MG-272. PENNSYLVANIA MILITARY MUSEUM COLLECTIONS, 1789, 1856-1970, and undated.
A collection of papers removed from various artifact collections donated to the Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg. These items document the military experiences of Pennsylvanians and Pennsylvania military units from the era of the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War. Found in the collection are such items as commissions, letters, diaries, and photographs. The GENERAL COLLECTIONS include the 28th Division History Collection having folders labeled "Photographs, 491st Eng. Bri., Annual Unit Training, IGMR 1957. (Capt. Paul Friend)" Among these are five photographs of parade scenes which include African Americans. The INDIVIDUAL COLLECTIONS include several folders of material from individual donors whose names appear on the folders. Files with information on African Americans are as follows:
Edward H. Lightner Collection, 1917-1918, 1928-1931, 1952-1953, and undated. Contains several pages from the November 11, 1918 issue of the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph having advertisements recruiting either white and/or "colored" workers.
Fletcher McKnight Collection, 1906, 1912-1920 and undated. Fletcher McKnight of Fruitville, California was a Sergeant in the 28th Division who enlisted in the United States Army on May 10, 1917. Among the postcards in his collection is one from the Salvation Army entitled "At Work in the Slums" depicting two members of the Salvation Army entering a building outside of which are two African American boys and two white boys.
Jeremiah Seiders Collection, 1859-1907 and undated. Seiders was a Civil War solider from the Harrisburg area who is also identified as Jeremiah Siders in the catalog of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Recruited in Newport, Perry County, and mustered in on December 10, 1863, his collection contains two diaries, some loose papers, and a large ledger. Included in the ledger is a story written in dialect and refers to "de darkies." It is unclear what the story is based on or to what it refers. The page is dated July 16, 1865 and inscribed Charleston, South Carolina.