MS-247
BELL AND MINNICH FAMILY WORLD WAR II SCRAPBOOK COLLECTION
INTRODUCTION AND SCOPE AND CONTENT
Bell and Minnich Family World War II Scrapbook Collection was accessioned into the Piqua Public Library Archives and Special Collection on June 1, 2016 as the result of a donation by Mrs. Barbara Lemmer in the name of the Bell and Minnich families. The collection is housed in four Gaylord 21” x 17” x 3” boxes and five files (one scrapbook in each box). The collection is in a single series and covers the period from September 1, 1939 to September 12, 1945.
The scrapbooks were the work of Margaret Bell, a secretary at Magee Brothers Printing Company; Mary Elizabeth Bell Minnich; and George Minnich, who worked in Dayton and brought home many of the out of town newspapers. George and Mary Elizabeth Minnich were the parents of Barbara Minnich Lemmer. Margaret Bell and Mary Elizabeth Minnich were sisters. George Fisher, Director of Binding at Magee Brothers Printing, bound the scrapbooks at no charge to the family.
CONTAINER LIST
SERIES I: World War II Scrapbooks – 1941-1945
BOX 1
File
1 The Cincinnati Enquirer Headline History of Second World War – 50 actual reproductions of full front pages containing the mightiest news events of the war. Copyright 1945 – T. E. Von Zell.
2 High Lights of World War II, 1942 – a scrapbook collection of newspaper articles from the Dayton newspapers and the Piqua Daily Call. The articles date from the outbreak of the war in Europe on September 1, 1939 to December 31, 1942.
BOX 2
File
1 High Lights of World War II, 1943 – a scrapbook collection of newspaper articles from the Dayton newspapers and the Piqua Daily Call. The articles date from December 28, 1942 to December 25, 1943.
BOX 3
File
1 High Lights of World War II, 1944 – a scrapbook collection of newspaper articles from the Dayton newspapers and the Piqua Daily Call. The articles date from January 3, 1944 to December 29, 1944. This scrapbook is the most extensive of the four in its coverage of the war and the local people in the service. Of special interest is the coverage of Captain Don Gentile and his return to Piqua and the “Don Gentile Day” parade and activities. Also of special interest are the letters included in the scrapbook, especially those of Lt. Leo V. Weadock top Miss Margaret Bell.
BOX 4
File
1 High Lights of World War II, 1945 – a scrapbook collection of newspaper articles from the Dayton newspapers and the Piqua Daily Call. The articles date from January 2, 1945 to September 12, 1945. Of special interest are documents relating to the San Francisco Conference which formed the United Nations and articles on the dropping of the two Atomic Bombs. Also, there is extensive coverage of the end of the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific.