Ross C. Allen Letters

Collection

Identifier: MS A3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Letters from Corporal Ross C. Allen, Squadron A, United States Army, Herington Army Airfield, Kansas, to his parents Dr. and Mrs. Ross C. Allen in Kirksville, Missouri. The letters were written as the base was being deactivated at the close of World War II. They are all "staying in touch" letters, written on a daily, sometimes twice daily, basis. Ross chats about things he is doing at work and leisure, places he goes on his weekends away from base, popular radio shows, the latest movies, his musical activities, and friends at home, at the college, and on base.

Dates

Creation: 1945

Creator

Allen, Ross C., 1921-2003 (Person)

Note on Use of Collections

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Copyright

The letters are protected under US Copyright Law as it pertains to unpublished works. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Board of Governors for Truman State University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.

Researchers further agree to indemnify and hold harmless Truman State University, Pickler Memorial Library, and their officers, employees, and agents from and against all suits, claims, actions, and expenses arising out of use of collections held by the library.

Biographical Note

Corporal Ross C. Allen (1921-2003) was a Kirksville, Missouri, native who graduated from Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University) with a BS in Education in 1942. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Force and spent the next three years at Herington Army Air Field where he was Chaplain's Assistant and the base chapel organist. He joined the music faculty at Indiana University (IU) in 1953 as instructor in opera history and stage direction and as stage director for the IU Opera Theatre. He was also host of "Your Sunday Opera" on the university station WFIU, and continued that weekly broadcast several years after his retirement in 1988. He died in Bloomington, Indiana, on December 30, 2003.

His father Dr. Ross C. Allen (1884-1975) was a well-respected Kirksville dentist from 1916 through the late 1960s. He was a 1910 graduate of the First District Normal School (later the Teacher's College) and a 1916 graduate of the Washington University School of Dentistry in St. Louis.

His mother Floy Naomi (Howley) Allen (1887-1977), a native of Brashear, Missouri, studied organ at the Conservatory of Music in Quincy, Illinois, after graduating from Kirksville High School. She was First Methodist Church's organist for over 50 years.

Extent

0.2 linear feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is organized into four series.

Administrative/Biographical
Letters, 1945 September
Letters, 1945 October
Letters, 1945 November

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was a gift of Diane Richmond, Kirksville, MO, on behalf of her parents-in-law, Richard L. and Peggy Richmond, and their family.

Processing Information

Only clearly identifiable people and items of note with letter or postmark date (not necessarily the date of event) are included in descriptions. More often than not, Allen refers to individuals by given or surname only, rarely both, so they are unidentified and events connected with them have little context.