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Holly Marks Reichart Papers

Ms. Collection 220

 

Introduction

Abstract

Holly Marks (“Jack”) Reichart served with the 3118 Signal Service Battalion in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. He was inducted into the military in December of 1943 and returned to the United States in January of 1946. He was discharged the following month.

Though this collection begins with civilian papers in 1929 and ends in 1972, the largest part of these papers concerns his military service. The greatest quantity of this series is comprised of correspondence to his wife, Virginia, and his mother, Dollie Reichart. Most of his correspondence reveals his training, his activities and his whereabouts, to the extent that the military censors would allow his location to be revealed. Not surprisingly, most of his writing is about his homesickness and his desire for the war to conclude as quickly as possible. The rest of Reichart’s World War II papers are a mixture of various documents typical of World War II veterans. In addition to Holly’s papers, there are papers of Virginia Reichart who worked in the Sunflower Ordinance Works located near Lawrence, Kans. The Sunflower works was one of the many plants supplying Allied troops with vital war munitions, and the items she saved were such things as employee handbooks, notebooks on chemical explosives, Sunflower Ordnance Works newspapers, and other items generated by the Plant.

Dates

1929-1972 (bulk 1943-1946).

Quantity

2 cubic feet (5 boxes)

Creator

Reichart, Holly Marks, 1910-1974

Title

Papers

Identification

Ms. collection 220

Repository

Kansas Historical Society (Topeka)

 

Biography

By far, the largest part of this collection concerns Holly Reichart’s military service in the United States and Europe during World War II. This series consists mainly of letters from Jack to Virginia and Dollie Reichart. A wide variety of mementoes is also filed among these papers that reveal where he was and, to a certain extent, what he was doing during the war. Reichart spent several months at Camp Crowder, Missouri, learning about radio transmissions and repair, Morse Code, encryption, coding and de-coding. When he was sent to Europe in the fall of 1944, he was assigned to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), General Eisenhower’s headquarters. One can only imagine the classified and top secret communiques that were sent through his hands.

Jack was a man with religious convictions. He attended church services regularly, kept the chapel calendars, and even mailed some of them home along with his letters. The letter he wrote to Virginia on V-E day (May 8, 1945) indicates that he was a non-combatant volunteer. Even so, his discharge record indicates that he received training to fire a carbine, and achieved the marksman award for his abilities. Because Reichart was a non-combatant and saw no fighting, he was one of the last of the veterans to be sent home after the war. His letters following V-E Day are filled with homesickness and his longing to return to civilian life. Along with all other American soldiers, Jack was downcast with his new role as an “Occupation Joe” in Germany following the Nazi capitulation. Reichart and his detachment were not sent States-side until January of 1946, and his discharge was not until February third of that year. The most revealing source of information on Holly Reichart comes from his discharge record, which indicates his height, weight, hair and eye color, inoculations and vaccinations, citations of achievement, exact length of time in the service, date and place of birth, and more.

Following his military service, Reichart returned to Valley Falls, Kansas, and resumed management of the family grain elevator. He died in 1974.

Jack’s wartime itinerary

1943
Mar. 1
Selective Service classification 2-A
 
Dec. 7
Military indiction - Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
 
 
 
1944
Jan. 7
Missouri - Camp Crowder
 
Jan. 30
Co. O, 847th Signal Training Battalion. Camp Crowder. Extensive training in military communication, especially radio operations. Assigned to the 3118th Signal Service Group after completing training
 
Oct. 1
New York City. Preparations for embarkation
 
Oct. 14
Arrived “somewhere in France”
 
Dec. 30
France - Paris (the first time he revealed his exact location)
 
 
 
1945
May 21
France - Versailles
 
Dec. 21
Germany - Frankfurt
 
Dec. 30
Belgium - Antwerp
 
 
 
1946
Jan. 7
SS Nicholas Gilman
 
Jan. 28
New York, N.Y.
 
