Orville Sternburgh Police Journals
Scope and Contents
The collection amounts to .50 cubic feet and is composed of four handwritten journals, 10 ½”x8”x1”. The notes are handwritten. Some books are fuller than others. The pages in the journals are in good shape, the writing is legible and although some of the ink is faded, that might be the way it was when they were first produced. The journals cover from June 13, 1922 to August 12, 1929. In 2004 a group of students from the Archives Management class did an attempt to index the journals. It is not know how complete this index is but it is a good place to begin. Orville Sternburgh was born on February 26, 1894 in Lawton. He served in the 85th Division during World War I and became a policeman in Kalamazoo in March, 1920. The journals end in 1929. According to newspaper reports, he was indicted in March, 1930 for violating the Volstead Act.
Dates
- Creation: 1922-1929
- Other: Date acquired: 11/30/2003
Creator
- Sternburgh, Orville J., 1894-1966 (Creator, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions
Extent
0.50 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection is composed of four journals compiled by Detective Orville J. Sternburgh of the Kalamazoo Police Department from 1922 until 1929.
Arrangement Note
Chronological arrangement
Source of Acquisition
Starring Endowment
Physical Description
Three of the books have spines either missing or very loose. They are placed in the box in a way that they can be lifted by the folder rather than the covers. Also Archives Management students who worked on this collection removed articles, small notes and other items that were in the journals and put them in file folders arranged according to the journal they were located. Newspaper articles have been photocopied although the original clippings were kept and separated from the copies.
Processing Information
Students from an Archival Management class produced a subject index with dates located with the collection.
Subject
- Kalamazoo (Mich.). Police Department (Organization)
- Title
- Orville Sternburgh Police Journals Finding Aid
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Lynn Houghton
- Date
- 2010-12-04
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu