Mark M. Heald Papers, 1902-2017 (span)

The Mark Mortimer Heald Papers primarily document his early life in Illinois, Oberlin (1910-16), Minnesota (1916-17), and Germany and France both during and after World War I (1918-19). Specific periods of interest represented by the collection are Heald’s high school days in Illinois (1906-10), his time as a college student (1910-14), his work at Oberlin Academy and Oberlin College (1914-16), his fellowship at the University of Minnesota (1916-17), his military service (1917-1919), and Mark and June Heald’s travels to Europe in 1925. The vast majority of the material comprises correspondence, but biographical information, class and lectures notes, photographic postcards, photographs and printed materials are significant holdings as well. The collection contains just a few books, maps, and posters.

The strongest aspects of the collection are the correspondence, autobiographies, and postcards. The materials illustrate Mark’s early life when he had a strong interest in religious occupations. His letters from high school illustrate the education system, family life, and romantic relationships of early twentieth century America. Heald’s writing from Oberlin explains student and academic life at Oberlin, and his war letters reveal political attitudes and the experience of French civilians, American soldiers, and occupied Germany during and after World War I.

The collection includes the writing of not only Mark M. Heald, but also his wife June Kilts Heald. June’s letters record her family’s business and finances, her social life in Canton, Illinois, and her wartime correspondence which reveals life on the homefront. Aside from Mark and June, some twenty other authors including their parents, siblings, grandparents, children, coworkers, neighbors, and friends appear in the Heald Papers.

The Mark Mortimer Heald Papers are organized in five subgroups.

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<h1> SERIES DESCRIPTIONS</h1>

Subgroup I. Biographical Files, 1902, 1910-12, 1918, 1967, 1984, 1995, 1997, ca.

            2014, 2017, n.d.  (0.2 l.f.)

This subgroup comprises several autobiographies from members of the Heald family including Mark himself, geneaological records for both Mark and his wife June, a bound volume with some transcriptions of Mark’s letters produced by his son Mark Aiken Heald, a daily calendar (pages from which Mark enclosed in letters to his wife June and can be found with the correspondence), and a record of his expenses during his first two years (1910-12) at Oberlin. The autobiographies and transcripts of Mark and June’s World War I period letters were received as digital files on a CD-ROM. There are printed copies of the tables of contents from each autobiography as well as a full copy of Mark M. Heald’s autobiography included in the biographical files. The authors of the four autobiographies are Mark M. Heald, Charles T. Heald (Mark M. Heald’s paternal grandfather), Mary Chaffee Heald Heindel (Mark M. Heald’s sister), and Mark A. Heald (Mark M. Heald’s only child).

Any transcripts for which the original document didn’t already exist in the collection have been printed and filed with the correspondence. The rest of the autobiographies and any digital transcripts must be requested and used in the reading room (the CD-ROM can be found in the case file). The digital copies of the letters have some annotations that the original letters do not have.

<h1> Subgroup II. Correspondence, ca. 1906-14, 1916, 1918-19, 1923-24, 1931, n.d. </h1><h1>             (6.0 l.f.)</h1>

Correspondence makes up the bulk of the collection. For those interested in first-hand accounts of student life at Oberlin in the early twentieth century and military service during World War I, the first series of this subgroup is the most revealing. The original organization scheme of the papers when they were received remains largely intact.

Series 1. Letters by Correspondent, ca. 1906-14, 1918-19, 1924,                                     n.d. (5.4 l.f.)

            Series 1 is divided into three subseries: 1. Mark Heald to June Heald, 2. June Heald to Mark Heald, and, 3. Family Correspondence.

            Subseries 1, the largest in the subgroup, comprises letters and brief notes written by Mark to June from three general time periods. The earliest letters (and the earliest material in the entire collection) are from Mark and June’s time at Canton High School (c. 1906-1910). Mark did not date most of the notes he gave to June by hand. The bulk of the correspondence in the subseries was written while Mark studied at Oberlin. These letters contain vivid details about student life at the college. Records of Mark’s daily schedule as well as programs and tickets for religious, college, and community events around Oberlin often appear throughout the correspondence of this period. Lastly, the subseries contains messages written to June during Mark’s active service in World War I. He describes life in France and Germany both during and after the war.

            Subseries 2 consists of letters sent by June to Mark. With the exception of two folders of June’s letters from World War I, the material was sent from Canton to Oberlin. June primarily wrote about daily life at home and at her father’s store. In her later correspondence, she talks about her wartime work in Washington, D.C.

            The final subseries, Subseries 3, represents several writers: Mark Heald, June Kilts Heald, June’s mother Dell Kilts, Mark’s father Edward, June’s sister Frances Kilts, Mark’s sister Mary, June’s father Stanton Kilts, Mark’s mother Mary, June’s paternal grandfather Henry Kilts, and June’s maternal grandmother Margaret. Half of the subseries relates to June and her immediate family, and contains a large amount of correspondence from around the time that June went on a trip to California and the western United States. Some of June’s correspondence also comes from the World War I era. The remaining letters were written by Mark to his family during his military service. Mark enclosed some official military correspondence in his family letters.

