Title: Robert W. Lockhart Papers, Still Images and Audio Recordings
Inclusive Dates: 1951-2012

Creator:

• Lockhart, Robert W.

Call Number: WVM Mss 2060

Quantity: 1.6 linear ft. (4 archives boxes, 3 flat folders and 1 oversized folder) of papers, and 1.4 linear ft. (2 archives boxes, 1 flat box) of still images, and 1 audiotape reel (64 minutes) of audio recordings.

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, still images and audio recordings pertaining to the service of Robert W. Lockhart, a Montpelier, Ohio, resident who served in Company I, 86th Infantry Regiment, 10th Infantry Division and with the Army Security Agency (ASA) in the United States, and in the Army Security Agency Europe (ASAE) in Germany, serving from 1951 to 1953. Military service materials include correspondence, military papers, and still images. Letters written home describe life in training camps, training to be a part of the ASA during the Korean War. Transcriptions of these letters done by WVM staff are also included. Scrapbook materials span both Lockhart's service in the military and his veterans activities. These materials include photographs, papers, and souvenirs from Fort Riley, his European service, and reunions. Lockhart described his life in Germany, places he visited, and his observation about the towns and people, as well as his trips to other parts of Europe. Trips included Paris, Switzerland, Italy and London for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. Military papers include draft notices and orders. Still images feature a few images from training at Fort Riley, and personal and purchased photographs from Europe. Veterans Materials document Lockhart's efforts to organize and plan reunions the veterans of Company I, 86th Infantry Regiment, 10th Division who graduated from Fort Riley in February 1952. Of interest are the documents of Lockhart, the memorial chairman, and other chairmen searching the United States in a blanket effort to find other Company I veterans. Other materials include correspondence planning these events, paperwork from the reunions, memorial materials and souvenirs. A large amount of correspondence is focused on veterans passing away, memorializing veterans who died before the next of the 16 reunions.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss02060

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Robert William Lockhart was born in Montpelier, Ohio in 1929. He attended school for two years at Dennison University, then two at the University of Michigan and was drafted into service in the Army in 1951. Lockhart trained at several camps from 1951 to 1952, spending most of his time at Fort Riley, Kansas, where he graduated basic training in heavy weapons infantry. After basic training, Lockhart attended cryptography school for the Army Security Agency in Georgia before being shipped to Germany in 1952. He lived in Germany until 1953, when he returned home to Ohio. After his service, Lockhart returned to the University of Michigan for two more years, finishing his architecture degree. In 1956, Lockhart moved to Wisconsin, living in Fond du Lac, then moving to Madison. In his later life, Lockhart came out publicly as a gay man. In a 2013 article, Lockhart discusses his realization that he was a homosexual because of a letter sent to him by a fellow soldier.

The Robert W. Lockhart collection is arranged into three series: Military Service Materials (1951-1953), Veterans Materials (1986-2012) and Scrapbook (1951-2002).

Military Service Materials (1951-1953) include correspondence, military orders and papers, and still images.

Correspondence mainly consists of letters sent by Lockhart to his parents during his time in training and in Europe. These letters detail life in various camps, including military routines, classes, army food, and friends. Letters from Germany provide a detailed look at cities in Germany, the shops he visited, and living situations. Of particular interest are letters from 1953 in which Lockhart describes the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and seeing Prince Charles peeking out from curtains in the palace. Other letters include notes from his sister, Jeanie, his mother, family and friends. These letters are often well-wishing and providing information about friends from home. Military papers include a yearbook from Fort Riley, Kansas, which provides photographs, names and hometowns of the graduates from 1952. Photocopies of the autographs are available in the collection, the yearbook is available in the library collection.

Still images include a small amount of photographs from Fort Riley and many images from Europe. These images often include informational captions on the back, with more information available on the envelopes filed with the manuscript materials. Miscellaneous photographs include many tourist photographs from Germany, Paris, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Still images from Fort Riley, Georgia, and Europe are also available in the scrapbook. The scrapbook images often have explanatory captions and supplemental paper materials.

