Finding Aid for the Arthur E. Sipherd First World War collection 2018.138.w.r
Andrew Harman
Center for American War Letters Archives
9/24/2018
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Arthur E. Sipherd First World collection
source:
Sipherd née Meadows, Mary Lou, Mrs.
Creator:
Sipherd, Arthur Eiker, Private, 1901-1967
Identifier/Call Number: 2018.138.w.r
Physical Description:
3 Linear feet
(1 oversize box, 1 folder)
Date (inclusive): 1918 - 1920 December 20
Abstract: This collections contains a uniform, a diary, correspondence, and French postcards belonging to Pvt. Arthur E. Sipherd, USA
during and after the First World War.
Condition Description: All buttons and buckles accounted for on the uniform. The ribbons and dog tags are pinned to the uniform.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWI 5
Container: 30
Container: 1
Container: WWI Uniforms 1
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mary Lou Meadows Sipherd on behalf of the Arthur E. Sipherd family.
This collection is arranged by material type.
Private Arthur E. Sipherd, United States Army (2/28/1901 - 5/1/1967) was born in Grand River, Iowa and enlisted in the Army
on April 13, 1918 in Des Moines and served in France as an ambulance driver and a cook. He was honorably discharged on June
14, 1919.
He married Margaret Mills Sipherd on August 8, 1922 and had two sons; Arthur Jr. and Merrill Dean Sipherd. They moved to
Long Beach, California around 1927 and then to Orange, CA in 1930 in a house that his father Webb Sipherd had built at 183
N. Waverly St. He began his own company, Sipherd and Son Insurance Agency and retired leaving the business to his son who
ran it until 1965. He was an active member of the Orange community and his daughter-in-law, the donor of the collection Mary
Lou Meadows Sipherd, attended Orange Union High School when its campus was in the location that Chapman University currently
resides.
Arthur Sipherd passed away in May, 1967 in Hemet, CA.
Related resource note: Pvt. Sipherd was the uncle of Margaret Disbennett (2017-014-w-r).
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Arthur E. Sipherd First World War uniform, diary, correspondence and postcards
(2018.138.w.r), Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection contains one uniform belonging to Pvt. Arthur E. Sipherd, USA during the First World War. The uniform includes
jacket, pants and belt, ribbons and dog tags, as well as two bundles of green fabric and a bundle of white dressing fabric.
The ribbons and dogtags are pinned to the jacket, as well as a large black "A" patch on the left arm signifying the 1st Army.
The ribbons on the jacket include: one World War I Victory Medal, with three bronze stars, one Interallied ribbon (the multi-colored
ribbon with black in the middle), one Veterans of Foreign Wars ribbon, and one unidentified ribbon that resembles the French
flag.
The collection also includes Pvt. Sipherd's diary, photocopied, which includes recipes, discharge papers, and copies of correspondence.
The correspondence includes a letter to his mother, and one postcard from a fellow soldier two years after the war. The collection
also contains a French postcard collection.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Correspondence -- World War, 1914-1918
World War (1914-1918)
World War (1914-1918) -- France
Postcards.
Sipherd née Meadows, Mary Lou, Mrs.