Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
World War II letters, 1945-1946.
MANUSCRIPT 2268-2269
Collection Overview

Title:

World War II letters, 1945-1946
Adolph F. Harpain World War II letters, 1945-1946

Creator/Contributor:

Harpain, Adolph F., 1921-, creator

Abstract:

This collection comprises 309 holograph letters, four photographs andsix photographic negatives exchanged between Adolph F. Harpain and Edna Mae Clark. Harpain's letters from 1945, beginning April 30th, were sent from training camps in Arizona and Illinois to Clark at her home in Cashion, Arizona. Letters written as a civilian, December 5th, 1945 through March 31st, 1946, were sent from Fresno, California. Clark's letters, June 25th, 1945 through December 17th, 1946, were sent from Cashion, Arizona to various addresses for Harpain. Some letters from Harpain are on stationery with Army Air Force insignia and cartoons or California poppy illustrations.
There is also a small group of twelve letters addressed to Clark from other correspondents during this period. Included are letters from Carl Arnold, Bert Clark (father), Faye Clark (sister), Lulu Clark (mother), Jimmy Dowd, Betty June Harpain (sister), Ann Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. J.Rowe, and Charles Young.
These letters document a World War II romance and courtship, complete with a happy ending when Adolph and Edna marry in 1946. Also of interest are details of life on the home front in small towns in Arizona and California.

Date:

1945 (issued)

Contents:

Box 2268: Harpain letters. -- Box 2269: Clark letters and other correspondence.

Subject:

n-us--- -- n-us-ca -- n-us-az
Harpain, Adolph F -- 1921- -- Correspondence
Clark, Edna Mae -- 1925- -- Correspondence
Airmen -- California -- Correspondence
World War, 1939-1945 -- Women -- United States -- Correspondence
World War, 1939-1945 -- Social aspects -- United States

Note:

Adolph F. Harpain was born in 1921 and spent his youth in Fresno, California, where his family farmed and kept a dairy. In 1945, Harpain began training with the Army Air Force 3011th Bomb Unit as a propeller mechanic on B-17 and B-24 bombers. The war ended before he could be assigned overseas and he returned to Fresno after his discharge in December and resumed life on the family farm.
Edna Mae Clark was born in Shallowater, Texas in 1925. She attended school in Hollis, Oklahoma and lived as an adult in Cashion, Arizona, where her father was a businessman. She worked in his various businesses which included a bar, a gas station and a grocery store. Edna and Adolph were married in February of 1946 and lived in Fresno until relocating to Eloy, Arizona in 1948.
Adolph F. Harpain World War II letters, 1945-1946.
Finding aid available and a calendar accompanies each folder.

Type:

biography

Physical Description:

print
ca. 321 items : ports

Language:

English

Identifier:

MANUSCRIPT 2268-2269

Origin:

California