Memorial Book Project Transforms Names Into Real People

By Lauren Brown
Originally Published in Between the Columns - Oct. 7, 2009

"Jack Robert Amass" is one of the 200 names listed in hand-painted calligraphy in the university's Memorial Book. Dedicated in 1961, the volume lists students and alumni who were killed in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.

Amass was more than a name, of course. After graduating with an education degree in 1943, he began a work-study program in metallurgy at Revere Brass and Copper in Baltimore to help the war effort. His draft deferment was pulled in June 1944, and by December, Amos was sent overseas as an infantryman to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. He was killed one month later.

A new undergraduate internship launched by University Archives and Memorial Chapel aims to collect the stories of all veterans named in the book.

Three students this fall have begun poring over old yearbooks, Alumni News issues and news clippings, traveling to libraries and calling survivors to piece together these veterans' pasts. They and future interns will compile biographies over the next few years, which along with the trove of documents, photos, letters and even audio files they unearth will be part of a digitized, interactive version of the Memorial Book, says Jason Speck MLS '09, a university librarian and assistant university archivist. See the current digitized version of the Memorial Book.

"This changes the focus from the book to the people in the book," says Speck, who is spearheading the project with chapel coordinator Megan Miller. "It's not just the physical artifact that deserves attention, but the names in the book that make such a volume necessary."

A Delicate, Impressive Artifact

University Archivist Anne Turkos with the original Memorial Book. It's now also part of Maryland's digital archives.

The 14-by-11-inch book features the handicraft of White House calligrapher and 1943 alumnus William Tolley, who wrote three names per page, in alphabetical order. It was kept and periodically displayed in Memorial Chapel, built in 1952 to honor Maryland students, alumni, faculty and staff who died in service to the country.

The vast majority of names in the memorial are from World War II. Determining how the 209 veterans were selected for inclusion in the book, and whether any veterans from that period were omitted, is one of Speck's long-term goals.

Other concerns: The book was never updated, nor were any mistakes in spelling, degree or graduation year corrected. And environmental concerns limited the book's accessibility; in 2002, Memorial Chapel officials asked the book to be put in storage to prevent damage from dust and light to its pages. It is available for viewing during the research hours at Hornbake Library. It "gets to go out and mingle," as Speck puts it, one day a year now, behind Plexiglass on a stand in Memorial Chapel before and after its Veterans Day services. See below for information on Veterans Day activities.

Making the book more accessible to the public is a primary goal of the new project; Speck and Miller hope that putting the biographies online will cause more people to learn about the veterans, as well as that portion of the university's history. Perhaps they'll even want to contribute more information than what the interns discover.

Students Kelly MacBride-Gill and Whitney Joseph (above) are researching names in the Memorial Book along with student Kacie Gauthier. Audio: Kelly and Whitney talk about their research. Download mp3 version

"It's something we've wanted to do for a long time," Miller says of the project, but it was difficult to get started without funding. Then, she says, "we realized we should utilize the talents of our undergraduates."

This semester, sophomore Whitney Joseph and seniors Kelly MacBride-Gill and Kacie Gauthier were given six to nine names apiece, depending on the number of credits in their internship.

Gauthier, an American studies major, says she jumped at the opportunity: Most of her adult relatives, including her father, sister, brother-in-law and both grandfathers, have served or are serving in the military. She's since gotten a crash course in old-fashioned public records sleuthing on behalf of her first assigned name, John H. Bennett '44, an Army private who was killed in Germany in November 1944. She scanned old yearbook photos and called newspapers in his hometown of York, Pa., in a fruitless search for old articles about him before hitting pay dirt with the local historical trust. She's headed there this month to get copies of his file, even as she continues seeking information on her other veterans.

"I want to know what they're like," she says. "They're like my friends in a weird way."

When she can't find any records easily, she turns to Speck for direction. He says that during wartime, recordkeeping wasn't the highest priority. Human resources and supplies around the country had to be diverted elsewhere, and that's why bound volumes from the 1940s in libraries' archives are markedly thinner, why documents' paper quality is so poor, and why records have errors or are missing altogether.

As an anthropology major, MacBride-Gill says she's used to the idea of mining information from as many sources as possible. Individual research is new, but she says she's enjoying learning about the veterans and the university's past.

Her most intriguing find so far has been of a moving letter written in March 1943 by alumnus William H. England Jr., about his visit to the grave marker at Guadalcanal of one of the veterans in the Memorial Book. Football star Richard "Dick" Alexander was drafted by the Marines in his sophomore year and died on Sept. 11, 1942. In the letter to his father, who sent it to Alumni News, then-Cpl. England wrote, "The boy was one of the greatest fellows that one could ever meet and a great athlete, starring in football and track at school. His buddies had his name and a nice tribute inscribed on an AA shell beside his grave."

"Whenever I've gotten to know the history of the University of Maryland, it's always been really interesting and rewarding," MacBride-Gill says.

Memorial Service Event

The university will honor its veterans community of faculty, staff and students with its annual Veterans Day Memorial Service on Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Chapel. Watch a video of the program. Download the invitation University Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement will host and provide welcoming remarks. Participants include Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Maryland Secretary of Veterans Affairs Edward Chow - who will present a proclamation from Governor O'Malley. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Christian B. Cowdrey '73, Tillman scholar and graduate student Dennis Robinson and Chuck Wilson, of the Office of Extended Studies are also scheduled to participate. Maryland students (see above) working on the Memorial Book project will present their initial findings. Volunteers from the university's Air Force ROTC unit will hold a vigil outside the chapel that day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Volunteers will also take part in an honor guard and a second vigil by the Memorial Book while it is on display in the chapel.

There are a number of activities planned for Veterans Appreciation Week Nov. 9-14. The Stamp Student Union has planned a number of events. Download the flyer.

Maryland will also honor its veterans community during the Nov. 14 home football game ( 1 p.m.) against Virginia Tech. The Terp players will wear black and tan uniforms and shoes with a camoflage design by Under Armour. The uniforms will include a Wounded Warrior logo patch.

Veterans Appreciation Week Schedule
Veterans Memorial Service Invitation

Memorial Chapel Website
Veterans Memorial
Memorial Book - Digital Version
Memroial Book Roll of Honor
Veterans Programs Office
Maryland State Dept. of Veterans Affairs

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