Browse Collections (9 total)
-
American Public University System History
This collection contains items that document APUS history from its founding in 1991 to today. The collection’s archived items include digitized course catalogs, photographs, event programs, and advertisements. The American Public University System History collection contains a sample of items that represent the larger collection housed at the Richard G. Trefry Archives.
Contributors: APUS Marketing, Facilities, and Academics
View the items in American Public University System History -
Lt. Gen. Richard G. Trefry
This collection consists of personal papers, photographs, and other ephemera donated by Lt. Gen. Richard G. Trefry. General Trefry, a board member of American Public University System since 1995, donated close to 250 thousand documents in 2011. With over 200 thousand documents processed and digitized, General Trefry still continues to donate to the physical collection.
View the items in Lt. Gen. Richard G. Trefry -
Henry Maas Lithographs
The Henry Maas lithographs of World War II aircraft are reproductions of Maas’s original dry-point etchings and are a part of a series of 30 plates made after 1945. These lithographs were collected and printed by the artist in 1976 under the series name, United States Air Power, 1939-1945. They depict various aircraft designed and used by the United States and her allies during World War II.
View the items in Henry Maas Lithographs
Born in Wisconsin on November 4, 1903, Maas moved to the San Francisco area in the 1920s. He was actively engaged as a free-lance artist from 1924 to WWII, creating general illustrative work for various advertising agencies and publications such as Standard Oil’s Bulletin. He specialized in aviation art. After WWII, Maas established a home studio working in other types of media: pencil, watercolor, and oils, with his primary focus still being aviation. He passed away on September 22, 1994.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University donated this collection to APUS in 2013. -
Global War on Terror Collection
The Trefry Archives presents a curated collection records from its collection related to the Global War on Terror.
View the items in Global War on Terror Collection
The Global War on Terror stems directly from the events of the attacks of 9/11 and America's subsequent involvement to play a greater role in combating terrorism around the world. This increase in hostilities will primarily manifest themselves with America entering wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, there were other areas that were touched by the War on Terror including Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Lybia, Mali, Somalia, and others.
While not an official classification, the War on Terror became a catchall phrase for the United States' struggle to combat Islamist fundamentalism around the world and it encompasses the many different iterations that these conflicts took from the days after 9/11 on to the present. America's War on Terror had two major fields of operations: Afghanistan and Iraq.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 as a means to deny Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden a safe base of operations, which the Taliban government in Afghanistan provided. After the removal of the Taliban from political power, an international security force was established a large contingent that consisted of American troops, which remain there to this day. The War in Afghanistan has also been referred to Afghanistan War and various phases were known as Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom's Sentinel.
The Iraq War began in March 2003 with the United States-led coalition invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein's control of the entire country. The coalition quickly defeated Iraqi forces, but in the vacuum of a government a bitter religious civil war broke out. For the remainder of the 2000s, United States combat forces remained in an effort to provide stabilization in the country. The last combat troops were withdrawn in 2011. There was controversy surrounding the original basis for the Iraq War which centered around Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program or lack thereof.
The War on Terror also produced concerns for how enemy combatants from Afghanistan, Iraq, and other fronts of the war on terror were treated while in United States custody.
The Trefry Archives' War on Terror collection highlights all of these aspects of the conflict by providing access to hard to find and never before released reports, memos, studies, briefings, and more. These records preserve and inform the legacy of these conflicts.
The records here have been collected from the personal papers of LT GEN Richard G. Trefry, USA (Ret), who donated his records to American Public University Systems (APUS). The records in the collection are public records that have been released and are freely available elsewhere. They are housed in the Trefry Archives at APUS in Charles Town, WV. -
Community Digital History: Podcasts
The Trefry Archives is proud to present a new archival collection available through its online exhibits site. As part of a new community history project to document and collect items and stories related to the area to help preserve it's rich history, the Archives has been collecting podcasts related to Jefferson County, West Virginia, where APUS is headquartered.
View the items in Community Digital History: Podcasts
The project serves many purposes. Primarily it is to preserve the voices and stories of local residents from the recent past. It is important that these voices are collected and maintained now so that future generations can understand and learn from them.
The collection consists of 22 different podcasts and 34 total episodes from those podcasts. These represent a diverse cross-section of Jefferson County touching upon politics and history, local businesses and organizations, art and recreation, pottery and gardening, etc. The collection also shows the many different types of podcasts that there are. The interview style, recordings of live events, or just friends sitting around talking.
