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Herbert A. Russell, Jr. Collection

 Collection
Identifier: DC0246s

Scope and Contents

During World War II, Herbert Russell kept a scrapbook of his adventures with the Chapel Hour Concert Unit and his movement with the Chaplain's Office. The scrapbook contains photographs, brochures, and a brief history of this "military" unit. This scrapbook contains a nice notecard entitled "Greetings to a Man in the Service of our Country" that has an American Eagle on the front of it. On March 26, 1964, Herbert A. Russell celebrated his 50th birthday. In honor of his friends and loved ones, Russell had a party in is office in the Music Office of the Cunningham Fine Arts Building. He served pink champagne, iced punch and cookies. He collected all the birthday cards that he had received and placed them in a scrapbook which is included in the collection. The collection of cards is quite diverse and includes notes from then President D. Grier Martin. On his 65th birthday, Russell also held a birthday party for himself. Photographs from this event are included in the file folder marked "Photographs from 65th Birthday Celebration." In the file folder marked "Miscellaneous," one can find a tribute to Herbert Russell that was taken from the Davidson Update on May-June, 1979. This folder also contains a photograph of the seven-man Barksdale Chapel Hour Unit which included Herbert Russell as well as an invitation from the Chapel Hour Unit to the Nurses Unit. There is also a copy of an extremely moving letter written by Hebert Russell's mother to her son as he prepares to leave for war. In the file folder marked "Newspapers -- World War II," you will find copies of newspapers from 1944-1945 including an article entitled "It's Over!"

Dates

  • Creation: 1944 - 1979

Creator

Biographical / Historical

Herbert A. Russell, Jr. served in the armed forces during World War II as a musician in the Chapel Hour Concert Unit. This unit was a division of the Chaplains' Office and the majority of its activities were on Drew Field in Tampa, Florida and on Barksdale Field in Shreveport, Louisiana. In addition to being a member of this musical group, Russell also played the organ for many military weddings and assited in religious services. After the war, Russell entered Davidson College as a junior. He graduated from Davidson in 1951 with a major in music and started to work in the music department under Dr. James Christian Pfohl in 1952. He continued to work in the music department until he retired in June of 1979. On his 50th birthday, Herbert Russell threw himself a party, announcing his half-a-century with pink champagne and "deepest gratitutde to Almighty God." And, on his 65th birthday, Russell threw himself yet another party!

Extent

3 folders (3 folders + 2 scrapbooks)

Language

English

Physical Location

D2.10

Mapstand C-5

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Russell, Herbert A., Jr. '51

Processing Information

Processed on 05/09/1997

Title
Herbert A. Russell, Jr. Collection
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscript Collections Repository