Veterans Materials (1984-2012) include correspondence, reunion materials and souvenirs, still images, and audio recordings.

Reunions for the Fort Riley Company I, 86th Infantry Regiment, 10th Division, who graduated in February 1952, began in 1986. Lockhart, as a central member of this group, collected correspondence on planning reunions and memorials for members. Letters between planners concentrate on finding veterans through the February 1952 yearbook. Included are notes, letter exchanges of notes, returned letters and updated addresses and statuses of members. As chairman of the memorials, Lockhart sent out letters of condolences to the families of the deceased, received or was forwarded letters with news of deaths. To memorialize these deceased veterans, Lockhart enrolled members in various memorial organizations, as well as keeping a list of the dead and their dates of death. Lockhart filed paperwork with the AmVets National Service Foundation, and the Carillon bells would be scheduled to ring at the time the reunion group selected. Lockhart would then receive a certificate, which he would forward on to the family of the veteran, or whomever had notified him that a veteran had passed.

A letter and wine sample (B4, F18) from 2012 explains the last man's club that had been started at the first reunion by a veteran who brought a bottle to be given to the last living member of the group. At each reunion, deceased members were memorialized by the group and a bottle of wine was intended to go to the last living man of the group. Instead, the small 2012 group drank the wine and Lockhart disbursed samples to members who were unable to attend. Materials from various reunions include lists of the deceased, lists of attendees, and official programs from the reunions. Souvenirs include pamphlets, maps and brochures from the reunions and places visited while at the reunion. Of interest is the 1993 reunion, which was hosted in Madison and planned by Lockhart, who gathered the RSVPs and did research about interesting things to do in and around Madison.

Still images from reunions include polaroids and photographs of the attendees, the location of the reunion and various activities. Supplemental papers and still images for each reunion have also been included in the scrapbook.

The audio recording is from a small gathering of veterans who graduated from Fort Riley in February 1952 from Company I, 86th Infantry Regiment, 10th Infantry Division. The gathering took place in the 1970's at Lockhart's family cabin at Marble Lake, near Quincy, Michigan, and features members reminiscing about their time in the military, planning for the next reunion, and discussing their travel arrangements. Several speakers, including Lockhart, are identified on the tape.

Scrapbook (1951-2002) documents Lockhart's training, service and formation of the reunion group. The scrapbook contains images, papers and souvenirs from Lockhart's training in Fort Riley, service in Europe, and veteran's reunions.

Training materials include black and white photographs of Lockhart and his comrades around the camp, and a class photograph. Other materials include histories of Fort Riley and images from Lockhart's time in Georgia. Of interest are photographs at the back of the scrapbook that feature Lockhart's time in Europe, including the Coronation ceremony.

Reunion materials identify the year, date and location of each memorial. Images include group and candid photographs, and images of places visited. Papers include lists of participants and the deceased, pamphlets and brochures and detailed information on the planning of reunions and finding of members.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Robert W. Lockhart, 2004, 2010 and 2014. Accession Number: Mss2004.039, Mss2011.130, and Mss2014.061.

Processing Information

Processed by Brittany Strobel, in 2015.

Partial access restriction: Scrapbook is fragile and is only accessible under strict archivist supervision.

