MS 497
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Collection Summary | |
| Creator: | Ellinwood, Ralph Everett |
| Collection Namer: | Ralph Everett Ellinwood collection |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1881-1994 |
| Physical Description: | 8.75 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | This collection includes the correspondence and personal diaries of Ellinwood from his deployment to Europe and subsequent internment as a prisoner of war during World War I. |
| Collection Number: | MS 497 |
| Repository: |
University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections University of Arizona PO Box 210055 Tucson, AZ 85721-0055 Phone: 520-621-6423 Fax: 520-621-9733 URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/ |
Ralph Everett Ellinwood was born August 9, 1893 to one of the prominent families in Flagstaff, then the United States Territory of Arizona. Ralph spent his formative years in Flagstaff and the frontier mining town of Bisbee, AZ while his father Everett, an attorney, served several key roles for the territory including participation in the Arizona Constitutional Convention. After Ralph attended private secondary school in California, he headed to Massachusetts to pursue higher education at Amherst College. When the United States entered the Great War in 1917, Ralph and some of his classmates could not wait any longer for their country to mobilize troops. Ralph and other young men from across the country enlisted in the American Field Service in June, 1917.
On the western front, Ralph served as a transport driver under the direction of the French Army. When the United States Army arrived overseas, Ellinwood’s corps was integrated into the U.S. Army where he was officially enlisted on October 1, 1917. He continued to serve in the Allied cause, now with the U.S. Ambulance Corps over the war torn battlefields of France. On May 28, 1918, Ralph and his convoy were captured by German soldiers during the Third Battle of the Aisne. From the time of his capture near Soissons, Ellinwood traveled hundreds of miles as a prisoner by both foot and railroad through France and Germany. His journey included extended stays in Mont Notre Dame (June 1918) and filthy prison camps at Laon (July 1918) and Langensalza (August - November 1918). After the Armistice of November 11, 1918, Ellinwood spent his final weeks in Germany at Kassel and Frankfurt am Main before returning to French soil on January 1, 1919, seven months after he was captured.
After returning to the United States, Ralph began working on his autobiographical account of his experience and it was published in April of 1920 as Behind the German Lines. Ellinwood turned again to his love for writing and publishing and completed a degree in journalism at Columbia University. Ralph married his long time friend and companion Clare Rounsvell and worked for a newspaper in Sacramento, California for a time before the couple settled in Tucson in 1924 where Ralph became editor and co-owner of the Arizona Daily Star. Tragedy struck the Ellinwoods on August 30, 1930 when the 37 year old Ralph, son, brother, husband, and father of three young children, died suddenly of a heart attack. His life ended suddenly but his extraordinary experiences live on in this collection of memoirs, letters, artifacts, and photographs.
This collection includes the correspondence of Ellinwood to and from his wife, parents, family members and friends as well as personal diaries during his deployment to Europe and subsequent internment as a prisoner of war. The handwritten journals from 1917-18 detail his attempt to cope with the war and the deteriorating conditions around him. Particularly poignant are the photographs and negatives of his friends and comrades in arms from early military days and his civilian life in the 1920s. His personal scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and artifacts that track the major events of the war. In addition to several short story manuscripts by the young war veteran turned author and editor, the collection includes the authors copy and original manuscript of the now rare book Behind the German Lines, printed in early 1920.
This collection is unrestricted.
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.
Donated to the Arizona Historical Foundation by Joan Ellinwood, 2005. Former collection number FM MSS #78. The collection was transfered from the Arizona Historical Foundation(AHF) in Temepe, AZ to the University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections in Tucson, AZ upon AHF's closure in 2012.
