Papers of John T. Whalen
Abstract
The papers of John T. Whalen (1898-1980) consist of fifty-five letters written by Whalen to his mother in Mt. Hebron, Maryland, between 1917 and 1918, when Whalen was in the U. S. Army during World War I. Whalen wrote from Fort Howard, Maryland; Locust Point, Maryland; Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C.; Sparrows Point, Maryland; and Fort Monroe, Virginia. The letters inquire about family matters and describe his life as a member of the Coast Artillery Corps and as a patient in the hospital. There is one additional bill dated May 1919 to John T. Whalen for an operation, although the purpose of the operation is unknown. Also included is one photograph of Whalen in uniform, ca. 1917 and two photographs of the family farm in Howard County.
Important Information for Users of the Collection
This collection is open for research.
Papers of John T. Whalen, Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
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Historical Note
John Turner Whalen was born in Maryland on June 18, 1898. His parents, Frank (b. 1850) and Priscilla J. ("Jennie") Fulton Whalen, lived in Howard County, Maryland, in the Mt. Hebron area. The Whalen family consisted of at least nine children, Mary (b. 1883), David "Fulton" (b. 1885), Frank, Jr. (b. 1888), Henry (b. 1891), Naomi (b. 1892), Rebekah (b. 1895), John Turner (b. 1898), and Robert (b. 1902).
In May 1917, at the age of nineteen, John enlisted in the Maryland National Guard in the 2nd Company Coast Artillery Corps. On August 7 of that same year, the company proceeded to Fort Howard, Maryland, during which time the entire National Guard in Federal service was drafted into the Army of the United States. During this time, Whalen spent much time in the hospital; he had a cast on his leg, most likely due to an attempt by the doctors to correct his flat feet. His foot continued to swell and to give him problems throughout his time at Fort Howard. On November 4, 1917, the 2nd Company, along with the 1st Company, was assigned the duty of guarding the piers at Canton and at Locust Point in Baltimore.
Not long after arriving at Locust Point, Whalen went to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C., for an operation to correct his flat feet. By January 1918, Whalen had returned to Locust Point. By that time, the companies had been rearranged, and Whalen was now part of the 6th Company, Coast Defenses of Baltimore. Relieved of guard duty in May 1918, the 6th Company returned to Fort Howard.
In July 1918, Whalen transferred to the 1st Anti-Aircraft Battalion. After a brief stint at Sparrows Point, Baltimore, he returned to Fort Howard in September 1918. A month later, he traveled to Fort Monroe, Virginia, for special training. This was a precursor to overseas service and the company was preparing to embark for France when the war ended on November 11, 1918. John T. Whalen received an honorable discharge on November 22, 1918.
After World War I, Whalen moved to Baltimore. According to the 1920 census, he lived with his parents; brothers, Henry and Robert; and sisters, Naomi and Rebekah; at 1502 Harlem Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland. The family hardware business, Carlin & Fulton Company, was located next door. According to the letters in the collection, the family regularly rented apartments in Baltimore City for the winter, while maintaining their house in Mt. Hebron, Howard County, Maryland. Whalen remained in Baltimore, working as a salesman for Daniel Miller Company until at least 1924.
Whalen married Jessamine Burroughs of Conway, South Carolina on April 26, 1924, and the couple settled in Wilson, North Carolina. They had one daughter, Ruth (b. ca. 1927). Whalen remained with Daniel Miller Company until the business liquidated in the 1950s, and he retired and moved with his wife to the Pamlico River. Following a stroke in his late seventies, Whalen and his wife moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, to be closer to their daughter, Ruth and her husband, Dr. Wharton Gaul. John Turner Whalen died on April 30, 1980, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, at the age of eighty-one.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The papers of John T. Whalen consist of fifty-five letters written by Whalen to his mother in Mt. Hebron, Maryland, between 1917 and 1918, when Whalen was in the U. S. Army during World War I. Whalen wrote from Fort Howard, Maryland; Locust Point, Maryland; Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C.; Sparrows Point, Maryland; and Fort Monroe, Virginia. The letters inquire about family matters and describe his life as a member of the Coast Artillery Corps and as a patient in the hospital. There is one additional bill dated May 1919 to John T. Whalen for an operation, although the purpose of the operation is unknown. Also included is one black and white photograph of Whalen in uniform, ca. 1917.
