FINDING AID
Richard C. Holtman papers, 1898-2018
COLLECTION SUMMARY
Collection Title:
Richard C. Holtman papers
Collection Number:
MSS P:31
Dates:
1898-2018 and undated (bulk 1944-1987)
Size:
2 boxes (1 linear foot) and 1 oversized box
Language:
English
Creator/Collector:
Holtman, Richard C., 1942-
Holtman, Carl Conrad, 1918-1983
Holtman, Gladys
Subject Headings:
World War, 1939-1945
V-Mail.
Stamp collecting
History--Study and teaching.
Repository:
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Abstract:
The collection consists of history papers written by Richard C. Holtman of Moline, Illinois, World War II letters written by Richard’s father, Carl Holtman, to his wife Gladys and son Richard, family genealogy research and a commemorative stamp collection.
RIGHTS AND ACCESS
Conditions Governing Access:
Collection is open for research.
Reproduction and Use:
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Swenson Center and the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation:
[item identification], in MSS P:31 Richard C. Holtman papers, Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
ACQUISITION AND RELATED MATERIALS
Source of Acquisition:
Master’s thesis gift of Richard C. Holtman in 1981. Additional materials (genealogical data) donated by Holtman in 1983 and stamps donated in subsequent years.
Accruals:
Richard C. Holtman continues to add to the commemorative stamp portion of this collection.
Related Materials:
MSS P:351 Richard Holtman collection of newspaper articles
Notes:
It seems at one point the Carl and Gladys Holtman letters were a separate collection (MSS P:31a), but were merged together with MSS P:31.
Processed By:
Received by Kermit Westerberg in 1983. Addenda received in 1985, 2015-2018. Initial inventory written by Scott T. Larson in 1983. Finding aid written by Christina Johansson circa 2006. Revised by Lisa Huntsha in 2019.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
Administrative/Biographical History:
Richard C. Holtman was born in Rock Island, Illinois on 9 October 1942 to Carl Conrad Holtman and Gladys Louise Anderson Holtman. Richard is a descendant of Swedish immigrants from Kristadala, Småland, Sweden, who settled in western Illinois in the 1870s. A graduate of Rock Island High School, he received his B.A. from Augustana College, Rock Island, IL in 1964 (studying under O.F. Ander) and his M.A. from Marycrest College, Davenport, Iowa in 1979. The title of his thesis was “Swedish Attitudes toward the American Civil War Slavery Issues, 1857-1859.”
In 1964 and 1965, Holtman was a graduate student with the Scandinavian Seminar of New York where he participated in homestays and language courses. His personal project was called “Luther’s Pre-suppositions to International Law.” During this time, Holtman lived and studied at Jämshög Folk High School, a coeducational boarding school specializing in social work and sponsored by the Lutheran Church.
In 1969, Holtman began teaching in a rural grade school in Michigan. Since then, he has taught sixth grade social studies in Silvis, Illinois, Adult Education at Black Hawk Community College in Moline, Illinois and substituted for all grade levels in Rock Island County, Illinois.
Carl Holtman was born 26 October, 1918 in Döderhult, Kalmar, Sweden. He served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army during World War II, starting service on 5 June 1944 through 8 November 1945. He was injured after stepping on a mine outside the Swiss border and spent time at the Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He died 19 February 1983 and is buried at Rock Island National Cemetery in Rock Island, Illinois.
Gladys Louise Anderson was born 11 August 1917 in Andover, Illinois and died 22 April 2007 in Davenport, Iowa and is buried at Rock Island National Cemetery. Carl and Gladys were married on 28 October 1939 in Davenport, Iowa.
Scope and Content:
The collection consists of history papers written by Richard Holtman, World War II letters written by Richard’s father, Carl Holtman, to his wife Gladys and son Richard, family genealogy research and a commemorative stamp collection.
System of Arrangement:
Series I. History papers (1972-1979, 1983 and undated) includes history papers written by Richard Holtman toward his master’s degree at Western Illinois University and Doctor of Education thesis (1983) along with several other academic papers. Also includes copies of articles, notecards, and other research notes.
Series II. World War II letters (1944-1945 and undated) from Carl C. Holtman stationed in northern Italy to wife Gladys and son Richard in Illinois. A few letters are also written to and received from his parents. Some of the letters are written on American Red Cross letterhead, some on United States Army letterhead, and some are V-Mail. Some have been stamped by the Moline Post Office.
