Title: Martha Selvik Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1941-1947

Creator:

• Selvik, Martha

Call Number: WVM Mss 10

Quantity: 0.8 linear ft. (2 archives boxes and three oversized folders).

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 of Martha Selvik, who was a captain in the Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.) both during and just after World War II, serving as a military historian and at the United States Mission to Norway in Bergen. The core of the collection is a 1946 report for the General Board, United States Forces, European Theater on the W.A.C. in the European Theater during World War II, which was co-written by Selvik. The report was entitled, “Study of the Women's Army Corps in the European Theater of Operations.” Included is a partial version of the report in draft form as well as the final report, which was originally classified restricted. Also included is some material from a historical officers' conference attended by Selvik that was held in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1946. Conference material includes a 1946 history of the 501st Air Service Group, intended as an example of military history. The collection also includes some personal material, including Norwegian Labor Party newspapers obtained by Selvik while stationed in Bergen; a Minneapolis Norwegian language newspaper; a tongue-in-cheek newsletter put out by Selvik's boarding house while stationed in the Washington, D.C. area; and some poetry in English and Norwegian.

Language: English, Norwegian

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00010

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Very little is known about Martha Selvik. She served as a captain in the Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.) during World War II and for sometime afterwards. She was of Norwegian descent, spoke Norwegian, and apparently had roots in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was commissioned a lieutenant and was stationed in the Washington, D.C. area from 1941 through at least the end of 1943. Later she was stationed to the United States Mission to Norway in Bergen, after Norway was liberated from the Germans, at which point she had been commissioned as a captain in the W.A.C. While there, she made contact with Torstein Selvik, who was a reporter and later editor of Bergens Arbeiderblad, the official newspaper of the Norwegian Labor Party in Bergen. He may have been a relative of Selvik, and is apparently the source of at least some of the Norwegian poetry. Later Selvik was assigned to co-write an official report on the W.A.C. in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, which was completed in 1946. As part of this writing project she attended a conference for military historians in Wiesbaden, Germany. Some part of the writing assignment may have been concurrent with her assignment to Bergen, but in any event she apparently went back to Bergen after the writing project was completed.

The papers of Martha Selvik are divided into two series, Military and Personal.

Military (1942-1946) is comprised of material related to the study of the W.A.C. in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Documents relating to the Historical Officers' Conference include an agenda, an address presented at the conference, a few notes taken by Selvik, and a 1946 history of the 501st Air Service Group, which was apparently distributed to the military historians at the conference as a model to follow. The actual study of the W.A.C. contains a wealth of interesting material. Among the topics covered in the report are, the establishment of the W.A.C., training issues, performance of W.A.C. troops, public relations, issues relating to African-American W.A.C. troops, and recommendations for the future that are based on the conclusions of the report. The draft version of the report includes hand written comments and revisions by Selvik and her co-writers. Also included in this series is a 1942 article about the W.A.C. from the Chicago Tribune Sunday supplement, which includes color photographs.

Personal (1941-1947) is comprised of newsletters, newspapers, and poetry, much of it written in the Norwegian language. While in Bergen, Selvik picked up both newspapers and newsletters published by the Norwegian Labor Party, which are part of the collection. The Norwegian poetry, some of which was apparently written by Torstein Selvik, is printed in a broadside format. The poetry in English was written by Helen G. Nakshian and is in the form of a Christmas postcard and a chapbook, which is inscribed by Nakshian to Selvik.

Acquisition Information

Presented by James Knutson, September 8, 1993. The collection was previously known as Accession Number: Record Group 10.

Processing Information

Originally processed by Mark Van Ells in 1994, processed with additions by Jonathan Nelson in 2002.

	Series: Military
Box   1 Folder   1	Historical Officers' Conference, 1946
	“Study of the Women's Army Corps in the European Theater of Operations,” 1946
	Draft version
Box   1 Folder   2	Part 1, text
Box   1 Folder   3	Part 3, appendices 67-151
	Final version
Box   1 Folder   4	Volume 1
Box   1 Folder   5	Volume 2
Box   2 Folder   1	Volume 3
Ov   4 Folder   1	“The W.A.A.C.s are Working,” Chicago Tribune, August 23, 1942
	Series: Personal	⇧
	Newsletters
Box   2 Folder   2	Boarding house newsletter, 1941
Box   2 Folder   3	Fri Fagbevegelse, Norwegian Labor Party newsletters, 1945
	Newspapers
Ov   4 Folder   2	Bergens Arbeiderblad, Norwegian Labor Party newspapers, 1945-1947
Ov   4 Folder   3	Minneapolis Posten, Norwegian language newspaper, November 30, 1945
Box   2 Folder   4	Poetry, 1943-1947