Ralph Everett Ellinwood collection (MS 497). Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries.
| Series I: Correspondence | |||||||||||
| Series I represents letters and telegrams received and sent by Ralph Ellinwood and his family as well as several rare postcards from the WWI era. Many of Ralph’s letters home during the seven months of his imprisonment were confiscated and destroyed by censors. Letters have been arranged by date and by postmarks when available. Those items of correspondence having no date information have been marked no date and those that are especially fragile are preserved in mylar. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Ellinwood Family Biographical Information No date | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood May 9,1917 – June 17,1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood June 19, 1917 – June 30, 1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood July 1, 1917 – July 20, 1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood July 21, 1917 – July 31, 1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood August 3, 1917 – August 12, 1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood August 13, 1917 – August 31, 1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood September 1, 1917 – September 17, 1917 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood September 18, 1917 – September 30, 1917 | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood October 1, 1917 – October 15, 1917 | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood October 18, 1917 – October 31, 1917 | |||||||||
| 2 | 3 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood November 3, 1917 – November 27, 1917 | |||||||||
| 2 | 4 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood December 2, 1917 – December 11, 1917 | |||||||||
| 2 | 5 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood December 12, 1917 – December 27, 1917 | |||||||||
| 2 | 6 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood January 2, 1918 – January 18, 1918 | |||||||||
| 2 | 7 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood January 19, 1918 – January 30, 1918 | |||||||||
| 2 | 8 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood February 2, 1917 - February 12, 1917 | |||||||||
| 2 | 9 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood February 13, 1917 – February 27, 1918 | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood March 4, 1918 – March 10, 1918 | |||||||||
| 3 | 2 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood March 12, 1917 – March 30, 1917 | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood April 4, 1918 – April 29, 1918 | |||||||||
| 3 | 4 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood May 6, 1918 – May 26, 1918 | |||||||||
| 3 | 5 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood June 3, 1918 – June 29, 1918 | |||||||||
| 3 | 6 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood July 20, 1918 – October 7, 1918 | |||||||||
| 3 | 7 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood November 2, 1918 – December 24, 1918 | |||||||||
| 3 | 8 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood January 4, 1919 – January 24, 1919 | |||||||||
| 3 | 9 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood February 4, 1919 – March 5, 1919 | |||||||||
| 3 | 10 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood March 7, 1919 – March 30, 1919 | |||||||||
| 3 | 11 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood April 1, 1919 – April 30, 1919 | |||||||||
| 3 | 12 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood May 2, 1919 – June 30, 1919 | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood July 7, 1919 – July 29, 1919 | |||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood August 2, 1919 – August 30, 1919 | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood September 5, 1919 – September 15, 1919 | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood February 18, 1920 – April 21, 1920 | |||||||||
| 4 | 5 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood April 22, 1920 – April 30, 1920 | |||||||||
| 4 | 6 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood May 2, 1920 – May 10, 1920 | |||||||||
| 4 | 7 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood May 11, 1920 – May 30, 1920 | |||||||||
| 4 | 8 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood June 12, 1920 – September, 1920; and 1920; no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 9 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood August 19, 1922 – August 11, 1930 and no date | |||||||||
| 4 | 10 | Correspondence: Ellinwood Family June 28, 1881 – November 7, 1918 | |||||||||
| 4 | 11 | Correspondence: Ellinwood Family November 16, 1918 – May 25, 1921 | |||||||||
| 4 | 12 | Correspondence: Ellinwood Family June 20, 1921 – September 29, 1930 | |||||||||
