Oregon State Yank Newsletters, 1943-1945

Title: Oregon State Yank Newsletters, 1943-1945

ID: PUB 010-15c

Primary Creator: Sewell, Elaine K.

Extent: 0.05 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Oregon State Yank Newsletters consist of 8 publications edited and published by two Oregon State College graduates for Oregon State alumni in military service during World War II.

Items from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

The Oregon State Yank was edited and published by Oregon State College alumnae, Elaine Kollins Sewell and Jane Steagall, to share news of service activities of alumni serving in World War II and provide campus news to alumni.  Most of the news in the publication was drawn from correspondence received by the editors from training camps in the U.S. and fighting fronts around the world.  The initial Yank was published in November 1943.  Seven subsequent issues were published from May 1944 through November 1945.  All issues are available online in the Oregon State Yank set in Oregon Digital.

The November 1943 issue was only 4 pages and intended as a one-time publication.

The May 1944 issue announced that the Yank had become a quarterly paper. It expanded to 8 pages and included columns and articles by Jean Floyd Henniger, Marion Kierzek, Jeanne Hartman Popovich, Elaine Roberts Ramsdell, and Penny Bronner Robinson. The August 1944 edition included a column by John C. Burtner, "Observations from the Campus". Fred Shideler assumed responsibility for the campus news column under a new title, "From the OSC Front Lines" with the November 1944 issue. The Yank grew to 16 pages with this issue, which also included greetings from Oregon State College (OSC) President A.L. Strand and former OSC President George W. Peavy.

The February 1945 issue included a front-page article by Fred M. Shideler describing how OSC would assist returning veterans. The May 1945 Yank described the Yank Weekend which was held in lieu of Homecoming in February. The August 1945 issue celebrated victory in Europe and was dedicated to Oregon State Yanks in the Pacific.

The farewell issue of the Yank was published in November 1945 as a Christmas-Victory issue with information about post-war services available at Oregon State for returning veterans and a "Roll of Honor" listing the 234 Oregon State alumni who were killed during World War II.

Elaine Kollins Sewell and Jane Steagall, Oregon State College alumnae, published the first Yank in November 1943 as a 4-page newspaper-style Christmas greeting with news and gossip about Oregon State College men and women serving in World War II. They received many letters praising the publication and asking for more. It was expanded to 16 pages and published quarterly from February 1944 to November 1945.

Elaine Kollins graduated from Oregon State College in 1940 with a degree in Home Economics and was actively involved with student publications at Oregon State. She later married architect A. Quincy Jones and was a highly respected public relations counselor and communications specialist in southern California. She died in Los Angeles in 2010.

Jane Steagall graduated from Oregon State college in 1941 with a degree in Secretarial Science.

More Extent Information: 1 oversize box

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: The newsletters were received by the University Archives in the 1960s or 1970s.

Related Materials:

The Oregon State Yank Collection (MSS Yank) consists of correspondence received by the Yank editors from alumni serving in the military with reports of their service activities, family news, and news of other alumni. Additional information about the war activities of Oregon State alumni and faculty is available in the Oregon State College History of World War II Project Records (MSS OSCWW2). Another set of the Yank is available in the History of the Pacific Northwest Rare Book Collection (RB HistPNW). Microfilm of the newsletters is available with other microfilmed student publications in the Center's microfilm holdings.

See also: The Oregon Stae Yank Newsletters Digital Collection, keyword searchable and available in full.

Preferred Citation: Oregon State Yank Newsletters (PUB 010-15c), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online. SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. Since culturally acceptable terminology shifts over time, some of the terms that appear in these materials are currently outdated or offensive.

The term “gypsy” is considered derogatory by many Roma people. It comes from the word “Egyptian,” where many Europeans mistakenly believed the Romani came from. In 1971, at the First World Roma Congress, a majority of attendees voted to reject the use of the term “gypsy,” however some still use it to self-identify. In the U.S., “gypsy” has also come to signify a free-spirited person, or someone who moves from one place to another without settling down. This use references the traditional migratory lifestyle historically practiced by Roma. In this collection, “gypsy” is used as an adjective in this manner. There are no references to this term in the finding aid, but it does appear in materials that have been scanned and uploaded to Oregon Digital.

Futhermore, the authors use slurs against Japanese people as part of their discussion of WWII. Please be aware that some of the language in these publications may be disturbing or activating.

In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the original wording. We acknowledge the racism it represents and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein. For more information, please see our blog post.

[Date of Acknowledgement: November 2024]

Sewell, Elaine K.
Burtner, John C. (John Cole) (1895-)
Shideler, Fred Merle
Steagall, Jane

Oregon State College--Alumni and alumnae--Periodicals.
University History
World War, 1939-1945--Journalists.
World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Female.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.
World War, 1939-1945--War work--Schools.
World War, 1939-1945--Women.