Processed by
Paul Brockman
20 November 1998
Revised 16 July 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
2 document cases |
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COLLECTION |
December 1941–November 1945 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Heritage Photo Services, 815 N. Highland Ave., Indianapolis, Indiana, 46202, 27 October 1998 |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
None |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
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ACCESSION |
1999.0046 |
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NOTES: |
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Raymond E. (“Ray”) Yackley (21 July 1910–4 July 1994) apparently grew up in Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana, and worked for the Swift Meat Packing Company in Chicago, Illinois, prior to his joining in the U. S. Army in 1943. Yackley served with the 527th Medical Hospital Ship Platoon in both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, rising to the rank of sergeant. In November 1944, he married Theola Werstler.
Theola "Dodie" Werstler (fl. 1940s) apparently grew up in Pierceton, Kosciusko County, Indiana, but moved to South Bend, St. Joseph County, prior to 1941. During World War II she worked on an assembly line for a South Bend factory.
Source:
Information in collection.
Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File (Orem, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 2000) (for Raymond E. Yackley dates). Ancestry.com (accessed 16 July 2004)
The collection primarily consists of the wartime correspondence between Ray Yackley and his fiancé and later wife, Theola "Dodie" Werstler Yackley, 1941–1945. Dodie writes from South Bend about working in a factory during the Second World War, co-workers receiving telegrams about the losses of loved ones and her concern for his safety. Most of the information in the letters is of a personal nature regarding family and friends and her love for him. Ray writes from aboard hospital ships in the Pacific (near New Caledonia), and stationed on land in California, Texas, and South Carolina, and on hospital ships in the Atlantic (near England). Most of his local news is quite general (in his October 21, 1944 letter he states there was not anything interesting he could write about) but he does respond to news in Dodie's letters and asks numerous questions about family and friends at home. Ray Yackley also writes about receiving furloughs and his attempts to work out the logistics of their marriage while he was on leave in California in November 1944.
Other letters to the Yackleys come from family and friends. Ray Yackley received letters and newsletters from his pre-enlistment employer, Swift & Company, in Chicago; and family related letters from his sisters Mary and Elizabeth Yackley in Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, Indiana, 1943–1945. Dodie Werstler Yackley received correspondence from, Betty White, the wife of a friend of Ray Yackley and apparently an Army nurse stationed in Texas and Mississippi, 1944–1945, who exchanges information about the whereabouts and well being of their loved ones. She also received letters from her brother, Raymond Werstler, serving with the Army in England and Germany, 1945, as well as several letters from other relatives and friends.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Letters from Theola Werstler, Dec. 1941–June 1943 |
Box 1, Folder 1 |
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Letters from Theola Werstler, July 1943 |
Box 1, Folder 2 |
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Letters from Theola Werstler, Aug.–Dec. 1943 |
Box 1, Folder 3 |
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Letters from Theola Werstler, March–June 1944 |
Box 1, Folder 4 |
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Letters from Theola Werstler, July–Nov. 1944 |
Box 1, Folder 5 |
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Letters from Theola Yackley, Dec. 1944 |
Box 1, Folder 6 |
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Letters from Theola Yackley, Jan. 1945 |
Box 1, Folder 7 |
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Letters from Theola Yackley, Feb.–March, 1945 |
Box 1, Folder 8 |
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Letters from Theola Yackley, April 1945 |
Box 1, Folder 9 |
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Letters from Theola Yackley, May 2–16, 1945 |
Box 1, Folder 10 |
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Letters from Theola Yackley, May 17–Oct. 29, 1945 |
Box 1, Folder 11 |
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Ray Yackley, letters received, June–Oct., 1943 |
Box 1, Folder 12 |
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Ray Yackley, letters received, May–Dec., 1944 |
Box 1, Folder 13 |
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Ray Yackley, letters received, Jan.–Sept., 1945 |
Box 1, Folder 14 |
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, Dec. 1943–Jan. 1944 |
Box 2, Folder 1 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, Feb.–March, 1944 |
Box 2, Folder 2 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, April–June, 1944 |
Box 2, Folder 3 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, July–Aug., 1944 |
Box 2, Folder 4 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, Sept.–Nov. 15, 1944 |
Box 2, Folder 5 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, Nov. 28–Dec. 14, 1944 |
Box 2, Folder 6 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, Dec. 18–27, 1944 |
Box 2, Folder 7 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, Jan.–March, 1945 |
Box 2, Folder 8 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, April 1945 |
Box 2, Folder 9 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, May–June 1945 |
Box 2, Folder 10 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, July–Aug. 1945 |
Box 2, Folder 11 |
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Letters from Ray Yackley, Sept.–Nov. 1945 |
Box 2, Folder 12 |
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Theola W. Yackley, letters received, Jan.–Dec. 1944 |
Box 1, Folder 13 |
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Theola W. Yackley, letters received, Jan.–Sept. 1945 |
Box 1, Folder 14 |
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Ray & Theola Yackley, greeting cards, correspondence, general notes, 1943–1945 |
Box 1, Folder 15 |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0730).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.