When book sorter Susan Bullard first saw the book, she knew it was something out of the ordinary.
“I was sorting in Janet (Doman)’s garage,” she said. “Currently we’re taking the donated books there for a safe handling period of 48 hours before processing. Janet handed me the book to look at, and right away I knew this was something personal, something special.”
The slim volume was dark blue, with My Stretch in the Service written in gold script across a pebbled leather cover. On the flyleaf, a black and white photo of a young woman smiled from her perch on a tiled fountain, which was captioned “Santa Barbara, California,” was printed above the picture; a name, and Ohio address, and the year 1943.
“This is someone’s journal,” Bullard thought, and decided she would take it home to look through, to see if she could find the person it belonged to. The journal had come in with a box of books donated to the Friends of the Library, and she was curious how it came to be in a box of books in Newbury Park, far from its Ohio address.
Between the internet and the diary, Bullard discovered that the author, Jean Krieg Irving, was one of the nation’s very first female Marines. A further search discovered an interview that Ms. Irving had recorded, sharing her experiences with the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. As Bullard read further in the journal, she discovered detailed reminisces and original poetry, and became determined to reunite the journal—if not with the author, then with the family.
Fortunately, since the Friends are now taking donations by appointment to ensure a safe and socially distanced donation experience, they were able to identify and contact Annie Tenwick, Ms. Irving’s niece. Tenwick had finalized Ms. Irving’s affairs after her passing, which included donating books to the Friends of the Library. Tenwick was stunned to hear that the journal had been placed into the donated books pile, and overjoyed to hear it had been recovered.
“I had no idea it even existed,” said Tenwick.
The Friends were soon able to reunite Ms. Irving’s journal with her family, and have enjoyed learning more about her long and fruitful life in the process; she was a playwright, artist, and an award-winning chef; she was one of the first residents of University Village and of course, one of the very first female Marines. Ms. Irving had been the subject of a special Acorn feature in 2018, which detailed Irving’s determination to serve her country in WWII, the many barriers she faced before becoming a Marine, and her distinguished career.
“This means so much to our family,” Tenwick said, upon receiving the journal. “We are so grateful to the Friends of the Library for taking the time and care to identify the book and to restore it to our family.”
As book lovers, the Friends of the Library love a happy ending. We take pride in our careful handling of donated materials, and we’re so gratified that that care resulted in restoring a piece of family history to its rightful place.
You can read more about Ms. Irving’s life and service career in the Acorn archives, in the 11/22/18 edition, and hear her complete interview for the Library of Congress’ Veteran’s History Project at https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.82726/.