	Series: Military Service materials
	Subseries: Papers
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1-4	Cards: Christmas, undated
Box   1 Folder   5	Miscellaneous, undated
Ov   45 Folder   1	Oversized, undated
Box   1 Folder   7	From family, 1951-1953
Box   1 Folder   12	Jeanie, 1952-1953
Box   1 Folder   13	Mom, 1951-1953
Ov   45 Folder   2	Oversized, undated
Box   1 Folder   10-11	From friends, 1951-1953
Box   1 Folder   9	Abroad, 1952-1962
Box   1 Folder   6	Bob Winzeler, 1952-1953
Box   1 Folder   8	Fellow soldiers, 1951-1954
Box   2 Folder   12	Official letters, 1951-1953
Box   1 Folder   14-21	To parents, September 1951-March 1952
Box   2 Folder   1-3	March-August 1953
Ov   42 Folder   5	Oversized enclosures
Box   2 Folder   4	To parents, miscellaneous, 1951-1953
Box   2 Folder   5-7	Transcriptions, 1951-1952
Box   2 Folder   8-11, 13	Induction and training, 1951-1953
Box   2 Folder   14	Yearbook, 1952
	Subseries: Still images	⇧
Box   5 Folder   8	Crossing the Atlantic [14] , 1952
Box   5 Folder   10	Fort Riley [17] , 1952
Box   5 Folder   19	Letter enclosures [2] , undated
	Europe
Box   5 Folder   2	Berchtesgarden [5] , 1953
Box   5 Folder   18	Hitler's house 1953 [13] , circa
Box   5 Folder   1	Bremerhaven [7] , 1952
Box   5 Folder   3	Bombed cathedral [11] , 1953
Box   5 Folder   6	Budingen castle [7] , undated
Box   5 Folder   7	Colonge cathedral [8] , 1952
Box   5 Folder   11-17	Frankfurt [75] , 1952-1953
Box   5 Folder   23	Palmgarden, Frankfurt [6] 1953
Box   5 Folder   20-21	Limburg, personal [21] 1952, undated
Box   5 Folder   22	Miscellaneous [13] , 1952-1953
Box   5 Folder   9	Sonthofen [10] , 1952
Box   5 Folder   4-5	Burg Kaserne [24] , 1952
Box   5 Folder   24	Train trip to South Germany [9] , 1952
Box   5 Folder   25-26	Worms tour [24] , 1952
	Series: Veterans Materials	⇧
Box   2 Folder   15	10th Infantry Division and Fort Riley histories, undated
Box   2 Folder   17	Memorial lists and official programs, 1986-2005
Ov   43 Folder   5	Tribute board, undated
Box   2 Folder   18	Miscellaneous, undated
Box   2 Folder   20	Obituaries and memorial correspondence, 1986-2006
Box   5 Folder   27	John Staley, undated [6]
Box   5 Folder   16, 19	Pamphlets, undated
	Subseries: Reunions	⇧
	1986
Box   2 Folder   21-24	Correspondence Chairmen
Box   3 Folder   1-6	Planning
Box   3 Folder   7-9	1987
Box   6 Folder   1	Photographs [2]
Box   3 Folder   10	1988
Box   3 Folder   11-13	1989
Box   3 Folder   14-16	1990
Box   3 Folder   17	1991
Box   3 Folder   18-19	1992
Box   6 Folder   2-3	Photographs [28]
	1993
Box   3 Folder   20-24	Planning
Box   4 Folder   1-2	Materials
Box   6 Folder   4-6	Photographs [39]
Box   4 Folder   3	1994
Box   6 Folder   7-8	Photographs [23]
Box   4 Folder   5	1995
Box   6 Folder   9	Photographs [16]
Box   4 Folder   5-6	1996
Box   6 Folder   10	Photographs [7]
Box   4 Folder   7	1997
Box   6 Folder   11	Photographs [7]
Box   4 Folder   8	1998
Box   4 Folder   9	1999
Box   6 Folder   12	Photographs [13]
Box   4 Folder   10-11	2000
Box   6 Folder   13	Photographs [1]
Box   4 Folder   12	2001
Box   6 Folder   14	Photographs [1]
Box   4 Folder   13	2002
Box   4 Folder   14	2003
Box   4 Folder   15	2004
Box   6 Folder   15	Photographs [1]
Box   4 Folder   16	2005
Box   6 Folder   16	Photographs [2]
Box   4 Folder   17	2006
Box   6 Folder   17	Photographs [2]
Box   4 Folder   18	2012
Box   8	Audio recording, undated
	Series: Scrapbook	⇧
Box   6 Folder   18	Donation [2] , 2010
Box   7	Scrapbook, 1951-2002