonald in 1941, for example, speaks of her
going across to Detroit because rationing had been imposed on the Canadian
side of the border.  There also may be some personal observations, such as
made it past the censors, of his time with the Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Force (SHAEF).  In another letter in 1946, Lt. Col. Macdonald
apologizes to his wife that he will not be able to come home as soon as
planned because a German suspect in war crimes against Canadian personnel
had been found in Austria.

In the records of the Windsor Police Service are the arrest ledgers for the
war period, and while I don't know if this kind of social history is
pertinent to your topic, there is documentation on a 1944 large scale
arrest of Italian men resident in Windsor for no other reason than their
ethnicity, who were then turned over to the RCMP.  It might be interesting
to discover if a simliar operation was carried out in Detroit at the same
time.  The minutes of the Windsor Police Commission for the War period
would be a good source for information on local law enforcement concerns
about border activities, particularly before American entry into the war (I
would think that during rationing a great deal of smuggling would have been
going on by ordinary citizens such as Mrs. Macdonald).

This institution also has a significant collection of Victory Bond posters
from WWII, but their usefulness to you will depend on how much Canadian
content you will want.

The website for the Municipal Archives-Windsor Public Library will be found
at:

www.city.windsor.on.ca/wpl/archives/index.html

Address and telephone information is given on the website.

Hope this is of some use.

Cheers!

Mark



At 07:37 AM 03/10/2000 -0500, you wrote:
>Everyone:
>
>For those of you who missed my original query, I'm compiling a list of
>repository holdings on the  social history of World War II, i.e.
>personal papers, letters, dairies, manuscripts, and photos of the period
>from military service personnel, nurses, defense and other Home Front
>workers, volunteers with the USO, Red Cross, Civilian Defense, OSS
>personnel, Merchant Marines, WASPs, etc.
>
>Military history and documents of unit campaigns are not of primary
>interest, but will be welcomed.
>
>Would you kindly give me the following:
>
>1) name, address, and phone number of repository
>
>2) web page if available
>
>3) brief description of holdings OR whom to
>contact for more information.
>
>Thank you for all your assistance with this project!
>--
>Joan E. Denman
>Archival Assistant
>Institute on World War II
>& the Human Experience
>Department of History
>Florida State University
>Tallahassee, FL 32306-2200
>(850) 644-9033
>www.fsu.edu/~ww2
>silver2@tdo.infi.net
>
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>
>Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>