Muskingum News

Muskingum University graduate Amanda Tedrick ’23 created an Archival Display “John Glenn: World War II and Beyond,” which is on display in the University Library through the end of November.

Amanda completed a Summer 2023 internship in the Social and Historical Muskingum University Archives, focusing on the archival records regarding Muskingum student involvement in World War II.  “The internship was a great opportunity to work with archival documents, and it was especially interesting reading the letters of soldiers and family members,” she said. A History major with minors in English and Communication, Amanda was a member of Student Senate and Delta Gamma Theta.

During her internship, Amanda worked with the “Record of Service in World War II” questionnaires that were sent to Muskingum students and alumni following the war. Questions included rank, service locations, major battles, injuries, and other information. Each service member now has an individual file – soon to be available in the publicly-searchable database for the archives – containing the questionnaire and related letters and newspaper clippings, including correspondence from the families of fallen soldiers. Amanda also began compiling a more detailed database for these World War II records to help support genealogical and historical research. Future interns will continue this project.

Amanda installed a library display of the archive’s material pertaining to New Concord’s John H. Glenn, Jr. ’43 (1921-2016), from World War II through his 1957 “Project Bullet” record-breaking transcontinental flight. He would later go on to become a pioneering Mercury 7 and space shuttle Discovery astronaut, four-term United States senator, and civic leader.

The archival display contains:

• John Glenn’s Application for Civilian Pilot Training (1941)
• John Glenn’s Pilot Flight Test Report (1941)
• World War II-era John Glenn article from the Muskingum College Alumni Bulletin “Marine Flyer Interviewed”
• John Glenn letter to Dwight Balentine, Alumni Secretary of Muskingum College, 1944
• John Glenn’s World War II Record of Service (no date)
• Western Union telegram from World War I Flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker to Muskingum President J. Knox Montgomery, congratulating John Glenn and apologizing for being unable to attend a celebratory dinner following the “Project Bullet” flight
• Multiple commemorative John Glenn items, donated to the archive by Kim ’93G and Craig Spillman

“John Glenn: World War II and Beyond” may be viewed during the Library’s regular operating hours, 7:45 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7:45 a.m. - 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, and 1 - 10 p.m. Sunday.