Carol D. Behrend Bahr Papers and Photographs,
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Summary Information
Title: Carol D. Behrend Bahr Papers and Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1943-1948

Creator:
  • Bahr, Carol D. Behrend
Call Number: WVM Mss 690

Quantity: 5.8 linear ft. (13 archives boxes and 2 flat boxes) of papers and 4 folders of photographs.

Repository:
Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Have questions? Contact the Reference Archivist

Archival Locations:
Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)
See the catalog entry for current shelf locations and additions.

Abstract:
Papers and photographs of Carol D. Behrend Bahr, who as a thirteen-year old girl during World War II wrote a letter to the Stars and Stripes seeking a military pen pal and received 1,500 responses from American soldiers and sailors. The letters written to Bahr make up the majority of this collection. In them, the soldiers and sailors generally thanked her for thinking of them, told her a little about their war experiences, and described their plans for after the war. Transcriptions of all the letters are included. Many correspondents sent along little pieces of memorabilia that are collected in two scrapbooks. Several newspaper clippings relate the story of Bahr's letter and the responses she received. Photographs include one shot of Bahr in 1943 and the many pictures that her pen pals sent to her.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00690
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Biography/History

Carol D. Behrend Bahr was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1931. While in the second grade, her family moved to nearby Hartland, Wisconsin and she attended local schools there. During World War II, she decided that she wanted to do something for the men and women serving overseas in the military. In 1944, at the age of thirteen, she wrote a letter to the Stars and Stripes, the overseas military newspaper, expressing her support and requesting a pen pal. She received roughly 1,500 responses from soldiers and sailors in the European Theater. Bahr sent one mass response in the form of a Christmas letter and afterwards corresponded with the several pen pals who wrote her letters back. Some of the correspondence continued after the war ended, and Behrend continued to exchange Christmas cards with some soldiers (and, later, their widows) for decades after the war.

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Carol D. Behrend Bahr are divided into two series: Papers and Photographs.

Papers (1943-1948) consist almost entirely of the 1,500 letters that 13-year old Bahr received from American soldiers and sailors after she wrote a letter to the Stars and Stripes soliciting a military pen pal in 1944. The letters are arranged alphabetically by the writers' last names. Most letters express gratitude to Behrend for thinking and praying about them. Many letters give censor-approved details about their activities in the war and ask about her life on the homefront. Behrend sent a letter back to all her “pen pals,” and after that carried on correspondence with a select few who continued to write to her. Two cousins in the service and several other men have their own folders due to the volume of their correspondence. Transcriptions of all the letters, typed by Bahr's daughter Dona Zsori, can also be found in the collection. Other items include two scrapbooks filled with mementos that soldiers sent to Bahr, such as foreign currency, small flags, picture postcards and other small ephemeral items. Several newspaper clippings tell the story about Bahr's search for a pen pal and the overwhelming response she received. Several envelopes returned to Bahr because the soldier she wrote to had been killed show a sadder side to the story.

Photographs (1943-1948) contain one snap shot of Bahr in 1943, at the time she wrote her letter to the Stars and Stripes. Several photographs of Wayne Fluckiger, one of her more frequent correspondents are in this series, along with other miscellaneous identified and unidentified pictures of soldiers and sailors who wrote to her.

Administrative/Restriction Information
Acquisition Information

Presented by Carol D. Behrend Bahr, Ixonia, WI, 2004. Accession Number: Mss 2004.90. This collection was organized as a result of the National Historic Publications and Records Commission project grant (2003-075)


Processing Information

Processed by Russell Horton in 2004


Contents List
Series: Papers
Subseries: Correspondence
Box   1
Folder   1
From Carol Bahr, 1944-1945
Box   1
Folder   2
To Carol Bahr, 1943, 1948
Box   1
Folder   3-4
From A, 1944-1945
Box   1
Folder   5
From Robert Allen, 1944-1945
Box   1
Folder   6-7
From B, 1944-1945
Box   2
Folder   1
From B, 1944-1945
Box   2
Folder   2-4
From C, 1944-1945
Box   3
Folder   1
From C, 1944-1945
Box   3
Folder   2-3
From D, 1944-1945
Box   3
Folder   4
From E, 1944-1945
Box   3
Folder   5
From F, 1944-1945
Box   4
Folder   1
From F, 1944-1945
Box   4
Folder   2
From Wayne Fluckiger, 1947-1948
Box   4
Folder   3-4
From G, 1944-1945
Box   4
Folder   5
From H, 1944-1945
Box   5
Folder   1
From H, 1944-1945
Box   5
Folder   2
From I, 1944-1945
Box   5
Folder   3
From J, 1944-1945
Box   5
Folder   4
From Charles Jensen (cousin), 1943-1945
Box   5
Folder   5
From Robert Jensen (cousin), 1944-1945
Box   5
Folder   6
From K, 1944-1945
Box   6
Folder   1
From L, 1944-1945
Box   6
Folder   2-4
From M, 1944-1945
Box   7
Folder   1-2
From M, 1944-1945
Box   7
Folder   3
From N, 1944-1945
Box   7
Folder   4
From O, 1944-1945
Box   7
Folder   5
From P, 1944-1945
Box   8
Folder   1
From P, 1944-1945
Box   8
Folder   2
From “Pinky,” 1946-1947
Box   8
Folder   3
From Q, 1944-1945
Box   8
Folder   4-5
From R, 1944-1945
Box   9
Folder   1
From R, 1944-1945
Box   9
Folder   2-4
From S, 1944-1945
Box   10
Folder   1
From S, 1944-1945
Box   10
Folder   2
From T, 1944-1945
Box   10
Folder   3
From U, 1944-1945
Box   10
Folder   4
From V, 1944-1945
Box   11
Folder   1-3
From W, 1944-1945
Box   11
Folder   4
From Y, 1944-1945
Box   11
Folder   5
From Z, 1944-1945
Transcriptions, 1944-1945
Box   11
Folder   6-8
A-B
Box   12
Folder   1-16
C-Q
Box   13
Folder   1-8
R-Z
Box   13
Folder   9
Ephemera, circa 1944-1945
Box   13
Folder   10
Greeting cards, 1944-1945
Box   13
Folder   11
Newspaper clippings, 1944
Box   13
Folder   12
Returned envelopes, 1944
Subseries: Scrapbooks of memorabilia
⇧
Box   14
Folder   1
1944
Box   15
Folder   1
1945
Series: Photographs
⇧
Ph   11
Folder   26
Carol Bahr [1] , 1943
Ph   11
Folder   27
Wayne Fluckiger [3] , 1946-1948
Subseries: Soldier pen pals
⇧
Ph   11
Folder   28
Identified [7] , 1944-1945
Ph   11
Folder   29
Unidentified [5] , 1944-1945