SHARON GRIMES:
An Inventory of the Dickey/Grimes family collection of wartime letters and family papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Grimes, Sharon, compiler. | |
| Title: | Dickey/Grimes family collection of wartime letters and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1895-1994 (bulk 1943-1969). | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Includes wartime letters received by Shirley M.E. Dickey and her daughter Sharon Dickey (later Sharon Grimes) of New Ulm, Minnesota. Includes letters between Shirley Dickey and husband Harrison E. Dickey, while Harrison served in World War II and the Korean War (1943-1956), and letters and audio correspondence between Walter B. Siegmann and his then-girlfriend Sharon Dickey, while Siegmann was serving in the Vietnam War (1967-1969). Also included are miscellaneous Dickey family letters and photographs (undated, 1895, 1928, 1953-1975), clippings, postcards, and passports and identification of Harrison and Shirley Dickey (1980, 1993-1994). | |
| Quantity: | 3 cubic feet (3 boxes) and 1 master audio file: WAV (280 MB) and 1 user audio file: MP3 (42.5 MB). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Harrison E. and Shirley M.E. Dickey
Harrison E. Dickey was born in Watonwan County, Minnesota in 1916. Shirley Grimes was born in Eden Prairie, Minnesota in 1925, and was raised in Minneapolis.
Harrison served in World War II and the Korean War in non-combat positions as U.S. Army Sargent. He was stationed in Germany in the 1940s. He married Shirley Grimes in 1947. Two years after World War II ended, Shirley joined Harrison in Germany. Harrison was later stationed in Japan and Korea in the 1950s.
Around 1964, Harrison retired from the Army, and the family settled in New Ulm, Minnesota. Together they raised three children: Sharon, Thomas, and Gene. Shirley Dickey worked at Martin Luther College (1966-1990), and was highly active in her community.
Walter B. Siegmann and Sharon Dickey
Walter B. Siegmann was Private First Class in the U.S. Army, serving in the Vietnam War. He lived in New Ulm where he worked for the Veterans Administration following the war. While serving in Vietnam, he dated Sharon Dickey (later Grimes). They met when Siegmann was an announcer at KNUJ radio station in New Ulm. Siegmann was a musician, and played in several polka bands.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Dickey/Grimes Family Collection of Wartime Letters and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 17,860
Location of Master Files:
Digital master of the audiovisual material is maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and is managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.
The original audio reel was disposed after being digitally reformatted into a WAV file.
Processing Information:
Processed by: Leif Kopietz, June 2022.
Digital audiovisual file transferred from the master audio reel by the Minnesota Historical Society for preservation purposes (June 2022).
Digitization was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 9989820540204294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| 154.K.2.5B | 1 | Letters from Shirley Grimes to Harrison Dickey, 1943-1946. 3 folders. | |||||||||
| Letters from Shirley Dickey to Harrison Dickey, 1947-1948, 1952, May 1954-June 1955. 13 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 154.K.2.6F | 2 | Letters from Shirley Dickey to Harrison Dickey, July 1955-October 1956, 1959 March-April. 5 folders. | |||||||||
| Letters from Harrison Dickey to Shirley Dickey, 1948 September-November. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Telegrams from Harrison Dickey to Shirley Dickey, November 16-17, 1948. | |||||||||||
| Telegram sent to Sergeant Harrison Dickey regarding money order, April 13, 1949. | |||||||||||
| Picture letter from Korea sent from Harrison Dickey to Shirley Dickey, August 1954. | |||||||||||
| Letter from Harrison Dickey to Shirley Dickey, January 13, 1956. | |||||||||||
| Letter from CPL. Calvin T. Janish to M/SGT Harrison E. Dickie, March 7, 1955. | |||||||||||
| Passports and Department of Defense identification: Harrison and Shirley Dickey, 1980, 1993-1994. | |||||||||||
| Postcards: The John Taylor Grimes House, Edina, Minnesota, and the Edina Mills, 1975. | |||||||||||
| Letter and items from Harrison's and Shirley's children, undated, 1965. | |||||||||||
| Clippings, 1945, 1960. | |||||||||||
| Letters from Walter B. Siegmann to Sharon Dickey, September 1967-January 1969. 5 folders. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 154.K.2.7B | 3 | Letters from Walter B. Siegmann to Sharon Dickey, January 1969-December 1969. 10 folders. | |||||||||
| Internet | Audio correspondence between Walter B. Siegmann and Sharon Dickey, approximately 1967-1969. 1 master audio file: WAV (280 MB) and 1 user audio file: MP3 (42.5 MB). | ||||||||||
Digital audio
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| Box | |||||||||||
| 154.K.2.7B | 3 | Vietnam Christmas program, clippings, Christmas card to Walt, and letter from Colonel Marcus W. Hagen, 1968. | |||||||||
| Letters from Gene and Debbie Dickey to Tom Dickey, 1971, 1975. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous family letters and items, undated, 1895, 1928, 1953. | |||||||||||
| Includes postal card sent to Gulluck A. Rudi Berg regarding remittance payment (February 6, 1895); invitation to the Annual Meeting of the Lonsdale Rural Fire Association sent to Elton A. Oppergard (maternal great uncle to Sharon Grimes, undated); letter sent from Castelegar, British Columbia to John O. Berg of Lonsdale, Minnesota (May 17, 1928); and scam letter sent to Ruth Champion (maternal great aunt of Sharon Grimes, December 10, 1953). | |||||||||||
| Photographs, undated, 1930s-1960s. | |||||||||||
| Original photographs were returned to the donor. Photographs were digitized and photocopies were printed. | |||||||||||
| Includes Dickey/Grimes family photographs and Walter Siegmann with the family while he dated Sharon Dickey, and his time at KNUJ radio station in New Ulm, Minnesota, and his deployment in Vietnam. | |||||||||||
Digital version
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RELATED MATERIALS
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal narratives.
- Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives.
- Persons:
- Dickey family
- Dickey, Gene, author.
- Dickey, Harrison E., author.
- Dickey, Shirley Martha Elizabeth, author.
- Dickey, Thomas.
- Grimes family
- Siegmann, Walter B., author.
- Organizations:
- United States. Army -- Military life.
- Places:
- New Ulm (Minn.) -- Social life and customs.
- Document Types:
- Photographs.
- Sound recordings.
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