Personal Narrative 3D Object Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Software, E-Resource Otto Ferdinand Leven Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
- Branch of Service: Army
- Unit of Service: Company E, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Division
- Location of Service: Camp Travis, Texas; Camp Mills, Long Island, New York; England; France
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/49807
Otto Leven served in the army during World War I. He was of hearty German stock (his parents immigrated to America around 1886) and spent most of his twenty-three civilian years on his family's farms in Kay County and Newkirk, Oklahoma. Drafted in October 1917, he was assigned to the 90th Infantry Division and served in the 357th Regiment. Leven apparently wrote home copiously, his surviving letters projecting earnestness charm, and enthusiasm. Leven was mortally wounded while on patrol on September 29, 1918 and died two days later. His last letters home offer the reader an irony created by the contrast between Leven's generally cheery prose and the harshness of war. The irony is further defined by Leven's description of a dream he has where he envisions his mother and sister laying out his clothes.
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About this Item
Title
- Otto Ferdinand Leven Collection
Names
- Leven, Andrew A
- Leven, Otto Ferdinand
Home State
- Oklahoma
Headings
- - Leven, Otto Ferdinand
- - World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Army.
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Status
- veteran
Service History
-
World War, 1914-1918
- Branch of Service: Army
- Unit of Service: Company E, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Division
- Location of Service: Camp Travis, Texas; Camp Mills, Long Island, New York; England; France
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Dates of Service: 1917-1918
- Entrance into Service: Drafted
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Manuscript: Correspondence [17 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1917-1918)
- Manuscript: Correspondence [6 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1918-1919)
- Artifact: Artifact [1 item] -- (collected 1918-10)
- Photograph: Digital print [4 items] -- Photograph (collected 2014-09)
- Photograph: Copy photographic print [4 items] -- Photograph (collected 1916-1917)
- Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- Handwritten document (collected 1918)
- Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [5 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1916-1919)
- Manuscript: Correspondence [4 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1918-08)
- Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- Handwritten document (collected 1918)
- Manuscript: Civilian papers (certificates, forms, wills, etc) [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1919-01-27)
- Manuscript: Clippings [4 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1918-2008)
- Manuscript: Correspondence [17 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1917-1919)
- Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [25 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1918-2003)
- Manuscript: Biography [1 item] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 2007-02)
- Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1918)
- Manuscript: Correspondence [17 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1917-1918)
- Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- Handwritten document (collected unknown)
- Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [5 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1918-1922)
- Manuscript: Correspondence [6 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1918-1919)
- Photograph: Photocopy of Photographic Print [3 items] -- Photograph (collected 1917)
- Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected 2007-02-11)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/49807
Cite as
- Otto Ferdinand Leven Collection (AFC/2001/001/49807), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- image