Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
J.E. Rindt of the 21st Special Battalion wrote to his wife, Mrs. Joe Rindt, and posted the note on January 22, 1944. The image's front side includes the logo and slogan of the United States Naval Construction Battalion known as the Seabees.
The back reads, "Just finished eating -noon chow- La Junta, Colo. – No diners because of [?] the system of hotels and cafes – good meal – best since I left home – looks like a large town going to look around when I mail this. Only bad part of this type of eating is that we have to put on our dress blues each time we eat – guess next's Las Vegas, Nev. or Albuquerque, New Mexico – Love Joe.
There seems to be a theme running in Archival Anecdotes as of late. Over the past few weeks I have shared insights into the lives and contributions of folks who helped charter the Eddy County Museum. It turns out that some of those early members made their contributions in pairs, like Alice and Joe Rindt.
If I were to go back to 1966 in the meeting minutes, I imagine we could learn a lot about the dynamics the couple contributed to the board, but that is far more archiving than I'm able to do at the moment. What I can do has less to do with the archiving, and more to do with interpretation.
In the museum world, interpretation is all about how we communicate information about our collection and their stories and meaning to our audience. Interpretation is what brings museums to life. The key to uncovering stories is to have multiple sources of information.
Alice was born in 1906, not long after her parents settled in Wheatland Township of Cass County, N.D. Joe made his entrance into the world a few years later, in 1912. He was born in Boyd, Wisc., and came to North Dakota with his parents when they settled near Drake.
Both pursued their education and became teachers. While Alice earned a Teacher's Standard from what was then known as Valley City State Teachers College, Joe earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Minot State College and master's from the University of Wyoming.
Alice and Joe first crossed paths in Sheldon, N.D., where both worked as teachers. In June of 1939, the two were married in Wheatland, N.D. According to Alice's 2006 obituary, the couple then taught at Wyndmere, New Rockford, Sheyenne and Lidgerwood.
Interestingly enough, the items they later donated to the Eddy County Museum did not reflect their history as teachers, nor did it include sentimental tokens of their marriage.
Instead, their donations reflected the changes that came into their lives in 1943, when Joe – at the age of 31 – enlisted with the United States Naval Construction Battalion known as the Seabees. Their collection consists of a scrapbook titled "Snaps and Scraps: My Life in the Navy," as well as Joe's "dress blues."
The scrapbook's contents include newspaper clippings, daily notes and several official Navy postcards, some of which were sent to Alice.
I have yet to determine how long Joe served with the Seabees, but I do know he enlisted on Sept 23, 1943 and collected menus from the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals that were served in their special battalion. A postcard with a postmark of Jan 22, 1944 was sent to Alice.
This suggests at the very least Joe spent an entire semester away from his career to serve the country.
At whatever point he returned, he not only resumed his work in education, but his career soon reached new heights when he accepted a position as superintendent in New Rockford. Here the couple continued their work, and retired in 1970.