| 4 | 13 | Correspondence: Family Condolences August 31, 1930 – September 19, 1930 | |||||||||
| 4 | 14 | Correspondence: Family Condolences September 11, 1930 – September 29, 1930 | |||||||||
| 4 | 15 | Correspondence: Family Condolences October 1, 1930 – November 24, 1930; and 1930; no date | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 5 | 1 | Correspondence: Business November 1, 1924 – October 15, 1964 | |||||||||
| 5 | 2 | Correspondence: Business October 16, 1964 – November 27, 1964 | |||||||||
| 5 | 3 | Correspondence: Business December 2, 1964 – August 9, 1994 | |||||||||
| 5 | 4 | Correspondence: Postcards, unmailed, France No date | |||||||||
| 5 | 5 | Correspondence: Postcards, unmailed, France No date | |||||||||
| 5 | 6 | Correspondence: Postcards, unmailed, France No date | |||||||||
| 5 | 7 | Correspondence: Postcards, unmailed, France No date | |||||||||
| 5 | 8 | Correspondence: Postcards, unmailed, Germany No date | |||||||||
| 5 | 9 | Correspondence: Postcards, unmailed, U.S. and U.S. Military No date | |||||||||
| 5 | 10 | Correspondence: Ralph and Clare Ellinwood Military Orders June 1917 – September 1920 | |||||||||
| 5 | 11 | Correspondence: Ralph Ellinwood war travel papers No date | |||||||||
| Series II: Publications | |||||||||||
| Series II contains various WWI era newspaper clippings in addition to clippings of obituaries for Ellinwood family members. The publications include issues of The American Field Service Bulletin and Amherst College Quarterly. The original typed manuscripts of Behind the German Lines and Ralph’s journal entries and war letters are included with his short stories and essays. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 6 | 1 | Newspaper Clippings November 1886 – May 28, 1928 | |||||||||
| 6 | 2 | Newspaper Clippings August 30, 1930 – March 8, 1932 | |||||||||
| 6 | 3 | Newspaper Clippings April 13, 1938 – August 11, 1995 | |||||||||
| 6 | 4 | Newspaper Clippings No date | |||||||||
| 6 | 5 | Publications December 15, 1917 – August 1918 | |||||||||
| 6 | 6 | Publications October 5, 1918 – March 15, 1920 | |||||||||
| 6 | 7 | Publications May 22, 1920 – 1977; and no date | |||||||||
| 6 | 8 | Personal Memorabilia No date | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 7 | 1 | Manuscripts: Ralph Everett Ellinwood in WWI journal entries and letters June 9, 1917 – July 11, 1917 | |||||||||
| 7 | 2 | Manuscripts: Ralph Everett Ellinwood in WWI journal entries and letters July 11, 1917 – August 27, 1917 | |||||||||
| 7 | 3 | Manuscripts: Ralph Everett Ellinwood in WWI journal entries and letters August 27, 1917 – November 1, 1917 | |||||||||
| 7 | 4 | Manuscripts: Ralph Everett Ellinwood in WWI journal entries and letters November 1, 1917 – February 9, 1918 | |||||||||
| 7 | 5 | Manuscripts: Ralph Everett Ellinwood in WWI journal entries and letters February 18, 1918 – April 17, 1918 | |||||||||
| 7 | 6 | Manuscripts: Ralph Everett Ellinwood in WWI journal entries and letters April 19, 1918 – February 4, 1919 | |||||||||
| 7 | 7 | Manuscripts:Behind the German Lines, Original Manuscript, Ch. I - II c. April 1920 | |||||||||
| 7 | 8 | Manuscripts:Behind the German Lines, Original Manuscript, Ch. III - IV c. April 1920 | |||||||||
| 7 | 9 | Manuscripts:Behind the German Lines, Original Manuscript, Ch. V - VI c. April 1920 | |||||||||
| 7 | 10 | Manuscripts:Behind the German Lines, Original Manuscript, Ch. VI (cont.) - VIII c. April 1920 | |||||||||
| 7 | 11 | Manuscripts: Ralph Ellinwood Essays and Short Stories No date | |||||||||
| Series III: Journals and Diaries | |||||||||||
| Series III includes the diaries and visit book of Minnie Walkley Ellinwood, mother of Ralph Ellinwood. Also included are the early war journals and personal notes of Ralph Ellinwood. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 8 | 1 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood (mother) 1887 | |||||||||
| 8 | 2 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1888 | |||||||||
| 8 | 3 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1889 | |||||||||
| 8 | 4 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1891 | |||||||||
| 8 | 5 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1892 | |||||||||
| 8 | 6 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1893 | |||||||||
| 8 | 7 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1895-1902 | |||||||||
| 8 | 8 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1910 – 1914 | |||||||||
| 8 | 9 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1915 – 1919 | |||||||||
| 8 | 10 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1920 – 1924 | |||||||||
| 8 | 11 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1924 | |||||||||
