Title: Otto W. Feierabend Papers, Still Images and Moving Images
Inclusive Dates: 1924-1988

Creator:

• Feierabend, Otto W.

Call Number: WVM Mss 969

Quantity: 0.9 linear ft. (1 archives box and 2 flat boxes) of papers, 0.9 linear ft. (1 archives box, 3 flat boxes, and 3 oversized folders) of still images, and 0.6 linear ft. (3 film cans, 1 digital betacam tape, and 6 DVDs) of moving images.

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, photographs, and video recordings pertaining to the service of Otto W. Feierabend, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin resident who served with the Chicago Ordnance District (U.S. Army) during World War II, and also participated with the Citizens' Military Training Camps (CMTC) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) prior to the war. Manuscripts in the collection mostly pertain to his time as an Army officer with the Chicago Ordnance District. Included are notebooks, memorandums, evaluations, communications, and special orders from his time as chief of the Carriage, Recoil, and Anti-Aircraft Section, Artillery Branch, and his appointment as a production planning and control officer after the war. Records from his time at the CCC include accident investigation reports and instructions for improved menus at all CCC camps. Manuscripts from his CMTC training include an outline of the mission of the CMTC and photocopies of selected pages from training camp yearbooks. Additional manuscripts include biographical materials, correspondence (letters, postcards, and V-mail) from friends and relatives who also served in the war, and certificates concerning his later veteran activities. There are two clipping scrapbooks. One contains articles from “The Reserve Officer” magazine, while the other has news clippings from September 1939 addressing the outbreak of World War II. Three photo albums in the collection, each cover the three elements of his military service. Providing a glimpse of training received by program participants, the CMTC album has images of soldiers in training, various camp sites, and group photographs. CCC album images show work performed at various sites in Wisconsin and include campsite scenes, men working and posing for the camera, and scenic Wisconsin views. Although the Chicago Ordnance District album primarily depicts office work and meetings, there are also some images of soldiers training, construction of artillery carriages, and Feierabend relaxing with fellow employees. Loose photographs are similar to those found in the three photo albums. Although Feierabend was not assigned to the European Theater, there are also images taken in Europe, possibly sent to him by relatives and friends serving overseas during the war. These include some Signal Corps photographs taken in the field, but most were taken in Paris after its liberation. The video recordings are original 8mm film, taken presumably by Feierabend during Officers Reserve Corps training. The three films include footage of the campsite, men working around camp, and training maneuvers. Of particular interest is footage of men undergoing gas training, and several tanks demonstrating their maneuverability and firepower.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00969

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Otto William Feierabend was born on July 7, 1907 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He began military service when he joined the Enlisted Reserve Corps, a forerunner of the U.S. Army Reserve, in 1924. He actively participated in several Citizens' Military Training Camps, which were held during summer months to provide military training for citizens without having to issue active duty status. Participants who completed four different camps would also obtain a commission in the Officers Reserve Corps. Feierabend completed his fourth camp in 1927 and began training as an officer. After receiving a commission as a lieutenant, Feierabend served as an instructor at several Citizens' Military Training Camps (1933-1935) before being transferred to the Civilian Conservation Corps to serve as a company officer in 1935. Feierabend began active service in the Army in 1942, when he was appointed as a lieutenant with the Chicago Ordnance District He first served as a procurement officer with the Artillery Branch, and was later promoted to head of the Carriage, Recoil, and Anti-Aircraft Section until his active service ended in 1946. Feierabend last entered active duty in 1948 when he served as Chief of the Industrial Planning Branch of the Chicago Ordnance District in order to transition the Army into peacetime status. He ended his military service in 1967 when he retired from the Army Reserve.

Feierabend married Esther B. Dorow in 1935, and had two children. He worked several civilian jobs before beginning a career with Allis Chalmers in 1937. Feierabend worked for the company for thirty-five years before retiring in 1971. He was active with the Reserve Officers Association, a veteran's organization for former members of the Officers Reserve Corps. He died in Milwaukee in 2004.

The papers of the Otto W. Feierabend are divided into three series, Papers, Still Images, and Video recordings.

Papers (1924-1988) consists primarily of records pertaining to his military service in both active and reserve status with the Army, with the bulk being records from his service with the Chicago Ordnance District during and just after World War II. They pertain to his wartime service and short-term activation afterwards to assist in Army peacetime transitioning. Most address his postwar activation. Wartime records include memoranda, correspondences, special orders, and charts concerning his work as a procurement officer and chief of an artillery section. They relate to staffing, and communications and evaluations concerning potential military contract with private manufacturing vendors. Workbooks have his notes about inspection and evaluation of these private contractors concerning their role in construction of Army equipment parts. There are also service records and travel reimbursement requests. Postwar service records are similar to those from his wartime service and include memoranda, correspondence, service records, and applications.

