The John D. Winner collection is organized into four series: Papers, Drawings, Scrapbooks, and Photographs.
Papers (1941-2007) are organized into manuscripts from Winner's service in the regular army during World War II and those from his time spent serving in the Wisconsin National Guard. The majority of his papers focus on his wartime service and are primarily made up of the letters Winner wrote home to his family between 1943 and 1946. The letters written by Winner while in basic training express his genuine dislike of southern culture, and also express his disdain for the demeaning nature of drill sergeants and the controlling atmosphere of military life. This dislike is stated in the oral history interview he gave in 1995. The negative views eventually give way to Winner describing his training, and also him hinting to concern about being sent into combat. There is a gap in letters from 1944 until Winner arrives in Europe in March 1945. None of the letters describe or mention seeing combat, and it is unlikely he witnessed any while serving in the 3rd Infantry Regiment. The letters from Europe describe his prison camp duties to some degree, but generally they reassure his mother that he is safe and eating enough food. This communication trend picks up significantly after his father, Paul, dies. Winner assumed some control of the family finances despite being overseas, with multiple letters instructing his mother to invest money in certain stocks. The letters also provide some detail to the drawings and photographs in the collection. Winner makes reference in several letters asking if his mother received drawings or photographs he sent home. He also describes the relations of American and Soviet troops. In a letter dated July 4, 1945, he states that Soviet troops were finally paid for the past several years of service and would buy American items, such as watches, cigarettes, and other goods. He also gives his ideas of the future of world politics and Soviet/American relations. He takes a sympathetic view of Soviet struggles on the world stage, and mentions that both the U.S. and Soviet Union should cooperate to rebuild Germany. His National Guard papers include several interesting documents pertaining to the activation of the 32nd Division in 1961. Several protest songs are included, along with a letter written by Winner expressing contempt for having to remain activated without knowing if the unit will be sent to combat. This activation eventually led to his retirement from the reserves. In his oral history interview, Winner mentions the activation was the reason for his retirement and also blames Kennedy for instigating the Russians.
Drawings (1945-1946) were primarily done by a Hungarian lieutenant that was associated with Winner during his time at Dietersheim prison. Winner first mentions the drawings in a letter dated May 28, 1945, saying that he has a Hungarian lieutenant working for him who was a professor at the Budapest Academy of Art. Winner mentions the drawings in letters until June 14, 1945, when he says that the artist was transferred. It is unclear if the artist was working as a guard with American forces, or if he was a prisoner at the camp. The drawings consist of portraits of Winner, usually smoking a cigar, and also include caricatures of Hungarian and German prisoners. Most of the prisoner sketches are included in the scrapbook. There are also two humorous sketches of Hitler, along with a sketch of a stereotypical Japanese man hanging onto a sign for Tokyo in intense wind. Two signs for Rome and Berlin lay broken around him. The Japanese sketch is included in the scrapbook.
Scrapbooks (1945-1946) include one book organized by Winner documenting his time serving in Europe after the end of World War II. The scrapbook mainly consists of photographs, but also contains several drawings obtained from a Hungarian lieutenant, programs for three regimental football games, and two programs of plays Winner attended. The images captioned and most are grouped together by location. The photographs are generally arranged chronologically and include images taken from the various prison camps where Winner was stationed. He also documented his tourist trips to London, Paris, and other European cities, and took numerous images of famous monuments and buildings. Winner took extensive images of the destruction in German towns such as Darmstadt, Stuttgart, and Berlin. He also took photographs of Berlin residents digging through trash for food, organizing black market trades, and former Nazi women forced to clean up the destruction in order to be fed. The scrapbook also documents soldiers celebrating the end of the war, and includes images of Winner and fellow officers enjoying the spoils of victory. There is also a series of humorous images of Winner and a fellow officer posing with statues around Darmstadt.
Photographs (1943-1962) are primarily additional loose images that compliment those in the scrapbook. Some are duplicates of images within the scrapbook, but they were retained because of additional information written by Winner about the image. The photographs also document aspects not recorded in the scrapbook, such as time spent stationed in Berlin and his return voyage to the United States in 1946, along with a few photographs taken during his service in the reserves. They are organized into those pertaining to his European service and his time with the Wisconsin National Guard. Most of the loose images are identified, either by a name, date, or description of the scenery. The majority of the photographs from his time in Europe are tourist images from cities such as London, Paris, and Berlin. Winner also documented the extensive destruction to German cities, however some of the images lack a description of the city where they were taken. There are some interesting images of Winner and soldiers relaxing and celebrating after the end of the war with wine, beer, and food. The images from his time in the reserves include shots taken in a military office and some taken during training demonstrations.
