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Herman D. Greenstein Diary and Notebook
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Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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Herman Daniel Greenstein was born December 12, 1893, in Houston, TX. He was a private, Company C 302nd Field Signal Battalion, American Expeditionary Forces, employed in constructing and repairing wiring in the firing zone. He married Hannah Berkowitz shortly before WWI, and they had six children, Philip, Alfred, Irving, Regina, Thelma, and Herman. After the war, Greenstein operated a radio store in Philadelphia. Greenstein died February 5, 1932.
Herman Greenstein's diary contains short, abbreviated entries describing the daily weather conditions, his general mood, preparations at Camp Upton in New York and subsequent travel aboard the R.M.C. Carmania to Liverpool, England, and general movements of his platoon through France for the year 1918. The January 13-23 entries were written by Herman's wife, Hannah. Also included in the back of the diary is a list of names and addresses. The notebook contains a detailed account of Company C, fourth platoon's May 1918 journey from Éperlecques to Arras, France, and the subsequent air raids they experienced there, short poems, Morse code sequences and prefixes, and other miscellaneous notations. There are typed copies of the diary and notebook, both of which are undated.
Donated by Alfred Greenstein in 1991. Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared in November 2017 by Jessica M. Lydon, Associate Archivist.
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- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
- Finding Aid Date
- December 2023
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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The Herman D. Greenstein Diary and Notebook is the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.