Feb. 3
Arkansas - Camp Chaffee. Honorably discharged

Scope and Content

An important note concerning the recording of dates in this guide: chronological arraignment necessitates listing the year first, followed by the month, then the date (e.g. 1944 June 6). Some place names are also listed in a similarly nested way: France - Paris.

Some of the letters in this collection arrived at the Kansas Historical Society in photocopy form. The existence and whereabout of the originals is not known. As a security precaution, both this guide and the folders in this collection indicate the number of items in each folder.

There are three main areas of historical significance in the Reichart papers: 1) The role that Kansans played in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, 2) the contribution that Kansans made at home during the war, 3) and the impact of the war on Kansas and Kansans.

The largest subseries in this collection contains the letters that Holly Reichart wrote to his wife and mother. Censorship requirements limited what he could actually mention in his letters. Most of the content of his letters concerns how busy he was (but not what he actually did), what forms of recreation he pursued when he had the time, how much he missed being home, and occasionally matters concerning the family grain elevator business.

Soldiers, in all wars, have regarded letters from their loved ones as the lifeline of morale. Letters from the “homefront” served to motivate and constantly remind them why they were making sacrifices so far from home. Although he frequently mentioned that he received mail from his family and friends, Jack saved few of the letters sent to him during the war . There is one small folder of letters from various people to Holly Reichart. The only remaining letters from Virginia were the ones she wrote while Jack was returning from Europe on board the S.S. Nicholas Gilman - letters she could not mail to him.

Series 2 contains a wide range of documentary memorabilia. Everything from Selective Service Classification Cards, to records from the Office of Dependency Benefits, boxes of correspondence among the Reicharts, Chapel Calendars, newspaper clippings, mock newspapers, miscellaneous SHAEF papers, telegrams, Reichart’s diary, and his discharge papers. In sum, Reichart’s military service records constitute a well rounded collection of World War II documention. Within this collection, the most voluminous and significant subseries is the correspondence among Reichart family members. The one item that reveals the greatest amount about Reichart, himself is his discharge from the Army. This item indicates all of his vital information: height, weight, eye color, date of birth, inoculations, vaccinations, military training and qualifications, and citations of achievement, to name a few. Series 2 also contains a few non-documentary items: Reichart’s dog tags and an insignia patch.

Virginia Reichart worked in the Sunflower Ordinance Works during the war, and her collected papers provide a good picture of life “stateside.” As an employee of the Works, Virginia was issued an employee handbook, a safe practices handbook, shift operating schedules, a small notebook concerning chemical explosives, and an issue of the Sunflower Sentinel, dated October 19, 1945. This issue, published as military production was winding down, includes an illustration of the layout of the facility. The plant included a set of barracks, and the letters that Jack wrote to Virginia were addressed to Sunflower, implying that she must have lived at the plant.

By the end of the war, Virginia still had a ration coupon book with a variety of coupons. She also had ten red point tokens, as well.

Series 4 contains a few odds and ends following the Reicharts’ war service: some correspondence, a Masonic pin, photocopies of eight photographs of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Centennial, five membership cards issued by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and one card issued by the Veterans Administration.

Contents List

Shelf location

006-16-08-04 thru 006-16-08-08

Organization of the Collection

The Reichart papers are arranged primarily in chronological order. Though there are a few anomalies that complicate a strict chronological arrangement, the pattern is not difficult to recognize in the detailed description of the collection. In order to facilitate a chronological break-down of the material in this collection, the dates are listed in a descending order, with the years first, followed by the months, and then dates (e.g. 1944 June 6).

The Reichart papers are arranged in four different series:

Series 1 contains items from Holly Reichart’s pre-war years - a few things from his college days at the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (now Kansas State University) and some letters and contracts from the Reichart Elevator Company. Though the elevator company papers extend into 1948, they are placed in the first series because they begin in 1938.

Series 2, which is by far the largest series of the collection, contains Reichart’s wartime papers. These papers are subdivided primarily in chronological form. Following through this diverse series of documentation takes the researcher through the sequence of events of Reichart’s life.

