Our second installment of Archival Encounters is a three-part episode on World War II, in which we’re chronicling the American experience of the war through the oral histories of six veterans from Northwest Ohio, including John Andryc of Rossford, John Damman of Napoleon, Gordon Domeck of Wauseon, Allie Schrader of Belle Center, Pete Simon of Custar, and Jim Spencer of Bowling Green. These oral histories are part of the CAC’s larger collection of over one hundred World War II veteran oral histories that were collected by BGSU students in the early 2000s for History 303, a course on World War II taught at the time by Assistant Professor Walter Grunden and doctoral candidate Kathren Brown in the BGSU Department of History.

In this three-part episode, Dr. Grunden, now a full Professor in the BGSU Department of History, serves as our expert historical guide as we follow our six Northwest Ohio veterans’ firsthand accounts of their World War II service. Along the way, we’ll situate our veterans’ narratives within the larger context of the war, and we’ll learn how our veterans’ wartime contributions are both unique and also reflective of the experiences of millions of ordinary Americans who served in the global fight against fascism that would define the twentieth century.

Episode transcript available on the CAC's Archival Encounters webpage.

Episode Credits

In our first episode of Archival Encounters, we feature an oral history interview recorded in the 1980s with Toledo pharmacist and activist Ella P. Stewart, and speak with Dr. Shirley Green, adjunct instructor in the BGSU Department of History, about Stewart's life and legacy. One of the first professional Black female pharmacists in the United States, Stewart operated a neighborhood pharmacy that was a central fixture of Black life in Toledo during the early and mid-twentieth century. Throughout and beyond her pharmacy career, Stewart was also a recognized leader in civil and women's rights activism at the local, national, and international levels and served in prominent roles in numerous advocacy organizations, including as president of the Ohio Association of Colored Women and the National Association of Colored Women, and as vice president of the Pan-Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association.

Episode transcript available on the CAC's Archival Encounters webpage (https://www.bgsu.edu/library/cac/events-and-programs/podcast.html).

Episode Credits