MS 493 - A. Lowell Randall Collection
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Title | MS 493 - A. Lowell Randall Collection |
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Introduction | The A. Lowell Randall correspondence collection was donated by the author on June 1, 1987. The collection is comprised of about 250 letters written while Mr. Randall served in World War II. There are no restrictions on the use of this collection. An interview with the author was conducted on October 6, 1988, in conjunction with the preparation of this register. This finding aid was prepared by April S. Dougal, Graduate Assistant in Public History at Bowling Green State University, in October 1988, and updated in March, 1990. |
Biographical Sketch | A. Lowell Randall was born on November 18, 1912 in Marysville, Ohio, the son of Albert K. Randall and Elizabeth Brooks Montgomery Randall. Lowell has five siblings: Lucille, the oldest; Isabell, now deceased; Ellen Conkwrite; and Bob, who are both younger than Mr. Randall. Dorothy L. Avery, his wife, was born October 30, 1914, in Bowling Green, Ohio. They were married on April 29, 1934 in Marysville, Ohio, where his grandparents resided. The couple put each other through college. Dorothy, known as "Dotty," attended the Mayo Clinic College of Physical Therapy while he worked to support them. Lowell attended Columbia Junior College in Tacoma, Maryland for his pre-medical education, and the Ohio College of Chiropody in Cleveland for 4 years while Dotty worked. The couple was residing in Cleveland when the United States entered World War II, and it was there that Mr. Randall enlisted. His letters span the period of his service, from July 1942 to October 1945. During that time he was stationed in Indiana; New York; Algiers, North Africa; Naples, Italy; and Okinawa, Japan. After his service, Mr. Randall returned to Bowling Green, where he opened a private podiatry practice. Mrs. Randall helped create the physical therapy department at the Wood County Hospital. The couple has four children: Albert, now living in Cleveland, Ohio; John, in Bowling Green, Ohio; Tom, in Indianapolis, Indiana; and Victoria Lee, in Atlanta, Georgia. Albert Randall's letters home from his Army service are also included in the collection. Al served in the Army from 1967 to 1969 in the United States and Germany. John Randall's letters home from Army service are also incorporated into his father's collection. He served in the United States and Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. As of October 1988, Mr. and Mrs. A. Lowell Randall are retired and live in Bowling Green, Ohio. |
Scope and Content | This collection is comprised of about 250 letters written by A. Lowell Randall from July 14, 1942 to October 18, 1945 while he served in the United States Army in World War II. All the letters are directed to Mr. Randall's mother, Bessie Brooks Montgomery (Randall) Unkart, at her bakery in Bowling Green, Ohio. Mrs. Unkart owned and operated the bakery after Albert K. Randall, her first husband, died in 1934. With the exception of a gap from August 1942 to July 1944 the letters run almost daily. They provide information on Mr. Randall's daily activities while stationed at Camps Harrison and Atterbury, in Indiana. The gap in chronology appears when he moves from Atterbury to Camp Shanks, in New York, and continues while he is in Algiers, North Africa until his arrival in Naples, Italy. The letters recommence, with a second, minor gap from August 9-23, 1945 while he was in transit from Naples to Okinawa. In his capacity as a podiatrist, Mr. Randall was part of the Army's support services. His letters indicate the intermittent times of activity and intervening stretches of boredom and inactivity. The generality of most of the letters also provides some indication of the impact of censorship, especially in comparison to the more informative, opinionated letters written in Okinawa, Japan without censorship. Physically, the letters are very legible, despite the fact that some were photographically reproduced and reduced in the form of V-Mail. The research historian will find in these letters a source of vast amounts of information on the daily activities of a support serviceman, including the breadth of diversions available to him during inactive periods and leave time. The letters also give an indication of Mr. Randall's impression of the home front from his perspective overseas, and of his interaction with native Italians. Mr. Randall's correspondence with his mother also inadvertently presents information on her bakery in Bowling Green, specifically regarding the difficulties and changes she made as a result of the war. This information may prove interesting and valuable to the Women's Studies historian. |
Series Description | CORRESPONDENCE A. LOWELL RANDALL CORRESPONDENCE. ELIZABETH B. MONTGOMERY (RANDALL) UNKART FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE. DOROTHY L. (AVERY) RANDALL CORRESPONDENCE. JOHN M. RANDALL CORRESPONDENCE. ALBERT K. RANDALL CORRESPONDENCE. PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL A. LOWELL RANDALL PHOTOGRAPHS. LITERARY PRODUCTIONS NATIONAL REFERENCE LIBRARY PUBLICATIONS. |
Inventory | Box 1 Folders
Box 2 Folders
Box 3 Folders
Box 4 Folders
PHOTOS Box 4, Folder 7 Negative No.; Caption1.) Naples, Dec 26, 1944. Box 4, Folder 8 31.) Vergil's Tomb Naples, Italy 1944. Box 4, Folder 9 61.) Mike Sargonnetz Okinawa, 1945. Box 4, Folder 10 94.) The ones that won't come back! Italy, 1944. Box 4, Folder 11 124.) Myself (Lowell Randall) on Capri - (San Michele) Italy - May 1945. Box 4, Folder 12 154.) "The War and Register" Major John Francis Register, M.C. Italy, 1944. Box 4, Folder 13 188.) Headquarters tent on Okinawa (118 S.H.) with transportation orders back to U.S. shown on bulletin board. October 1945. Box 4, Folder 14 218.) This is a good picture of Major Register. Naples, Italy, 1943. Box 4, Folder 15 248.) Philip Croll. Naples, Italy. LITERARY PRODUCTIONS Box 4, Folder 16 "Friendly Speeches" Box 4, Folder 17 "Little Stories" Box 4, Folder 18 "Punch Lines for Every Purpose" |