Series III. Personal and genealogical information (1919-2002 and undated) includes correspondence, autobiographies, boy scouts information, newspaper clippings, genealogy charts, information about Kristdala immigrants to Andover, Illinois.
Series IV. Stamp collection (1898-2018 and undated) commemorative stamps related to American, Swedish-American, and world events issued by the United States Postal Service. Also includes some letters which use Swedish stamps. (Stored in oversized box).
Collection Inventory:
Series I. History papers
“The Impact of Slavery as an Institution upon Literature 1800-1860,” 1972
“Swedish Attitudes toward the American Civil War Slavery Issues, 1857-1859,” submission to National Heritage Magazine, circa 1974
“Freeman, Douglas Southall, R. E. Lee, A Biography, Charles Scribner’s Songs, New York, Vol. IV, 1935,” master’s paper, Western Illinois University, 1974
“Freeman, Douglas Southall, Lee’s Lieutenants, A Study in Command, Charles Scribner’s Songs, New York, Vol. III, 1944,” 1974
“Nevins, Allan, The Emergence of Lincoln, Charles Scribner’s Sons, Vol. I., New York, 1950,” 1974
“Nevins, Allan, The War for the Union, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1971,” 1974
“Hicken, Victor, Illinois in the Civil War, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1966,” 1974
“The Divided Union, Randall, J.G., and Donald, David; Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1963,” 1974
“Why the Civil War?, Eisenschiml, Otto, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. Indianapolis, 1958,” 1974
“Williams, Kenneth P., Lincoln Finds a General, McMillan Company, Vol. II, New York, 1949,” 1974
“Eriksen, Erik H. Young Man Luther, A Study in Psychoanalysis and History, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1958,” 1975
“Becker, Carl, ‘Every Man His Own Historian,” The American Historical Review, XXXVII, No. 2 (January 1932,), 221-236,” 1975
“A Contrast of Thomas Carlyle and Edward Gibbon,” 1975
“An Analysis of Japanese-American’s History and Culture,” 1979
“Jeanette, Robert and Muller, Douglas G. ‘The Spanish-Surnamed Child: Self-Concept and School,’ The Elementary School Journal 76 (January 1976), 247-255,” 1979
“Role, Responsibilities and Duties of the President, Vice-President(s)/Academic Dean, Deans of Various Divisions and Other Units, Relationship to Faculty, the Board, the State, the Community, and to Each Other,” E.D.D. thesis, 1983
“The Nongraded Approach in Sweden and the United States,” undated
“The Need for and Contribution of the American Junior Community College,” undated
Correspondence related to research of thesis, 1974 and undated
Index cards titled “Immigrant Attitudes toward Slavery” related to research paper at Augustana, “Augustana and Foreign Element and American Civil War,” undated
Notes on Civil War research (Swedes in the Civil War), undated
Newspaper clippings related to Swedes in the United States, 1982-2000 and undated
Newspaper obituary clippings of Swedish Americans (including Shorty Almquist, Walter “Stripes” Johnson, Howard “Hod” Lundeen, Leslie Swanson), 1990-2003 and undated
Series II. World War II letters
November 1944
December 1944
January 1945
February 1945
March 1945
April 1945
May 1945 and undated
V-Mail letters to Carl’s parents, 1944-1945 and undated
Letters Carl received, 1944-1945
Letter fragments, 1944-1945 and undated
Series III. Personal and genealogical information
Autobiography, undated circa 1984
Correspondence (including from O. Fritiof Ander, Conrad Bergendoff, Tricia Nixon), 1962-1979, 1990
Boy Scouts, birth, and other certificates, 1942-1959 and undated
Gladys Holtman certificates and photocopy of certificate, 1919-1931
Carl Holtman papers (draft autobiography, photocopies), 1939-1983 and undated
Carl Holtman World War II items (newspaper clippings, U.S.S. Monticello picture, 349th Infantry Regiment pamphlet, document from Headquarters 349th Infantry awarding Combat Infantry Badges), 1944-1945
Carl Holtman postcard collection, purchased while in basic training with the 88th division in Florida, etc. (cards of Florida; Italy; Wahoo, Nebraska; Pike’s Peak, Colorado; Little Norway, Wisconsin, etc.), undated circa 1944-1950
Family memoriam cards, a few letters, and clippings related to Richard Holtman, 1928-2002 and undated
Photocopies of family photos, clippings, etc., 1923-1968 and undated
Genealogy charts and notes, mostly copies (including Kristdala immigrants information), 1923-1945, 1983 and undated
Series IV. Stamp collection
Stored in oversized box.