Summary Information
Ira A. Kenyon Papers and Still Images
1917-1942
WVM Mss 1588
0.1 linear ft. (1 folder) of papers and 1.2 linear ft. (1 archive box, 6 flat boxes, and 1 oversized folder) of photographs.
Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)
Papers, photographs, and photograph scrapbooks pertaining to Ira A. Kenyon, a Phillips, Wisconsin resident who served with Company B, 119th Machine Gun Battalion during World War I. The collection is comprised of six photograph scrapbooks that document the unit's organization and activation at Camp Douglas (Wisconsin), training at Camp MacArthur (Texas), military service in France, and the return to the U. S. after the war. Photographs include various soldiers posing by themselves and in small groups, relaxing, participating in sporting events and other social gatherings, and interacting with civilians. Additional images show soldiers going through drills and maneuvers, weapons training, and performing various labor tasks around camp. Images from France also depict the destruction in villages and some of the trench works near the front line, along with soldiers living in close quarters in the trenches near the front. Some of the images have been labeled. Labeled images include names of soldiers and officers, along with context descriptions. Loose photographs are of similar images found in the scrapbooks. Also included is an oversized relief halftone print of a panoramic image of Company B, 119th Machine Gun Battalion, which includes the names of the soldiers and officers from the unit. Manuscripts include a photocopy of a newspaper article pertaining to the deployment of the 119th Machine Gun Battalion and biographical material pertaining to Kenyon.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss01588 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Ira A. Kenyon was born in 1885 in Minden City, Michigan. Census records indicate he was living in Phillips, Wisconsin by 1900. Sometime before World War I, Kenyon enlisted with the Wisconsin National Guard, and was attached to Company A, 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment when the United States entered the war in 1917. He was later assigned to Company B, 119th Machine Gun Battalion while undergoing training at Camp MacArthur (Texas). Kenyon traveled to France when his unit was deployed in early 1918, but returned to the United States later that same year to serve as a machine gun instructor for new recruits. After the war, Kenyon returned to Phillips before moving with his wife, Harriet, to Mellen, Wisconsin. He died in 1942 and is buried at Lakeside Cemetery in Phillips.
The 119th Machine Gun Battalion was formed at Camp MacArthur (Texas) during the organization of the 32nd Division from National Guard units of Wisconsin and Michigan. The unit was primarily organized from elements of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Wisconsin National Guard Infantry Regiments, with a majority of the commanding officers coming from the 6th. Company B, 119th Machine Gun Battalion was comprised primarily of men from Company A, 6th Regiment, a unit that was organized from Price County, Wisconsin. The 119th was deployed to France in early 1918 and returned home in 1919.
Scope and Content Note
Manuscripts (1910-1942) include copies of census records, burial information, and service information pertaining to Ira Keynon. The newspaper article provides information about Company B receiving orders to move to New Jersey in preparation for their deployment. Further information about the 119th Machine Gun Battalion can be found in the collection of Leo M. Jackson (WVM Mss 8). Jackson served in the 119th during the war, and the collection includes information about the unit and some military records from its service during the war.
Photographs (1917-1919) is comprised of loose images pertaining to the training of the 119th Machine Gun Battalion. The images were originally part of the scrapbooks, but had become loose at some point before being donated to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Most of the photographs are not labeled. The loose photographs are generally similar to the images in the scrapbooks. A miscellaneous folder in the series includes a photograph postcard of the USS George Washington, an ocean liner that was used as a transport ship during the war, and a photograph of what appears to be a dead soldier.
Scrapbooks (1917-1919) make up the bulk of the collection and include six photograph scrapbooks. The collection was donated as four scrapbooks that were arranged into six scrapbooks for preservation purposes. The scrapbooks in boxes three through five were originally one scrapbook that was too large to maintain and preserve as one. They have been labeled in accordance of their original order as volumes one through three. The collection was also in poor condition when it was donated, with water and mold damage present. Preservation efforts managed to maintain most of the images, but some damage and fading is present throughout the collection. The print of Company B is damages on the right side, and the names of some individuals are missing. Scrapbooks featuring images taken at Camp Douglas and Camp MacArthur are located in boxes 2, 3, 4, and 7. The scrapbooks in boxes 5 and 6 are mainly of images taken while in France, with the last scrapbook featuring a few images from the return of the unit to the United States.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Louise Zorn, Phillips, WI, 2005. Accession Number: Mss 2005.002.
Processed by Andrew J. Baraniak in 2012.
Contents List
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Series: Manuscripts
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Mss
43
Folder
17
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Biographical Information, 1910-1942
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Series: Photographs
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Camps [8] , 1917-1918
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Drill and inspection [13] , 1917-1918
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Subseries: Groups
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PhOv
27
Folder
14
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Company B, 119th MG Battalion unit print [1] 1917
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Box
1
Folder
3-4
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Large groups [21] , 1917-1919
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Small groups [14] , 1917-1919
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Soldiers Laboring [4] , 1917-1919
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Individual soldiers [13] , 1917-1919
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Miscellaneous [2] , undated
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Box
2-7
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Series: Scrapbooks, 1917-1919
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