Finding aid to the Wilna and Robert Onthank papers, circa 1910-1995 Coll2015-024
Loni Shibuyama and Helen Ly
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
(c) 2016
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
askone@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Wilna and Robert Onthank papers
creator:
Onthank, Wilna J., 1921-2004
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2015-024
Physical Description:
0.6 Linear Feet
2 boxes.
Date (inclusive): circa 1910-1995
Abstract: Manuscripts, photographs, correspondence and other papers, circa 1910-1995, of Wilna Onthank, who in 1994 wrote
Born Gay, an unpublished book based on the diaries of her brother Robert Onthank, a gay World War II veteran.
Biography
Wilna Jane Onthank was born December 11, 1921 to Fred R. and Grace E. Onthank. She was raised in the middle-class suburbs
of Chicago until the Depression forced the Onthank family to travel west. Wilna attended high school in Glendale and then
majored in commercial art at Frank Wiggins Trade School, now known as Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Wilna was the first
woman employed in the Technical Illustration Department at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California.
Wilna joined the WWII war effort by enlisting with the Navy Waves and attended the Chicago School of Aircraft Instruments.
She was later stationed in San Diego and Hawaii. After being discharged from the Navy, Wilna received her bachelor's degree
and acquired teaching credentials at the Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood. Converting to Catholicism, she completed novitiate
with the Immaculate Heart Sister, then joined the staff at Immaculate Heart College, where she taught alongside Sister Corita
Kent and Sister Magdalen Mary, the head of the Art Department.
In 1955 she enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles, and received a master's degree in painting. For 12 years,
she was Artist Illustrator and Assistant Supervisor for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory while privately selling her own artwork.
She then moved to Desert Hot Springs and opened her own art gallery, Potter's Point.
Wilna's older brother, Robert Milton Onthank, was born on October 29, 1915. He served in the military and trained in aerial
navigation, becoming an airspace captain, and then a PAD sales training supervisor who in 1955 was noted for achievements
in the technical training phase at major Pacific stations. In 1948, he wrote about his military experience as a closeted gay
man. On August 31, 1957, Robert committed suicide at the age of 42.
In the 1990s, 37 years after her brother's death, Wilna sought to get her brother's writings published, a decision based on
political issues regarding gays in the military.
Wilna began her retirement in Mesa, Arizona, then moved to Hemet, California. Wilna passed away July 18, 2004 and is interred
at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, where her brother also lays.
Source:
Box 1, Folder 4-6, Wilna and Robert Onthank Papers, Coll2015-024, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC 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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Riley Black, June 4, 2010.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Wilna and Robert Onthank Papers, Coll2015-024, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Loni Shibuyama with assistance from Helen Ly, January 2016.
Scope and Contents
This collection comprises manuscripts, photographs, correspondence and other papers, circa 1910-1995, of Wilna Onthank, who
in 1994 wrote
Born Gay, an unpublished book based on the diaries of her brother Robert Onthank, a gay World War II veteran. The collection includes
family photographs, particularly of Wilna and Robert as children growing up in Chicago, Illinois, and later in Southern California.
The collection also includes a biographical leaflet about Wilna, created by Joan Corbin and Joan's partner Gingere Blakely.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically.
Related Materials
Joan Corbin Papers, Coll2013-012, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California, Southern -- Photographs
Cook County (Ill.) -- Photographs
Gays in the military -- United States
Manuscripts
World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives
Onthank, Wilna J., 1921-2004
Onthank, Robert M., 1915-1957
Box 1, Folder 1
Born Gay corrected copy
1994
Box 1, Folder 4
Born Gay correspondence and excerpts
1994
Box 1, Folder 2-3
Born Gay manuscript
undated
Box 1, Folder 5
Onthank, Robert papers
1955-1957
Box 1, Folder 6
Onthank, Wilna papers
circa 1975-1995
Box 1, Folder 7
Other correspondence and clipping
circa 1910-1960
Box 2
Photographs
circa 1910-1995
Scope and Contents
366 photographs, mostly circa 1915-1960. Included are photographs of Wilna and Robert Onthank and several unidentified individuals
presumed to be family members. The bulk of the photographs were taken in Cook County, Illinois or Southern California, and
several photographs include people in military uniforms during World War II.