Series 3 is a smaller collection of World War II papers collected by Virginia “Dee Dee” Reichart. Virginia worked in the Sunflower Ordinance Works (SOW) located near Lawrence, Kansas, and she kept her employee handbook, notes concerning explosive chemicals, and an issue of the Sunflower Sentinel, the plant newspaper. Virginia also kept a few newspaper clippings during the war concerning its various aspects, a book of ration coupons and nine red point tokens.

Series 4 contains a few odds and ends following the Reicharts’ war service: correspondence; a Masonic pin; photocopies of eight photographs of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Centennial; 5 membership cards issued by the Veterans of Foreign Wars; and one card issued by the Veterans Administration.

 

Box 1

 

 

 

Series 1

 

Pre-War papers

 

Folder

1

College papers

6 items

 

2

Reichart Elevator Company, 1938-1948

4 items

Series 2

 

World War II papers, 1941-1946

 

Folder

3

Selective Service papers, 1941-1946

6 items

 

4

Office of Dependency Benefits, 1943 Dec 31

2 items

 

 

Correspondence: Holly to Virginia Reichart,

 

 

5

1943 Dec - 1944 Jan

28 items

 

6

1944 Feb - Mar

53 items

 

7

1944 Apr - May

50 items

 

8

1944 June - Sept

71 items

 

9

1944 Oct

21 items

 

10

1944 Nov

24 items

 

11

1944 Dec

27 items

Box 2

 

 

 

Folder

1

1945 Jan

23 items

 

2

1945 Feb

22 items

 

3

1945 Mar

21 items

 

4

1945 Apr

25 items

 

5

1945 Mar

29 items

 

6

1945 June

29 items

 

7

1945 July

29 items

 

8

1945 Aug

28 items

 

9

1945 Sept

27 items

Box 3

 

 

 

Folder

1

1945 Oct

30 items

 

2

1945 Nov

27 items

 

3

1945 Dec

25 items

 

4

1946 Jan

6 items

 

 

Correspondence: Holly to Dollie Reichart,

 

 

5

1943 Dec - 1944 Apr

83 items

 

6

1944 May - Sept

59 items

 

7

1944 Oct - Dec

41 items

 

8

1945 Jan - Feb

27 items

 

9

1945 Mar - Apr

26 items

 

10

1945 May - July

35 items

Box 4

 

 

 

Folder

1

1945 Aug - Dec

39 items

 

 

Correspondence: Various people to Holly Reichart

 

 

2

1943 Nov 9 - 1946 Jan 27

33 items

 

3

Chapel Calendars, 1944 Sept 3 - 1945 Dec 25

18 items

 

4

Miscellaneous, 1944-1945

50 items

 

5

SHAEF, ca. 1944-1945

4 items

 

6

Newspaper clippings, 1945 July - Dec.

5 items

 

7

3rd Reinforcement Depot, 1945 Sept 18 - 1946 Jan 3

5 items

 

8

Currency Conversion, 1945 Nov.

5 items

 

9

Tophat Tales (Camp Tophat newspaper), 1945 Dec 27

1 item

 

10

Morning Reports, 1945 Dec - 1946 Jan

2 items

 

 

Return from Europe papers,

 

 

11

Diary, 1946 Jan 7 - 27

1 item

 

12

Gilman Gazette, 1946 Jan 11 - 26

15 items

 

13

Telegrams, etc., 1946 Jan

4 items

 

14

Discharge and Separation Papers, 1946 Feb 3

13 items

Series 3

 

Virginia Reichart’s papers

 

 

15

Correspondence: Virginia to Holly Reichart, 1945 May - 1946 Jan

16 items

 

16

Newspaper clippings,

8 items

 

17

Ration Coupons, and tokens, n.d.

10 items

 

 

Sunflower Ordinance Works, DeSoto, Kansas.

 

 

18

Employee Handbooks, etc.

