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This collection is organized into four series: Biographical, Correspondence, Military, and Photographs.

Series 1: Biographical (1924-1981)

The Biographical series includes personal items including Ley’s birth certificate, framed high school basketball letter, and Catechism bible, as well as a handwritten copy of a poem composed by his mother for his funeral service. The series also includes an extensive scrapbook including photos, personal and educational documents, and newspaper clippings from early childhood until after his death.

Series 2: Correspondence (1939-1946)

The Correspondence series consists of three sub-series: letters written by Jimmy Ley, letters written to Ley and returned to his parents, and letters written to his parents after his disappearance. Ley’s letters are almost exclusively addressed to his parents and date from between just before he first attended Grinnell College in the fall of 1939 until his disappearance in February 1944. Ley’s letters are organized chronologically and divided into folders by location, mostly military camps where Ley was stationed. Mostly written by the families of other missing men in Ley’s flight crew, the letters to Jimmy’s parents after his death date from between November 1944 and August 1945 and are arranged alphabetically by sender’s last name.

Series 3: Military (unkown-1948)

The Military series consists of Ley’s official certificates and awards, bomb squadron yearbook, air force patch, and framed medals (Distinguished Flying Cross, 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, and Purple Heart).

Series 4: Photographs (unknown-1945)

The Photographs series includes fifteen unframed photographs, a portrait in a display folder, a framed photo collage documenting the medals Ley earned, a large framed portrait displayed at Ley’s funeral, and a large framed artistic collage of Ley’s plane and flight crew.

Records, Reports, Official Documents, and Handbooks of the Grinnell branch of the Young Women's Christian Organization.

Correspondence from William Grenzebach's time at Grinnell. May be read ONLY with permission from William Grenzebach. Researcher must contact him and explain purpose for examining the correspondence. Duration of restriction: Grenzebach's lifetime.

Mary Gae Wyly graduated from Grinnell College in 1962 and served as a librarian from 1968 to 1976.  This collection contains documents from her desk files, including one on the hiring of blacks and women, and a survey of women on campus for the improvement of Grinnell.

One bound volume detailing the proceedings of the Ionian society.

8 bound volumes containing minutes of the Lewis Society's proceedings, 1 bound volume of treasurer's records, and 1 volume containing six issues of the Argo, a publication released by the society during a three-month period in 1892.

2 hand-written volumes of secretary's minutes.

Books of poetry and short essays by Bruce Whiteman published between 1980 and 1995. Whiteman was an English department lecturer at Grinnell College.

Consists of lantern slides of late 19th and early 20th century chemical aparatus and four notebooks of chemical notes.  Professor William C. Oelke suggests that Hendrixson had equipment to copy pictures from books and may have photographed the portraits and laboratory apparatus from published material to use in his class teaching.

The collection contains versions of The Ladies' Education Society's constitution and articles of incorporation, membership, minutes, reports, and accounting from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Consists of manuscripts of talks, articles, correspondence, photographs, and slides.  Most relate to chemistry and chemists at Grinnell College in the early and mid-twentieth century.