Wagoner World War II Correspondence
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of nearly a thousand letters, written primarily during Cecil Wagoner's years in the United States Army, 1943-1946. Most of the correspondence is between Cecil and Esther Wagoner, although there are a few letters from Cecil Wagoner's father and stepmother and Esther Wagoner's father, as well as some friends and other relatives. The correspondence provides insight into life during World War II, both in the military and civilian life. Mr. Wagoner speaks of the everyday grind of Army life in his journey from camp to camp in the United States and finally to France and Germany. He also comments on the major events of the day, such as D-Day, the deaths of President Franklin Roosevelt, Benito Mussolini, and Adolf Hitler, and the end of the war in Europe. For instance, upon hearing a rumor of Hitler's death, in his letter of May 4, 1945, Mr. Wagoner states, "The radio and Stars and Stripes Forever say that the German people claim that Hitler is dead. If it is the truth, which I doubt very much, that will be two people who are out of the way." [The first being Mussolini.] His letters from the stateside camps were uncensored, but once he was sent to Europe, every letter was read by an Army censor. Few of his letters needed to be altered, but when they were, the offending passages were not blacked over, but cut out with scissors.
Esther Wagoner discusses the struggles of a young wife trying to survive on her own with little money and few close friends, all the while facing the very real possibility that her husband might never return. She writes of daily life, such as movies, people whom she visited or communicated with, the prices of items such as groceries, stamps, gas and heat, war rationing, their parents, work, gossip, the travails of their dog Jiggers, and their plans for after the war, including their hope of starting a family. The correspondence dated June 1944 to May 1945 is one-sided, with only letters from Cecil Wagoner present. Esther Wagoner's correspondence resumes in July 1945, only to disappear again after November. For the final two months of Mr. Wagoner's service in the Army, we have only his letters. There were no letters at all in June and September of 1945, the that corresponds with Mr. Wagoner's furloughs.
Dates
- 1935-1946
Creator
- Wagoner, Cecil (Person)
- Wagoner, Esther (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials entirely in English.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions. Materials are open for research.
General Use, Reproduction, and Copyright Policies
Many items housed in the Rod Library Special Collections & University Archives, including unpublished images and manuscripts, may be protected by copyright, publication rights, trademarks, or model release rights which the library does not own and for which the library cannot grant permission or licensing. Materials currently under copyright are usually still available for research and limited reproduction under Fair Use laws. However, it is the sole responsibility of the patron to determine whether or not their use of a given material falls within Fair Use guidelines and to obtain permission for said use from the rightful copyright owner.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy or similar laws, and the Iowa Open Records Law (see Iowa Code ยง 22.7). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of Northern Iowa assumes no responsibility.
Biographical / Historical
Cecil Ralph Wagoner was born on February 17, 1911, in Waterloo, to Orean F. and Bernice Wagoner. He had one brother, Harry, two stepbrothers, Gordon and William Sampson, and one stepsister, Gladys Sampson. Wagoner worked for Iowa Public Service Company from 1929-1974, except during his military service from 1943-1946. He married Esther Lamborn of Cedar Rapids on November 22, 1936. In July 1943, Wagoner enlisted in the United States Army, beginning his service at Camp Dodge, Iowa, with the rank of private. That fall he was sent to Camp Adair, Oregon, where he joined the 882nd Battalion, 70th infantry division. He was promoted to corporal in December 1943, a rank he retained throughout the war. In the summer of 1944, he moved to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and in December to an unspecified camp on the East Coast. From there he was deployed overseas from late December 1944 through mid-June 1945, serving in France and Germany. Upon his return from Europe he was assigned to Camp Bowie in Texas. He received an honorable discharge from the Army on February 1, 1946.
Esther M. Lamborn was born on May 18, 1912, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, daughter of James W. and Olive Shaw Lamborn. Esther had one sister, Fern Lucas, and a brother, Earl. She was employed for a time as a switchboard operator for Northwestern Bell in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and later worked at Iowa Public Service Company in Waterloo, Iowa. In 1974, she retired from IPS, along with her husband. Reports conflict regarding the number of years she worked at IPS. Her obituary states that she had been there for more than forty years. His obituary states it was twenty-six years, 1948-1974. However, it is clear from their letters that she was employed there during the War years. It was Wagoner's wish that she no longer work after he returned from the service, so it is possible that she quit in 1946 and then went back to work in 1948.
The Wagoners lived in Waterloo until Cecil's death from a heart attack on February 5, 1975. Esther Wagoner passed away on October 6, 2009. The couple had no children. Brief Genealogy of the Wagoner and Lamborn Families Orean F. Wagoner (1883-1967) married Bernice Gilbert (1888-1919) around 1906. They had two sons, Harry (1907-1994) and Cecil. Bernice died in 1919. Around 1920 Orean married widow Vera Lillibridge Sampson (1887-1949). She had three children by her first husband, Arlington Sampson: Gladys (1910-1941), Gordon (1911-1947), and William Sampson (1915-1968). Harry Wagoner married Garnett Carrothers (1913-1992), but there is no record of children. Gladys Sampson married Claude Ransom (1908-1997). Again, there is no record of children. Gordon married Joyce Powers (1917-1976), and they had two daughters. William married Donna Hoffman (1918-1961). They had three children. James W. "Will" Lamborn (1878-1959) married Olive Lamborn (1887-1942) sometime before 1910. They had two daughters, Fern (1910-1977) and Esther, and one son, Earl (1915-1993). Fern married Joseph Lucas (1904-1974). They had one daughter, Patricia. Earl married Bertha Hass (1914-2004). They had two daughters, Linda and Judy.
Extent
2.50 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Arrangement
Both the letters and envelopes have been retained. In all cases the envelope is filed first, immediately followed by the letter that it contained. If an envelope had an enclosure other than the letter, such as a photo, the enclosure has been moved to the files marked "Enclosures," located in Box 6. A note was left in the envelope referring the researcher to Box 6. The enclosures are filed chronologically according to the postmarks on the envelope. The postmarks were also especially helpful in putting the letters in order, because they note not only the date on which the letters were sent, but also the time of day. With the exception of postcards, there were no letters without envelopes, but there were a few envelopes without letters. These, too, have been retained, with a note that there was no letter.
For the most part, the letters are filed in chronological order by the date and time of the postmark, without regard to correspondent. Since a vast majority of the correspondence is between Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner, filing letters chronologically helps to give a sense of the back-and-forth conversation between them. Many of the letters are numbered, and almost all are dated. However, the couple's numbering system was unreliable and inconsistently applied. Some letters were numbered and some were not. When letters were numbered, the couple often forgot where they'd left off. Also, neither the number nor the date was necessarily an indication of when a letter was received and read. Delivery time was not dependable. They might receive letters written a week apart on the same day, or letters written later before those written earlier. Thus, the postmarks were the primary source of chronology. That said, in the long intervals when Mrs. Wagoner's letters have not survived, Mr. Wagoner's letters are arranged in chronological order by the date written on the letter itself.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These letters were donated to Special Collections and University Archives in October 2014 by Stacia Greve Eggers, who received them from her aunt, Patricia Lucas Swanson, a niece of Esther Wagoner.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Library Associate David Hoing, October-December 2014; updated, January 30, 2015 (GP); last updated September 27, 2017 (dh). Linear feet count updated on August 7, 2017.
- Title
- Wagoner World War II Correspondence
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script