Category James J. O’Donnell (1918-2010): Picture Collection

Dad’s Pocket Phone Book: 1940s

A small (3 ½”x 2 ½”) leather bound book listing Dad’s friends, family, and acquaintances. It also includes a number of entries for Kortsch family members and lists Mom’s measurements on the last page (18½ inch waist), showing comfortable familiarity,…

Dad’s Friends

Dad’s closest friend, Jim O’Herrin (1918-1936), died young, when Dad was a high school senior. Afterward, he remained close to Jim’s younger brother, Bill (1920-2009), and the O’Herrin family. After Dad’s mother died in 1944, Mrs. O’Herrin wrote an affectionate letter…

Dad: Boy Scouts (1932-1934, 1959)

Dad’s Personal Health merit badge certification (second picture), as well as five of those for Robert Quinn, who graduated from Gesu Grade School with him in 1932 and must have been a friend. Why Dad had them is a mystery.…

Dad’s Baby Book (1918-1919)

Five-page booklet on cardboard stock, supplied by Hartman Furniture and Carpet Company, on West Water Street. With, of course, a recommendation to buy a Hartman’s baby carriage. Dad was born at home, 1219½ Clybourn Street, at 10:28 (presumably a.m.). Weight…