Manuscript Group 387
RAYMOND HOFFMAN COLLECTION
of RECORDS of the
SOCIETY OF THE 28TH DIVISION, AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES,
1918, 1944-1970.
1.5 cubic feet
Colonel Raymond Hoffman served as Secretary of the Society of the 28th Division,
American Expeditionary Forces, which was organized to promote ties of patriotism
and comradeship among the men who served in the Keystone Division during World
War I. The 28th Division was initially organized as the 7th Division in 1916,
serving in the Mexican Border Incidents. In July 1917, the 7th was called for
active duty in World War I, and in October 1917, was reorganized into the 28th
Division. The 28th Division served in France in World War I, earning the nickname
"The Iron Division," and then again served in World War II and Korea. In
the early 1930s, land in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania was given to the State in order
to create a shrine commemorating the service of the 28th Division in World War
I. The shrine was officially dedicated in the 1940s, and following the Second
World War, and tablets denoting individual service were placed there by the Society
of the 28th Division. In the 1960s, the Pennsylvania Military Museum, an agency
of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, was built on the site of
the 28th Division Shrine. Exhibits at the Museum honor Pennsylvania's "citizen
soldiers" from the Revolutionary War to current conflicts overseas.
The collection consists of the following:
Correspondence of the Hoffman Family
Financial Records
Nitrate Negatives, approximately 200, of the World War I Era
Official Records of Statutes, relating to both the Society of the 28th Division and the establishment of a Commonwealth managed 28th Division Shrine, now the Pennsylvania Military Museum
Photographs
Proceedings of Society Conventions
Publications
Related records may be found in RG-13, The Pennsylvania Military Museum Collection
(MG-272), and the Governor Martin Papers (MG-156).
General Files, 1918, 1944-1970. (3 boxes) {#387m.1} [Holdings]