Also found, are CCC accident reports concerning vehicle accidents and camp injuries. Revised menus and food preparation instructions reflect CCC efforts to raise food quality at the camps.

There are scattered materials concerning the Citizens' Military Training Camps, the primary aim of which was “good citizenship and health, physical, mental, and moral.”

Still Images (1924-1959) consists of three photograph albums pertaining to Feierabend's military service. The CMTC album contains images from Camp Custer, Michigan, and Camp Sheridan, Illinois. Depicted are barracks and other camp buildings, personnel, military drills, and recreation. Some of the images are identified by captions, but they are written in pencil on black pages, making them hard to read. Loose CMTC photographs are similar to those in the album. Also included with the loose images are several picture postcards of men and military equipment used in training. The CCC scrapbook contains photographs from several camps in northern Wisconsin. Camp life is depicted through photos of barracks and other camp buildings, vehicles, and men at work. The scrapbook includes both black and white and colorized photographs that depict life at the camps, scenery, and working conditions. Also included are two oversized photographs; one featuring several scenes from Camp Copper Falls in Mellen, Wisconsin, and one showing a sign near Bass Lake, Wisconsin. The photo album concerning the Chicago Ordnance District is primarily of office shots of Feierabend and other workers in the department. There are also images of soldiers undergoing training and recreational activities. Loose photographs are similar to those images found in the album. Some photographs concern the Reserve Officers Association, of which Feierabend was a member, and include events he attended and portraits of fellow members. World War II photographs, presumably sent to Feierabend since he didn't serve overseas, are mainly images of Paris after liberation and show buildings, famous landmarks, destruction, civilians, and celebratory victory parades. Some images have descriptions written on the back, but there is no indication of who took them. There are also some Signal Corps photographs, cleared by sensors.

Moving Images (1938, 1940) were originally three different 8mm reels that were presumably taken by Feierabend during training while in the Officers Reserve Corps. Films 1 and 2 were taken during training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Film 1 includes footage of the camp, soldiers training and performing tasks, and various images of trucks and other equipment. Film 2 is primarily landscape scenes, but also includes footage of a building fire and several tanks performing maneuvers and demonstrating firepower. Film 3 was taken during training at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and includes additional footage of soldiers training and firing artillery. Of particular interest is footage of soldiers partaking in chemical warfare training, including scenes of soldiers wearing gas masks and walking through chemical clouds. All original film has been transferred to digital format for access and preservation purposes.

Acquisition Information

Presented by John Feierabend, Hamilton, Texas, 2003. Accession Number: Mss 2003.21, Mss 2003.39, Mss 2003.144, and Mss 2008.50..

Processing Information

Processed by Russell Horton in 2008. Reprocessed by Andrew J. Baraniak in 2012.

	Series: Papers
Box   1 Folder   1	Biographical information, 1946-2004
Box   1 Folder   2	Certificates, 1956-1988
Box   1 Folder   3	Correspondence, 1943-1944, undated
	Subseries: Military Service	⇧
Box   1 Folder   4-6	Chicago Ordnance District, 1942-1949
Box   1 Folder   7-8	Workbooks, 1944-1945
	Civilian Conservation Corps
Box   1 Folder   9	Accident investigations, 1935-1936
Box   1 Folder   10	Revised camp menus, 1936, undated
Box   1 Folder   11	Citizens' Military Training Camp, 1924-1927, undated
Box   2	Scrapbook [articles from The Reserve Officer], 1932-1935
Box   3	World War II Scrapbook [news clippings on the war's onset], 1939
	Series: Still Images	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1	Chicago Ordnance District [12] , 1942-1946
Box   7	Photo album, 1942-1945
	Subseries: Civilian Conservation Corps	⇧
PhOv   13 Folder   4	Camp Copper Falls (Mellen, WI) [1] undated
PhOv   46 Folder   3	Camp sign (Bass Lake, WI) [1] [between 1835-1937]
Box   5 Folder   1	Photo album, 1935-1937
	Subseries: Citizens' Military Training Camps	⇧
Box   4 Folder   2	Camp Members [8] , [between 1924-1935]
Box   4 Folder   3	Landscapes [5] , [between 1924-1935]
PhOv   48 Folder   1	Unknown camp [1] , 1929
Box   6	Photo album, 1924-1933
Box   4 Folder   4	Photo postcards [7] , 1933, undated
Box   4 Folder   5	Soldiers [16] , [between 1924-1935]
Box   4 Folder   6	Reserve Officers Association [5] , 1951-1959
	Subseries: World War II	⇧
Box   4 Folder   7-9	Paris [38] , [between 1944-1945]
Box   4 Folder   10	Signal Corps photographs [6] , 1944
	Series: Moving Images	⇧
	Subseries: Fort Benning
DVD User   1 Disk   10	Film 1, 1938
DVD User   1 Disk   11	Film 2, 1938
DVD User   1 Disk   12	Camp Jackson, 1940