The Mark Patronsky Collection is organized into two series: Papers and Still Images.
Papers (1971-2008) are primarily composed of memoir style notes composed by Patronksy based on his still images. The notes were originally created to provide descriptive information on contact sheets he made from envelopes of negative rolls in his collection, but also contain narrative information about his service. They were bound by the processing archivist to preserve the original non-chronological order of the negative sleeves. The notes provide detailed description of some of the images shown on the contact sheets, among detailed reminiscences and opinions on his military service, and also provide good insight into service during the Vietnam War era of the Cold War. For more views and reminiscences of Patronsky's military service, consult his oral history interview at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, OH 267. The book “The Ravens” is signed by two pilots who flew missions over Laos during the Vietnam War. The book was kept with the collection because of the importance of the signatures to Patronsky.
Still Images (1967-1972) pertain to his time in basic training, college, Fort Hood advanced training, and Germany deployment. Fort Hood images are grouped into images that generally reflect his training and time on base, and those recreational images of local towns they visited while on leave. All non-base related photographs in the Fort Hood section are located under recreation. Germany photographs are arranged in a similar manner, with the recreation grouping documenting his free time away from base. The majority of the images are artistic in nature. Patronsky admits in his notes that he considered himself an “artsy” photographer, and identifies quite a number of images being taken because he felt them to be artistic. However, there are good images of artillery training and the recreational activities of soldiers on base after hours. All contact sheets have the location of the corresponding negatives written on the reverse side. All details of the images come from the notes written by Patronsky. Basic training photographs also include a series of images that he took just before he was inducted. There are only a handful of images from basic training because he didn't feel comfortable taking a camera with him.