8 items

Box 5

 

 

 

Folder

1

Chemistry notes

2 items

 

2

Sunflower Sentinel, 1945 Oct 9

1 item

Series 4

 

Postwar papers

 

 

3

Correspondence to Holly M. Reichart, 1946-1951

1 item

 

4

Masonic Pin

6 items

 

5

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Centennial, 1972

2 items

 

 

2 pages with 8 photocopied photographs

 

 

6

Veteran’s Papers (V.A. and V.F.W.), 1967-1972

6 items

Related Records and Collections

Indexes

This collection includes a file with an index of the correspondence (arranged by date), itemizing each letter in this collection.

Related Materials

  Barth family papers
Microfilm MS 1046
  Gentsler, Eula
Collection 131
  Hawker, Jesse Marvin
Collection 377
  Hughes, James Clark
Collection 53
  Kansas United War Fund history
Collection 604
  Langsdorf, Edgar
Misc.: Langsdorf
  Raymond, Bob
Microfilm MS 927
  Smith, Wint
Collection 57
  Stephens, Harry T.
Collection 103
  Thompson, Neil Baird
Collection 752
  Governor’s Correspondence
Ratner Administration, 1939-1943
  Governor’s Correspondence
Schoeppel Administration, 1943-1947

Materials Transferred from the Collection and Cataloged Separately

Photographs: transferred to the photo collection

 

Bibliography

Hard Times: Special Farewell Edition. A History of the U.S. Signal Corps.

Index Terms

 

Access Points

The terms listed below may include names, places, subjects, occupations, titles, and other words describing this collection. These terms are used in the ATLAS catalog used by the Kansas State Historical Society and affiliated libraries in Topeka, http://lib.wuacc.edu/search, as well as libraries and archives subscribing to OCLC, an international library / archives database. Searches on these words should produce a description of this collection as well as other books and collections that may be of interest.

Corporate names

Reichart Elevator Company.
U.S. Army. Signal Service Group, 3118th.
Sunflower Ordinance Works, De Soto, Kansas.

Family names

Reichart family.
Richards family.

Geographic names

Valley Falls (Kan.)
Fort Leavenworth (Kan.)
Camp Crowder (Mo.)
Paris (France)
Versailles (France)
Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Antwerp (Belgium)

Personal names (other correspondents)

Reichart, Dollie.
Reichart, Virginia.

Subjects

World War, 1939-1945 - Europe.
World War, 1939-1945 - Personal narratives.
World War, 1939-1945 - Cryptography.
Veterans - Kansas.
Grain elevators - Kansas - Valley Falls.

 

Additional Information for Researchers

Acquisition information

The papers of Holly Marks “Jack” Reichart were donated in two installments by his widow, Virginia Reichart, in 1983 and 1984.

Restrictions on access

Some of the papers in this collection were originally printed on acidic and very brittle newsprint paper. Several of those documents have been copied onto acid - free paper, as working copies in order to preserve the originals. Folders at the end of this collection contain original papers (printed on fragile paper), and are not available to the research public.

Copyright/ publication rights

Notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). The user is cautioned that the publication of the contents of this microfilm may be construed as constituting a violation of literary property rights. These rights derive from the principle of common law, affirmed in the copyright law of 1976 as amended, that the writer of an unpublished letter or other manuscript has the sole right to publish the contents thereof unless he or she affirmatively parts with that right; the right descends to his or her legal heirs regardless of the ownership of the physical manuscript itself. It is the responsibility of a user or his or her publisher to secure the permission of the owner of literary property rights in unpublished writing.

Preferred citation

[identification of individual item, sub-series, or series]; Holly Marks Reichart Papers, 1929-1972; ms. collection no. 220, State Archives & Library, Kansas Historical Society.

Processing information

This collection was originally processed in 1991 by Leslie Cade. When an additional box of Reichart papers was discovered in spring of the year 2000, manuscript integration, machine readable cataloguing, and preparation for Internet installation necessitated re-processing this collection. The original order of these papers was maintained as much as was possible. In addition, the subsequent reprocessing allowed for greater descriptive detail of the collection. The collection was reprocessed in 2000 by Robert A. McInnes.