Jack Stickney in London, 1915. Folder 1-15, photo 28.
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI. Here at Rare Books & Special Collections (RBSC), we have a number of items and collections related to the war, and thought we would observe the war’s centennial by highlighting a few for you in a series of blog posts.
RBSC holds the papers of many WWI soldiers, offering glimpses into the experience of those who were on the front, as well as their loved ones back home. Among these are the papers of Jack Stickney, one of the first Canadians sent overseas to fight in the war. This fonds contains material from Jack’s life leading up to the war – when he moved from the United States to Canada – through his time overseas, as well as correspondence and other documents produced after his death. Jack died in action in December 1915.
Much of the material is personal in nature. Reading these original letters, looking through his wartime diary, holding his dog tags and the telegram sent to his mother informing her of the death of her son – these all provide insights into the war experience that you can’t get from a history book.
Here are a few highlights from the collection.
A letter to Jack’s sister, dated April 28, 1915, written while he was in a trench (left), and a typed copy of this letter made later by Jack’s family (right). Click on the image to open up a full size version that you can read:
Folder 1-12
Folder 1-12
The telegram sent to Jack’s mother, informing her that her son had been killed:
Telegram to Jack’s mother. Folder 1-08.
Telegram envelope. Folder 1-08.
If you would like to get to know this soldier a little better, visit RBSC and take a look through his papers for yourself. A full inventory of the Jack Stickney fonds is available online at http://rbscarchives.library.ubc.ca/index.php/jack-stickney-fonds.
Just hearing this letter from my great grandson makes me want to cry.
Thank you for putting this up on your website so other people can learn from it.
Hello,
I saw this shortly after it was posted, and it means so very much to us. Jack was my husband’s great uncle, who he never got to know.
We would have never known about the collection, had you not written of it, nor would we have ever known his likeness.
Jack was American, born and raised in Wisconsin, and followed one of his sisters to Canada, where I believe he worked for the park service. His father, Charles (C.H.) was born in Maine, served in the American Civil War, was injured in Louisiana, became a lumberman in WI, married Clara Gregg, raised a family, then retired in Saint Cloud, FL, where he is buried. Clara joined her daughter in Canada and is buried there.
My husband is P. Eric August, grandson of Alice Stickney Kafka (Jack’s sister). Alice was an artist; she married Otto Kafka in NY, who was the first cousin of author Franz Kafka. According to Canadian professor Anthony Northey, two characters in Franz Kafka’s novel ‘Amerika’ are based upon his cousin Otto. They were all adventurous folk; sturdy and bold in a way we can only admire.
We have only one tiny smudged photo of Alice, but honored her by placing a stone with her name upon her father’s grave at Mt Peace Cemetery in St Cloud, FL. We have no other photos of family, and have wondered if any others exist in the special collection.
We have called and emailed the library, to no avail.
Because many members of our family traveled often and lived in different countries, genealogical research has been challenging.
Thank you for putting some of these pieces together, and bringing some comfort.
Kindest Regards,
Lynev August, USN, Ret