American Legion Post #170 Records

Name of the Collection

American Legion Post #170 Records, 1919?-2005
Accession # 2008.002
.20 cubic feet

Provenance of the Collection

The contents were created by members of the American Legion Post # 170.  The Deed of Gift was signed on April 16, 2018 by Ray Paynter, Post Commander but the files were donated at an earlier date.

Organizational History

The Mineral Point Post #170 was chartered on December 31, 1919.  The post was named for Homer and Lee Parkinson, brothers from the Mineral Point area who died in World War I.  The Legion Hall was purchased in 1936.

The national American Legion was founded in 1919 at the end of World War I to serve veterans of all the American armed services who fought in that war.  Membership was initially open only to men who had been in one of the American branches of the military at home or abroad at some time during World War I.  In the 1940's the national organization changed its by-laws from “war” to “wars”.  Membership is now open to any honorably discharged veteran and current personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard who has served at least one day during any major conflict as defined by the American Legion.  A subsidiary organization is open to male descendants of veterans, called Sons of the American Legion.  A woman’s auxiliary was also founded in 1919 for the wives and daughters of veterans.

The American Legion was chartered by Congress and is organized by states and US territories.  The Legion runs a program known as Boys State which is an annual civics event held within each state.  Girls State is run by the American Legion Auxiliary.  The Legion conducts a number of other programs geared to youth and the local community, the most well-known is the baseball program and its support of VA hospitals.  The Post produces a Veterans Day program.

Scope and Contents Notes

The collection consists of: Series I, Administrative Files; and Series II, Publicity Files.  The records arrived in a 3-ring binder.  The documents were removed from the binder and placed in archival folders.

Series I includes background on American Legion ceremonies, a small amount of correspondence, a single receipt in the financial records and five brief histories of the Post.  This series also contains programs and menus for Veterans' Day events as well as 3 membership directories.

An extensive file of press clippings is included in Series II.  These are arranged in chronological order.

The collection's photographs have been moved to the Mineral Point Library Archives Photograph Collection. Please see the Archives Curator for access.

Restrictions

None.

Box Inventory of the Collection

Box # Contents of Folders Date Span
Series I. Administrative Files
1 Background Material no date
1 Correspondence 1978-1995
1 Financial Records 1956
1 History of the Post 1936-1979 (incomplete)
1 Program File 1941-2002, no date (incomplete)
Series II. Publicity Files
1 Press Clippings 1919-2005, no date (bulk 1979-2005)


Collection Arranged by Shan Thomas, 2016
Finding Guide Written by Shan Thomas, 2018