| 8 | 12 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1925 | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 9 | 1 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1927 | |||||||||
| 9 | 2 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1928 | |||||||||
| 9 | 3 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1925 – 1929 | |||||||||
| 9 | 4 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1929 | |||||||||
| 9 | 5 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1930 | |||||||||
| 9 | 6 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood 1930 – 1932 | |||||||||
| 9 | 7 | Journals: Minnie Walkley Ellinwood “Visit Book” No date | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 10 | 1 | Journals: Ralph Ellinwood, printed copy June 9, 1917 – December 31, 1917 | |||||||||
| 10 | 2 | Journals: Ralph Ellinwood, Vol. I and II and personal notebook June 9, 1917 – Jan 26, 1919 | |||||||||
| Series IV: Photographs | |||||||||||
| Series IV incorporates a number of photographs and negatives of Ralph Ellinwood and his sister Cornelia in their youth as well as many unidentified photographs of places and people during Ralph’s military service. There are several photographs of Southern Arizona mining town and mountain landscapes and locales that date from the early 1900s. | |||||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 11 | 1 | Photographs: Cornelia Ellinwood Morris (sister) 1891 - 1893 | |||||||||
| 11 | 2 | Photographs: Cornelia Ellinwood Morris 1894 – 1898 | |||||||||
| 11 | 3 | Photographs: Cornelia Ellinwood Morris No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 4 | Photographs: Cornelia and Ralph childhood 1893 - 1898 | |||||||||
| 11 | 5 | Photographs: Cornelia and Ralph childhood No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 6 | Photographs: Unidentified Early Family Photos No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 7 | Photographs: Unidentified Landscapes and Places No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 8 | Photographs: Unidentified Landscapes and Places No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 9 | Photographs: Unidentified Landscapes and Places No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 10 | Photographs: Unidentified Landscapes and Places No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 11 | Photographs: Military | |||||||||
| 11 | 12 | Photographs: Ralph 1894 - 1898 | |||||||||
| 11 | 13 | Photographs: Ralph No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 14 | Photographs: Unidentified Family and Friends No date | |||||||||
| 11 | 15 | Photographs: Unidentified Family and Friends No date | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 12 | 1 | Negatives: Arizona Towns and Landscapes No date | |||||||||
| 12 | 2 | Negatives: Bisbee 1913; No date | |||||||||
| 12 | 3 | Negatives: Family and Friends No date | |||||||||
| 12 | 4 | Negatives: Military No date | |||||||||
| 12 | 5 | Negatives: Trips to Los Angeles, Lowell, Montclair, Rock Creek 1913 | |||||||||
| 12 | 6 | Negatives: Trips to New Haven, Northampton, New York, Washington D.C. 1913 | |||||||||
| box | folder | ||||||||||
| 13 | 1 | Photographs: “Taken in Flagstaff at Riordan House” May 10, 1939 | |||||||||
| 13 | 2 | Photographs: “Closing of the Sale of the Arizona Daily Star” January 5, 1965 | |||||||||
| 13 | 3 | Portraits: John Sanders No date | |||||||||
| 13 | 4 | Portraits: Ralph Ellinwood, Military c. 1917- 1918 | |||||||||
| 13 | 5 | Portraits: Ralph Ellinwood late 1920’s | |||||||||
| 13 | 6 | Portraits: Judge John J. Hawkins No date | |||||||||
| box | |||||||||||
| 13a | Framed Portrait: Ralph Ellenwood No date | ||||||||||
| Series V: Personal Artifacts | |||||||||||
| Series V is comprised of several oversized items and pieces of personal significance such as Everett Ellinwood’s honorary diploma and academic stole along with other unique items such as a tapestry keepsake box and collection of monies. | |||||||||||
| box | |||||||||||
| 14 | Scrapbooks: Green Cover with Clippings 1930 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Scrapbooks: Black Cover with Photos No date | ||||||||||
| 14 | Notebooks: Ralph’s Composition Book with Clippings 1918-1926 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Monies 1904; 1914- 1919 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Diploma: Everett Ellinwood’s honorary diploma, University of Arizona May 1941 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Print Materials on Everett Ellinwood’s honorary degree May 1941 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Academic Stole: Everett Ellinwood No date | ||||||||||
| 14 | Ellinwood family keepsake box No date | ||||||||||
| 14 | Behind The German Lines: New York: Knickerbocker Press. Two autographed copies by Ellenwood, and the author’s copy with a 1918 German document pertaining to Ellenwood pasted in the front of the book 1920 | ||||||||||