Roy S. Fisk Papers

1911-1956; 1918-1919
Manuscript Collection #1209
Creator(s)
Fisk, Roy S., 1895-1957
Physical description
0.472 Cubic Feet, 2 archival boxes and 1 oversized folder, consisting of correspondence, postcards, ephemera, clippings, a ledger and publications
Preferred Citation
Roy S. Fisk Papers (#1209), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
No restrictions

Collection (1911-1956, bulk 1918-1919) consists of material related to Roy S. Fisk who served as an Army cook with Co. C, 131st Engineers, AEF, stationed in Le Mans, France, during the latter half of World War I. Included are correspondence, papers related to Fisk's military career, war-related publications, French guide books and souvenir photo albums from places he visited in France, a postcard book from the USS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, and Vol. 1, No. 19, April 10, 1919, issue of The Bulletin which discusses issues in France and the military career of Brigadier General George S. Simonds. Also included are some papers and ephemera related to his post-military life.


Biographical/historical information

Born 1895, Roy S. Fisk was an army cook with the Co. C, 131st Engineers, AEF, stationed in Le Mans, France, at the end of the First World War; he remained in France until July 1919. He was married to Alice J. Fisk and had five daughters: Alice, Joyce, Jeanette, Lillian, and Patricia. He passed away in 1957.

Source: http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/New-York/Roy-S-Fisk_c96gv http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=71936241null

While not much information is available about the 131st Engineer Corps, they were chosen as one of the AEF battalions used to help build the stadium for the Interallied Athletic Games in 1919. They were organized in November 1918, and demobilized the following year.

Sources: Historical Report of the Chief Engineer, 1917-1919.

The US Army in World War I-Orders of Battle.


Scope and arrangement

This collection (1911–1956) contains records and the personal letters of American army cook Roy S. Fisk, relating to his time in France at the end of World War I and his life afterwards. There are 28 letters written directly to his brother, Emmett, on his time in France, along with a few letters to and from his family in N.Y.; various postcards, guidebooks and brochures relating to his time in France; an assortment of family documents, including 25 letters relating to his financial dealings after the war, and an assortment of military publications and draft papers.

Fisk's letters to his brother (February–June 1919) during their time stationed in France after the war primarily focus on their daily routines and a desire to return back to America. Further military-oriented documents found in this collection beyond Fisk's correspondence include items such as Fisk's official induction into the armed services (June 1918), official military correspondence, and a pamphlet outlining the readjustment of soldiers back into civilian life.

Additional points of interests are the various memos from C. R. Macauley Photoplays, Inc., in the section of financial correspondence. This correspondence shows the promotion of films as a business and stock offerings around the turn of the 1920s.

This collection also contains an assortment of souvenirs and general ephemera. The first folder of this section contains a souvenir photobook of the USS Kaisern Auguste Victoria (July 1919) on one of it voyages returning American soldiers (including Fisk) back home; postcards and a souvenir booklet related to the Spanish steamer Infanta Isabel returning the 309th Field Artillery to America (April–May 1919) which lists the soldiers in the 309th; and a circa 1943 menu from the Empire State Building. Also included are souvenir books and postcard albums related Versailles and to various sites around France during the early 1900s. Some of the photos collected in these postcard albums were taken prior to the 1900s.

The folder of religious items contains two brief pamphlets regarding the Presbyterian Church outlook on the war and their stance on the German people as enemies. One title, The Church in War-Time, discusses the role of religion during war; it places the church amongst various social institutions to claim its importance in maintaining public morals. The second pamphlet is from a sermon in April 1918 which describes critical views on the Germans as enemies. Additionally in this folder there are three undated membership certificates to The Religious of the Cenacle.

The bulk of what is left in this collection is a variety of personal items relating to Fisk and his family. Grouped together is an assortment of his personal items not relating to the First World War. Included are report cards and high school graduation programs for his daughters, family wedding invitations, greeting cards, a photograph of Harry S. Fisk (1901), newspaper clippings of obituaries and subjects of local interest, Fisk's personal account book (1915–1917), and a lock of hair.

Included in the oversize materials is a 1919 souvenir edition of the American Embarkation Center's The Bulletin. This publication discussed a variety of issues for Americans stationed in France at the time, and the career of General George S. Simonds. The other oversized item is an issue of The Newark Carrier newspaper (April 27, 1911).


Administrative information
Custodial History

July 18, 2013, 0.472 cubic feet; Collection (1917-1925) consists of material related to Roy S. Fisk who served as an Army cook with Co. C, 131st Engineers, AEF, stationed in Le Mans, France, during the latter half of World War I. Included are 29 letters written to his brother who was also stationed in France, 6 letters from his family in Rochester, N.Y., papers related to Fisk's military career, war-related publications, French guide books and souvenir photo albums from places he visited in France, a postcard book from the USS Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, and Vol. 1, No. 19, April 10, 1919, issue of The Bulletin which discusses issues in France and the military career of Brigadier General George S. Simonds. Also included are some papers and ephemera related to his post-military life. Purchased from Between the Covers Rare Books of Gloucester City, NJ, with funds from the Sara Batten Endowment.

Source of acquisition

Purchased from Between the Covers Rare Books

Processing information

Processing completed by Robert Hines on May 26, 2016.

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.


Key terms
Personal Names
Fisk, Roy S., 1895-1957
Topical
France--Pictorial works
Male cooks--United States
World War, 1914-1918--Personal narratives, American

Container list
Box 1 Folder a Correspondence between Fisk and his family members, 1918-1919
Box 1 Folder b Correspondence from Roy Fisk to his brother, Emmett Fisk, written in various cities in France, 1919
Box 1 Folder c Correspondence from Roy Fisk to his brother, Emmett Fisk, written while stationed in Bordeaux, France, 1919
Box 1 Folder d Correspondence from Chas. A. Bradley & Company, C.R. Macauley Photoplays, Inc., John E. Finney & Company, Chas. A. Sager regarding financial holdings including stock, 1918-1919
Box 1 Folder e Receipts, Bills, and correspondence from financial companies related to indebtedness, and compensation, 1921-1946
Box 1 Folder f Souvenirs including French guidebooks, brochures, and a handkerchief with "Toronto" stitching, 1918-1919
Box 1 Folder g Souvenir booklets related to France, 1918, undated
Box 1 Folder h Souvenir booklets about the palace at Versailles, undated
Box 1 Folder j Invitations, Report Cards, 1901 Photograph of Harry S. Fisk, Commencement Program, Childhood Memorabilia, Personal Account Pocket Notebook (1915-1917), 1901-1046
Box 1 Folder k Newspaper clippings, undated
Box 1 Folder l Materials related to the church including two sermon booklets on the church during wartime, and three Perpetual Membership certificates for Alice Fisk, undated
Folder os1 Newspapers including The Souvenir Edition of the American Embarkation Center's The Bulletin, Le Mans (Sarthe), France (April 10, 1919); and The Newark Courier, Wayne County, New York (April 27, 1911)