By Erin Krause '16 and Rachel Grove Rohrbaugh
Title: H. Willard Good Collection, 1944-1946
ID: MSS/MSS-0001
Primary Creator: Good, H. Willard (1919-2002)
Other Creators: Aulbach, Gretchen, Aulbach, Jane, Chamberlain, Alfred, Claypool, Paul, Detweiler, George L., Dickenson, Felicia E., Downey, Alice, Downey, Dan, Ecker, Aldene, Edwin, Charles, Frazier, Charles, Good, Charles C., Good, Daniel, Good, Harper Allen, Good, Lillian R., Good, Pauline McKenzie, Good, Ramona Mae Reichard, Hall, Myril S., Hambright, Jane Arlene, Karalfa, R. H., Kuhn, Ralph A., Lloyd, Lee, McCune, Charles S., McKenzie, Leslie, Meyer, Martha H., Miller, Florence M., Miller, May, Misner, Donald, Muck, Charles, Muck, Mary, Oyler, LuElla, Rossi, Edith, Sallenberger, Avaline R., Wertz, Ella S., Zeigler, Levi K.
Extent: 3.34 Linear Feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 4 series:
Series 1. Letters to Willard Good from Various Correspondents, 1944-1946
Series 2. Miscellaneous Letters and Materials
Series 3. Letters to Willard Good from Pauline McKenzie, 1944
Series 4. Letters to Pauline McKenzie, 1944
Date Acquired: 00/00/2011
Subjects: Church of the Brethren, Civilian Public Service, Conscientious objectors, World war II
Languages: English
The H. Willard Good Collection, spanning the years 1944-1946, includes letters, newspaper clippings, tax forms, pictures, and other types of paperwork from the 1940s. The collection contains letters to and from Willard and his wife, Pauline McKenzie, who were members of the Church of the Brethren and passive objectors to World War II. The letters cover a wide range of topics including everyday life, civilian public service camps, conditions during World War II, Church of the Brethren meetings, voting, courtship and marriage, the Boy Scouts of America, Ladies Aid Meetings, and radio broadcasts from the war.
The numerous newspaper clippings contained in the collection cover topics ranging from World War II to church affairs. Many of the newspaper articles detail the events of the war, while others tell the stories of soldiers killed or missing in action. Several newspaper clippings tell stories of other passive objectors, church proceedings, and other current events. Included as an attachment to the collection is a brief biography of H. Willard Good.
H. Willard Good, born September 13, 1919 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, was the son of Harper Allen and Ramona Mae Reichard. He had two sisters, Frances P. Kuhn and Lillian R. Good, and one brother, Charles E. Good, who served in World War II as a hospital electrician. Willard himself was a passive objector of the war, and he spent the years his brother was abroad working at Civilian Public Service Camps.
Before World War II, Willard graduated from Waynesboro High School in 1937, and then he attended Juniata College, specializing in mechanical engineering. He also graduated from the Journeyman machinist Trade School of Landis Tool Co. in Waynesboro.
From 1940 to 1944, he worked in the engineering department at Landis Tool Co. On June 17, 1944, Willard married his wife, Mary Pauline McKenzie, who was from Fayetteville, Pennsylvania. At the height of World War II, from 1944 to 1946, Willard spent his time working at Civilian Public Service Camps at Bedford, Virginia and Bloomville, New York. From 1946 until 1959, Willard returned to the Landis Tool Co. and worked in their Die Head Engineering Department. Then from 1959 until his retirement in 1985, Willard worked for Pangborn Division in Hagerstown.
Both Willard and his wife, Pauline, were devoted members of the Waynesboro Church of the Brethren. Willard served as a deacon, a teacher of Sunday School Classes, and served on several church committees including the Finance and Christian Education committees. Pauline also served the Church of the Brethren for many years. She was a deaconess from 1952 until her death in 1997, and she was the pianist for the Sunday school classes.
Pauline was outlived by her husband, who died a few years later on March 25, 2002 at Waynesboro Hospital. Pauline and Willard had one son, Darwin E. Good.
Repository: Earl H. and Anita F. Hess Archives and Special Collections
Acquisition Source: Gift of Alice S. Fisher, Waynesboro, PA
Acquisition Method: Acquired by the Young Center, c. 2011.
