Joseph K. Pettengill collection

Collection — Container: 05.0030 - Box 1

Identifier: 05.0030

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Joseph K. Pettengill Collection was donated to Florida State University by Robert Sherman Pettengill in 2005, having discovered his father’s letters after retiring in 1999. The centerpiece of the Pettengill Collection is a series of letters from Joseph Pettengill, an army clerk with the G-3 Section of the 6th Army Group, Hq Special Troops in the ETO, to his mother and wife throughout his time serving in the United States Army in World War II. In total, the collection contains 263 pieces of correspondence, primarily letters but also telegrams and v-mail, between Pettengill and various family members, amounting to 590 pages. Also included were Pettengill’s military records, a variety of photographs taken during his training and in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), most notably Paris, patches and ribbons, Sad Sack cartoons, several issues of Stars and Stripes, original road maps of France and Germany, postcards, insignia, and two voice recordings on vinyl. Taken as a whole, the Pettengill Collection provides tremendous insights into the daily life and experiences of a non-combat American soldier serving in the European Theater.

Dates

Created: 1944-1945
Other: Date acquired: 02/11/2005

Creator

Pettengill, Joseph K. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Joseph Kilburn Pettengill, Jr., was born December 24, 1911 in Mount Vernon, New York to Joseph Kilburn Pettengill, Sr., and Francis Sherman Pettengill. Prior to being inducted into the Army, Pettengill, Jr., worked for a Nash-Kelvinator defense plant in Lansing, Michigan that specialized in the production of Aircraft propellers. Having received basic training at Fort Sheridan and Fort McClellan, Pettengill was transferred to Fort Meade in Washington D.C. for advanced training. Upon completion of his training, he was shipped across the Atlantic to southern Italy where he became permanently assigned to the Hq Special Troops of the Sixth Army Group, specifically the G-3 Section that handled operations and plans, as a clerk. He would follow Sixth Army Group through France and then into Germany before being discharged from the Army on December 20, 1945. At the time of his death on June 6, 1964 he was Chief of Quality Assurance Engineering Branch, Quality Assurance Div., Detroit Procurement District, United States Army.

Extent

1.00 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Arrangement Note

Organized chronologically into twenty-three folders.

Custodial History

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Source of Acquisition

Robert S. Pettengill

Method of Acquisition

The Joseph K. Pettengill Collection was donated by his son, Robert S. Pettengill.

Processing Information

Revised 02/09/2016 by MK. Processed in 2005.

Subjects

Alexander, Harold, 1891-1969
Allied Forces--Headquarters--History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Ann Arbor (Mich.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Archbishop of Canterbury (Geoffrey Francis Fisher), 1887-1972
Basic training Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Birmingham (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Black Market Subject Source: Local sources
Black market--Europe Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Black market--France Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Black market--France--History--20th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Bournemouth (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Bristol (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Camp Patrick Henry (Va.) Subject Source: Local sources
Canterbury (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Cardiff (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Caserta (Italy) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Censorship Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Choccolocco (Ala.) Subject Source: Local sources
Christmas cards. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Christmas. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965
Courtship. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Darmstadt (Germany) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
De Gaulle, Charles, 1890-1970
Edinburgh (Scotland) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
European history Subject Source: Local sources
Fort George G. Meade (Md.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Fort McClellan (Ala.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Fort Sheridan (Ill.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
G-3 Army Operations and Plans (U.S.) Subject Source: Local sources
Glasgow (Scotland) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Heidelberg (Germany) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Hq Special Troops Subject Source: Local sources
Jeanne d'Arc, Saint, 1412-1431
Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431.
Kaiserslautern (Germany) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Lansing (Michigan) Subject Source: Local sources
Lansing Region (Mich.)--History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Liverpool (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
London (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Lyon (France) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Marriage. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Montgomery, Bernard Law, Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, 1887-1976
Naples (Italy) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Nash-Kelvinator Corporation Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Ogbourne St. George (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Paris (France) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Paris (France)--Description and travel Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Pettengill, Francis Sherman
Pettengill, Joseph K., 1911-1964
Pettengill, Joseph K., Sr.
Pettengill, Marguerite
Plymouth (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
RMS Queen Mary 2 (Ship) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Rations Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
SHAEF Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Shrivenham (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Sienna (Italy) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Sixth Army Group (Allied Forces) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Southampton (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
St. Tropez (France) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Stars and stripes Subject Source: Local sources
Strasbourg (France) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Swansea (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Swindon (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Talladega County (Ala.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Tidworth (England) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
U.S. Army Clerk School Subject Source: Local sources
U.S. history Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
U.S.O. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
United Service Organizations (U.S.)
United States. Army. European Theater of Operations
V-E Day, 1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Versailles (France) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Vittel (France) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Vosges (France) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
War and society--Europe--History--20th century. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
War and society--France--History--20th century. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
War and society--Germany--Worms--History--20th century. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
War and society--United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
War and society. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Worms (Germany) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings