World War I in Northfield and Rice County Collection Guide

A guide to an online collection of digitized items from Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection (DHC) contributors that document the World War I era in Northfield and Rice County, Minnesota.

Overview

Creator: Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection.
Title: World War I in Northfield and Rice County Collection.
Dates: Originals created c. 1915-1920, with some outliers from the 1930s and 1940s. Digitized copies of many of the originals were created in 2017.
Language: Materials in English; one document in French.
Abstract: Digitized photographs, documents, and artifacts documenting the experiences of Northfield-area groups and individuals during the World War I era, at home and abroad.
Quantity: 558 unique items, including both single pages and multi-paged documents.
Location: Access files reside online via the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection. Master digital files are saved on multiple servers at the Northfield Historical Society.

Scope and Contents

Many of the Northfield-Rice County Digital History Collection’s contributing organizations in Northfield and Rice County own materials from the World War I era. Their relevant documents have been digitized and grouped together in this online set of items that share a common theme – World War I – as well as a standard set of subjects. A variety of media types is represented in this online collection, including text documents, still images, artifacts, and even sheet music. The online collection items document the experiences of individuals from the Northfield and Rice County area who served during the war in various branches of the military, in the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, and on the home front.

Item Types
Text Documents: 337 unique items, including soldier records, pamphlets, official documents, college yearbooks, letters, postcards, memoirs, minutes, bound volumes, newspaper clippings, and more.
Still Images: 135 unique items, including photographs, posters, and illustrations.
Artifacts: 41 unique items, including uniform pieces, souvenirs, buttons, clothing, equipment, medals, and more.
Notated Music: 7 unique items
Mixed Material: 8 unique items

Arrangement

The digital items are organized based on their original partner collection. The documents are fully transcribed and their descriptive metadata are full-text searchable. All items share a standard set of locally assigned subject headings so that they can be found across all partner collections.

Partner Collection Items

Carleton College Historical Documents:
Selections from the Khaki & Blue Algol Yearbook
Selections from the scrapbook of Leo H. Triponel
Carleton College history books

City of Dundas:
Dundas Band & Military Company Official Documents
Photographs of the Dundas Bowery

First United Church of Christ:
Church Service Bulletins, 1917-1919
Vesper Service Program for Fred B. Hill
Honor Roll

KYMN Radio:
Wayne Eddy Affair interview recordings with Jim Machacek and Randy Cox

Northfield Historical Society:
Photographs & Postcards
Artifacts
Northfield News Clippings
Loose Papers, Diary Transcript, Memoirs, & More
Selections from the Victory Viking Yearbook
American Legion Documents
Arthur N. Persons Letters
Fredrick A. Heiberg Letters, Photographs, Postcards
John S. Campbell Artifacts
Lawrence Gould Artifacts and Photographs

Northfield News:
Photographs of soldiers, veterans, and Red Cross parade
Resume of Service Men from Waterford

Rice County Historical Society:
Artifacts
Documents (Pamphlets, Recipes, etc.)
Posters
Scrapbook Album
Individual Soldier Records created by the Rice County War Records Committee
Record of Soldiers from the World War Ledger created by the Rice County War Records Committee

St. John’s Lutheran Church:
Excerpts from Church and Ladies’ Aid Minutes
Roll of Honor Plaque
Seventy-five Years at St. John’s book
Book of a Century, 1869-1969

St. Olaf College:
College Documents
Photographs
Homer E. Mason Letters and Photographs

Three Links Care Center:
Regimental Roster for Company M, 351st Infantry
Veterans Memorial Dedication Program

Locally Assigned Subject Headings

Access Statement

All partner organizations retain the rights to their materials on the DHC. Non-commercial uses are permitted. Other uses of the objects are governed by U.S. and international copyright law. Contact the partner organizations for permission to use this object.

Additional Resources

View all digitized items in this online collection group on the Northfield History Collaborative.