Custodial History and Acquisition Information
The University of Maryland Libraries purchased the papers of John T. Whalen from Charles Apfelbaum in February 2000. John Turner Whalen's daughter, Ruth Whalen Gaul, donated a photograph of her father as a young man in September 2003. Ruth Whalen Gaul donated two additional photographs of the family farm in March 2004.
Processing Information
Processed by Jennie Anne Levine, August 2003. Revised by Jennie Anne Levine, March 2004
The letters were removed from their envelopes and clipped to the envelopes with a strip of acid-free paper. They were then placed in acid-free folders and stored in an acid-free box
EAD markup created using EAD database in Microsoft Access. Markup completed by Jennie A. Levine.
Arrangement of Collection
The papers consist of two series.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Series 1: Correspondence, 1917-1919 (50 items)
Series I consists primarily of letters written by John Turner Whalen to his mother during his service in Maryland, D. C., and Virginia during World War I. Whalen was nineteen when he enlisted in the Maryland National Guard, and although he qualified as a marksman in October 1917, he spent much of the autumn in the hospital ward in Fort Howard, Maryland due to some complications with his flat feet. He provided his mother with news about the weather and the conditions at camp, discussing the tedium of his drills, mosquitoes, and typhoid inoculations. Whalen was also concerned about his family's situation in Howard County and urged his mother repeatedly to "try to arrange to go to Balto. this winter" (September 24, 1917). He continued to advise his family to find an apartment in Baltimore in almost every letter he wrote that autumn. The family finally moved to an apartment on Eutaw Place in December 1917.
Whalen attempted to describe the "real" news of the day, in contrast to newspaper reports. On November 3, 1917, he wrote that his company was moving to Locust Point and urges his family not to "believe the newspaper reports." A few days later, on November 6, he described their living situation at Locust Point - "bunking in [railroad] cars" - and "by the color of the mattresses on which we sleep I judge that there will be plenty of company." The population of the Locust Point area of Baltimore was predominantly German during World War I, and Whalen commented "we may have a little excitement yet. I think they did enough to satisfy themselves when they succeeded in burning Pier No. 9 about a week ago."
At the end of November 1917, Whalen transferred to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C. His hospital letters contain news about the operation on his feet and his entertaining hospital companion, Bob Garland, who "is a mighty interesting fellow, having been abroad fourteen different times." Whalen also wrote of his hopes of receiving a furlough after his discharge from the hospital. Whether or not he was successful is not known, but there is a break in the correspondence from December 18, 1917 until January 31, 1918.
In 1918, Whalen returned to Fort Howard, and his letters from there describe the environment and conditions. By July, Whalen had transferred to the 1st Anti-Aircraft Company, and, in response to his brother's questions, he wrote, "Purpose of Anti-Aircraft Co. To shoot crows, turkey-buzzards, etc. coming up the bay. Also sparrows." Whalen spent some time at Sparrows Point, Baltimore and wrote about that neighborhood; ". . .in the fashionable Aethopian [sic] section. The only white persons we see are the carpenters working on some buildings nearby."
Whalen moved to Fort Monroe, Virginia, in October 1918 to continue training, where he found himself "rather handicapped by the other men. All of them. . . have been to college. . .." He also voiced frustration with the army: "Tonight at 6:10 p.m we have to go down to the parade ground to sing. Isn't that the most foolish thing you ever heard of. . . What I need now is a little brain culture and not voice culture."
The last wartime letter in the collection is dated November 6, 1918, just a few days before the end of the war. One additional piece of correspondence, dated May 1919, is a bill for a medical operation, the nature of which is unknown, although it may be for appendix removal.
Arrangement is chronological.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correspondence, 1917 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
| Correspondence, 1918 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 2 | |
| Correspondence, 1919 | series 1 | box 1 | folder 3 | |
Series 2: Photographs, ca. 1917 (3 items)
This series consists of one black and white photograph of John T. Whalen in uniform. The photograph was taken at Christhill Studios in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, there are two black and white photographs of the Whalen family farm in Mt. Hebron, Howard County, Maryland; one is a close-up of the house, and the other is an aerial photograph of the property. Campus Photographic Services made copies of each of the photographs, and sent the originals back to the donor at the donor's request.
| Description | Series | Box / Reel | Folder / Frame | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photograph Collection -- Acc. 2003-161 (3 items), ca. 1917 | series 2 | box 1 | folder 1 | |
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Selected Search Terms
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Subjects
- Maryland -- National Guard -- History -- Sources
- Soldiers -- Maryland -- Correspondence
- Whalen, John Turner, 1898-1980 -- Correspondence.