Series 2. Other Correspondence, 1907-14, 1916, 1918-19, 1923-24, 1931                                  (0.6 l.f.)

<h1> </h1>             Apart from two letters to Mark (one from King George V of Great Britain and one from Oberlin College President Henry Churchill King), the letters in this series were written by friends of Mark and June. The authors were largely family friends, high school friends, or college friends. The material is roughly divided into letters meant for June and letters meant for Mark.

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<h1> Subgroup III. Course and Lecture Notes, 1909-14, 1916-17, n.d. (0.6 l.f.)</h1>

            Series 1.  Undergraduate, Oberlin College, 1909-14, n.d. (0.6 l.f.)

This series holds notes and class materials from Mark Heald’s undergraduate studies at Oberlin College, 1910-14. The folders are arranged alphabetically, by course title. The folder marked “Bible, 1909–10” also holds some notes apparently taken by another Oberlin student named John M. Hall in 1909 (Heald enrolled at Oberlin in the fall of 1910). One folder contains notes or talking points from two extracurricular lectures Heald attended or presented.

            Series 2.  Teaching Fellow, University of Minnesota, 1916-17, n.d. (2f)

These folders contain notes for several classes taught by Heald while he was a teaching fellow at the University of Minnesota (1916-17).

Subgroup IV. Postcards, Invitations, and Printed Matter, 1910-24, n.d. (1.2 l.f.)

            Series 1. Postcards (blank), c. 1919, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)

            Mark purchased most of the postcards in this series at the end of World War I, when he had the opportunity to travel in France and Germany prior to becoming a soldier-student at the University of Montpellier, France. He annotated the postcards and mailed them alongside letters to his wife June. The photographic postcards illustrate the small towns, historic landmarks, and destruction that Mark saw after the war. In addition to postcards from Europe, there are a number which depict places in the United States. Some cards show the camp in Virginia where Mark trained for service in 1918, while others capture the historical event surrounding the beginning of the First World War.

            Another small group of postcards illustrates the RMS Laconia, the ship that carried Mark and June to Europe in 1925. The original arrangement of the postcards suggest that Mark may have used them for pedagogical purposes when he was a professor. Their original organization incorporated written postcards. During processing, several postmarked materials were removed and filed with the correspondence in Subgroup II. The majority of the relocated materials showed views of Oberlin.

            Series 2. Invitations, 1914-15, n.d. (1f)

            Though most are undated, the invitations document a lively social life kept by Mark and June Heald during Mark’s tenure as a teacher at the Oberlin Academy and the college (1914-16).

            Series 3. Books and Printed Matter, 1910-11, 1913-14, 1917-20, 1924, n.d.

                        (0.8 l.f.)

            This series primarily holds printed matter from France after Mark became a soldier-student at the University of Montpellier, France in 1919. There is a wide range of material from his time in Montpellier, including several issues of a special newspaper

made for American soldiers at the University, The Soldier-Student.

            Although there are a few items from Oberlin throughout the series, only one folder of printed matter exclusively contains material from Heald’s undergraduate days. For individuals interested in printed matter and ephemera related to Oberlin, there is a significant amount interspersed in the correspondence.The location of the undated printed matter in the correspondence allows one to infer an approximate date for the materials which are often undated.

            There are three books in the third series: The Mistral is a yearbook including the soldier-students who were at the University of Montpellier in 1919. The other two books relate the stories of the Fourth Division and the Fifty-Eighth Infantry in which Heald served.

Subgroup V. Photographs, 1913, 1915-1920, 1925-26, 1946-47, n.d. (0.4 l.f.)

            Series 1. Portraits, 1913, ca. 1919, n.d. (3f)

            The portraits series includes single and group portraits of Mark Heald, undated. June Kilts (Heald) is represented in groups from 1913 and undated. Two portraits are unidentified, from 1919.

Series 2. Oberlin, 1920, 1946-47, n.d. (1f & 1 roll) 

Photographs taken in Oberlin include three campus buildings in 1946-47, a statue of Giles Waldo Shurtleff, undated, and a panorama photograph with Mark and June Heald at an Oberlin Club banquet in 1920. The panorama is tightly rolled and requires handling by an archivist.

            Series 3. Europe, 1915-19, 1925-26, n.d. (3f)

            This series is the largest one in Subgroup V. These photographs were primarily taken by Mark Heald during World War I. A number were taken by Mark and June Heald during a voyage to Europe in 1925-26. Almost all of the photographs from both periods have descriptions and annotations on the back.

Subgroup VI. Maps and Posters, ca. 1919, n.d. (3.58 l.f.)

Comprises three items: maps (2) of France and Europe, ca. 1919, and one French poster, undated. These are encapsulated for ease of handling.