Research Topics: World War I/World War II

Students at Concordia College have had a long history of serving in the military. During and after the student population of Concordia was significantly impacted by enlistment. After enlisted students began returning to campus after World War I was over, many filled out four page surveys that detailed their military service and rank, and often included a photograph of themselves while enlisted. The World War I collection held by the Archives consists of these documents and photographs and is arranged in three groups.

• The first group, General, contains a copy of the book In the World War: Clay County, Minnesota which details students and faculty who enlisted in the war as well as other groups in Clay County that were active during the war. It also contains blank surveys and records that were used by the Concordia College Historical Society and correspondence from the Concordia College Historical Society regarding their deceased veteran project.
• The second group, Questionnaires, contains the completed student military questionnaires and the student photographs.
• The third group, Student Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C), contains correspondence between then Concordia President, J.A. Aasgaard, and the U.S. War Department, the Fargo/Moorhead Community, enlisted students, and the American Red Cross.

The World War II led to the population of Concordia greatly decreasing. During the active years of the war, the majority of students on campus were women because so many men in the community had enlisted and been deployed. Upon the end of the war, the population of students exploded and Concordia was faced with an interesting problem, a lack of housing. This collection is arranged into five groupings of documents.

• The first group, Publications/Newsletters of the Committee on Relations to Armed Forces, contains a newsletter that provided updates on activities and students to the enlisted students who were overseas.
• The second group, Questionnaires of WWII Veterans who Attended Concordia, contains surveys, photographs and letters written by enlisted Concordia students. A primary figure in this group is the math professor Mae Anderson who started the letter writing campaign to students.
• The third group, General, contains general publications about WWII written by Concordia faculty and staff during the war time, newspaper clippings about the war and enlisted students, and miscellaneous clippings and photographs.
• The fourth group, Cobber Men and Women Card List, contains a small card catalog of enlisted student information including service records, names and dates of birth, family names and information and graduation information.
• The fifth group, Research Papers, contains papers written by a group of students in the 1990s and early 2000s about Concordia student participation in WWII.

All materials are available for research at the Concordia College Archives. Digitized resources, including digitized WWI and WWII photographs, are listed and linked below.
Resources:

• Record Group 20 Finding Aid
• ​On Firm Foundations Grounded
• Concordia Revealed (Contains WWI and WWII Photographs)