Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1920-08-18
REPORT OF MINNESOTA
= : WAR RECORDS COMMISSION

noteworthy progress III the cOueCClOn
of records of Minnesota's part in the
World War has been made by the Min
nesOta War Records Commission, ac-.
cOrding to q report recently submitted
by Franklin r. Holbrook, secretary. J.
q Dctaised sta tenents OF the services Of
about ninety thousand Minnesota sol
dfers, sailors and marines are now on
file in the Historical Building, st. Paul,
accompanied in many cases. by SOL
diers' photographs, letters, citations,
and other papers. These records have
been arranged by counties and every
effort is being made largely through
the medium of county war records COM
mittees, to complete the file of every
county in the state.
30 A "GOld Star Roll" consisting of
detailed records of Minnesotans who
lost their lives in the service, is being
compiled by the commission in cooper
alton with the Public Safety Commits
sion. The services of Red Cross nurses,
Y. M. G. A. Workers, Knights of Co
lumbus secretaries, and other welfare
workers, are being recorded in the
same manner, <.
A growing collection of military his
toHies, soldiers publications, and re-
ports of civilian war organizations has
been gotten together as the nucleus of
state war library. In the museum
of the Historical Building have been
installed number Of interesting col
lections Of war relics. Many import
ant war agencies have. turned over to
the commission for permanent preser-
walton their original files of official cor
respOndence and recOrds-material with
which the historian can construct NOV
ing pictures, as it were, of-events from
day to day during the war. -
County war records committees, or
ganized throughout the state, have been
assisting the commission in the collec-
tioh Of records of interest to the state
as a whole, and at the same time have
been building up collections of their
own for local preservation.
These committees are financed local
" under authority of a law authorizing
county boards and other local govern
ing bodies to appropriate funds for this
purpose. Committees in the following
counties have received support as in
dicated: Ramsey, $1,000; Marshall,
Murray and Rice, $1,000 each; Mobiles,
$3.50; Lake, Nicollet and Polk, $500
each; st. Louis, $3.50; and a number
of other amounts ranging between
5000 and $500. Official county war his.
tories will be published by number
of the local committees, including
those Of Beltrami, .Chisago, Kandiyohi
LIE Sueur, Polk, Rice and Ramsey
| counties.
i. These committees are rendering valu.
able service, especially in compiling
service records. To mention but one
example: the Rice County War Rec
ords Committee has over thousand
service records; photographs, In trip
licate, Of over seventy-fve per cent Of
the local service men; complete
"Gold Star" roll; records Of, all Red
Cross nurses; photographs and files Of
records relating to all important local
war activities; and other significant
! material s5. III Z
Even In the many counties where
local publishers have summarized and
presented the main facts in book form
these committees have an important
work to do In the collection and preser
walton Of original records and Of de
tailed information which under the cir
cumstances could not be. incorporated
IN the printed books, but which never
theless ought BY III means to be pre-
served.