The podcasts in the collection highlight life in Jefferson County. They include Summit Point poet Steve Scafidi reading his poetry and interviews with Shepherdstown comic artist Danielle Corsetto. Local businesses have been producing podcasts such as Two River Treads in Ranson, a running store who interviews runners from around the area, and Friends That Carry On, a travel podcast by the travel company of the same name based out of Shepherdstown. Charles Town's Bob O'Connor produced a long running podcast on the Civil War, Chronicles of the Civil War, and his episodes that dealt with local history are represented here. Other aspects of local history particularly dealing with Harpers Ferry and John Brown's raid are covered by the West Virginia based podcast, The Wild and Wonderful Podcast. In addition, there are podcasts that take listeners inside some of the area's recreational offerings such as the Summit Point Motorsports Park and Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. The collection includes paranormal tales of the area from the story of Middleway's the legend of the Wizard Clip to ghost activity in Shepherdstown.
Nearly all of those podcasts that have been preserved we have received permission from the creators to preserve and make publicly available through our collections site. For those we did not hear back from, a preservation copy has still been maintained by the Archives but not being made publicly available. A link has been provided to where you can find a copy of the podcast online.
This is an active and growing collection and new podcasts and episodes of current podcasts will be preserved as they are either created or discovered. -
Battle of Manila Photographs
The Trefry Archives presents a collection of snapshots taken by an unknown American G.I. in the days or weeks following the Battle of Manila during World War II. These 12 photos show the breathtaking destruction of the city and the impact that it had on its inhabitants.
View the items in Battle of Manila Photographs
World War II brought with it destruction and devastation that likes of which have not been known by modern mankind. Millions perished either through the acts of Fascist regimes or through the churn of militaries, civilian and soldier alike. Whole cities would be leveled, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden.
Manila, the "Jewel of the Orient", was another such city that faced near annihilation during the war. But unlike the devastation wrought upon those other cities in Japan and Germany, Manila's destruction did not come from above but through a vicious month of some of the most intense urban combat seen in either the Pacific or European theaters. Street by street, building by building, Japanese forces contested the advancing allied forces of Filipino and American troops in a month long Battle the wrecked the city and punished its inhabitants. As the last building fell to the American forces early in March of 1945.
The damage to the Philippines capital was near total. Anywhere from 100,000 to 250,000 civilians died as a result of either mass executions perpetrated by Japanese forces or through American bombardments. Seemingly no building was left untouched.
To provide context to the photographs, we have created a story map that places the photos in their locations around the city of Manila and as you click on the pictures will walk you through how the battle progressed.
The Archives would like to thank John Tewell and the valuable assistance he provided in identifying buildings in the photographs as well as providing background information. If you are interested in additional photos of Manila and Filipino culture, please check out his Flickr page. -
Local History Collection
This collection is dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the community where APUS headquarters is located in Charles Town, WV.
View the items in Local History Collection
Charles Town is the county seat of Jefferson County, West Virginia located in the state's Eastern Panhandle and around 60 miles outside of Washington, DC.
The area around Charles Town falls generally within the Shenandoah Valley, with the Shenandoah River running not far away from the town. Prior to European colonization, the area was mostly used as hunting ground and thoroughfare for the Native American tribes.
European settlers arrived in the early decades of the 18th Century. George Washington and his family took particular interest in the region. They owned a lot of land in the county and built many large houses which are still around.
Charles Washington, younger brother of George, donated the land to build the town of Charles Town, which bears his name.
This collection showcases photographs and images, postcards and other material that document the history of the region. It has been available in large part by generous donations from Paul Rich, of the Policy Studies Organization. -
Oral History Collection
The APUS History Department in conjunction with the Trefry Archives are proud to present a series of oral histories conducted by APUS students with members of the APUS community who have served in the Armed Forces. Chronicling and preserving their stories for research into military history.
View the items in Oral History Collection -
New Hampshire Troubadour
The New Hampshire Troubadour was a monthly publication published by the New Hampshire State Planning and Development Commission that ran originally from 1931 to 1951. The small magazine was used as a means of promoting life and tourism in New Hampshire through its compact stories and picturesque photography. What began as a passion project for the initial editor, Thomas Dreier, the New Hampshire Troubadour came to capture the spirit and lushness of country life in New Hampshire. The magazine was geared towards city residents with the aim of bringing and promoting the joys of New Hampshire living to them. Dreier was an advertising copywriter and business magazine publisher who fell in love with New Hampshire, seeing it as an oasis from city life, from the Great Depression. New Hampshire with its rustic living and country living enraptured Deier who combined that fervor with his professional acumen to create this advertisement for New Hampshire in the form the New Hampshire Troubadour. He enlisted fellow advertising writers and executives from New York City to help write and craft the magazine and turn it into an early form of tourism literature and advertising, the kind of which is so prevalent today. Following Dreier's tenure, the next editors, Don Tuttle and Andrew Heath, would carry on promoting the New Hampshire way of life. These magazines are a part of the LTG Richard G. Trefry Collection held at the Trefry Archives at APUS. General Trefry was born in New England and lived for a time in New Hampshire and also attended Dartmouth University in New Hampshire prior to and just after service during WWII.
View the items in New Hampshire Troubadour