Collection #

M 0914
CT 2026–2058

 

 

Frank Dillman
collection, 1911–1973

Collection Information

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Series Contents

Cataloging Information

 

 

 

Processed by

Paul Brockman
July 2007

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

 

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF
COLLECTION:

Manuscript Materials: 2 document cases; 1 oversize folder;
33 audio cassette tapes
Visual Materials: 1 box of photographs

COLLECTION
DATES:

1911–1973; bulk 1917–1919

PROVENANCE:

Wayne Sanford, Indianapolis, Indiana, November 2006

RESTRICTIONS:

None

COPYRIGHT:

 

REPRODUCTION
RIGHTS:

Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.

ALTERNATE
FORMATS:

 

RELATED
HOLDINGS:

Perry W. Lesh, M 0926

ACCESSION
NUMBER:

2006.0504

NOTES:

 

BIOGRAPHiCAL SKETCH

Frank Dillman (1897–1993) was born in Newbern, Indiana and enlisted in the U.S Army in May, 1917.  He served as a member of Company L of the 64th Infantry Division in Texas and part of the 7th Division in France (September 1918–May 1919).  He later worked for the Chrysler Company in New Castle, Indiana from 1934–1965.  Dillman married Catherine Stoops of New Castle in 1923 and they had one daughter, Jane.

 

Sources:

Information in collection

 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection contains Frank Dillman’s World War I original letters and with transcripts and an extensive interview with him conducted by Wayne L. Sanford primarily regarding the same period. 

The bulk of the of  the letters were written by Dillman to his family in Columbus, Indiana while serving in the U. S. Army in Texas, France, and Germany during and after World War I, March 1917–May 1919.  There also are transcripts of the letters intermingled chronologically with transcripts of a diary Dillman kept during the same period.  Dillman writes from Fort Bliss and Presidio, Texas and tells of training, camp life, contracting scarlet fever and border skirmishes with the Mexican Army.  In September 1918 Dillman and his division were shipped overseas to France where they became part of the 7th Division.  While assigned as support near the front and trained to deal in such areas as a poison gas attack, Dillman’s unit did not participate in actual combat.  Dillman and his unit served in the occupation army in France.

The collection also contains an extensive oral history conducted with Frank Dillman by Wayne L. Sanford in 1981.  The interview consists of thirty-three cassette tapes and three volumes of transcripts focusing primarily on his military service experiences, 1917–1919.

Visual materials in the collection include copies of photographs reproduced for the transcribed version of the diaries and letters and original postcards with messages sent by Dillman to family and friends in the United States, 1917–1919.

series CONTENTS

Series 1: Correspondence and Papers, 1911–1973

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Correspondence, March–June 1917

Box 1, Folder 1

Correspondence, July–August 1917

Box 1, Folder 2

Correspondence, September–October 1917

Box 1, Folder 3

Correspondence, November–December 1917

Box 1, Folder 4

Correspondence, January–February 1918

Box 1, Folder 5

Correspondence, March–April 1918

Box 1, Folder 6

Correspondence, May–June 1918

Box 1, Folder 7

Correspondence, July–August 1918

Box 1, Folder 8

Correspondence, November 1918–May 1919

Box 1, Folder 9

Blueprint Map of Texas and Mexico, 1916

Oversized Manuscripts: Folder 1, Flat File 21-a

Correspondence, 1920–24

Box 1, Folder 10

Correspondence, 1963–73

Box 1, Folder 11

Soldier’s Pay Book, 1918–1919

Box 1, Folder 12

Notebook, 1911

Box 1, Folder 13

Series 2: Annotated Transcripts of Diaries and Letters, March 1917–June 1919

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Diaries and Letters, March–July 1917

Box 1, Folder 14

Diaries and Letters, July–November 1917

Box 1, Folder 15

Diaries and Letters, December 1917–February 1918

Box 1, Folder 16

Diaries and Letters, March–May 1918

Box 1, Folder 17

Diaries and Letters, June–August 1918

Box 1, Folder 18

Diaries and Letters, September–December 1918

Box 1, Folder 19

Diaries and Letters, January–May 1919

Box 2, Folder 1

Diaries and Letters, June 1919; Appendix to 1917

Box 2, Folder 2

Diaries and Letters, Appendices, 1918–1919

Box 2, Folder 3

Series 3: Oral History Interview and Transcripts, 1981

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Interview Transcript, 1917

Box 2, Folder 4

Interview Transcript, 1918

Box 2, Folder 5

Interview Transcript, 1919

Box 2 Folder 6

Oral History Interview Tapes (Numbers 1–33)

CT 2026–2058

Series 4: Photographs, 1917–1919

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Photographs (copies), 1917–19 (1 of 2)

Photographs,
Box 1, Folder 1

Photographs (copies), 1917–19 (of 2)

Photographs,
Box 1, Folder 2

Postcards, 1917

Photographs,
Box 1, Folder 3

Postcards, 1918

Photographs,
Box 1, Folder 4

Postcards, 1919

Photographs,
Box 1, Folder 5

Postcards, n.d.

Photographs,
Box 1, Folder 6

Sections of Panoramic Unit Photograph (copy), 1918

Photographs,
Box 1, Folder 7

cATALOGING INFORMATION

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 0914).

5.      When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.