University of Michigan-Flint
Frances Willson Thompson Library

Genesee Historical Collections Center

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Name of the collection: Kroeger Family Papers
Inclusive years: 1888-1964
Quantity: 1 linear ft. + 369 photographs and 12 reels of film
Acquisition: These were donated to the Genesee Collections Center by donor no. 224 in March, 1992.
Access: There are no restrictions on access.
Photographs: 360 transparencies (slides), 9 photographs, and 9 reels of 8 mm film were removed and are stored separately.
Processed by: Paul Gifford, April, 1992.

DESCRIPTION

Three generations of the same family are represented in this collection. The central person, however, is Ernest R. Kroeger. He was born in the early 1880s in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, to Charles and Mary Elizabeth (Meyerpeter) Kroeger. His father, who died in 1920, made wagons in his own shop. Ernest had a sister, Ella Grebe, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and two brothers, Frank R. (1892-1919), Sheboygan Falls City Clerk, and Fred C., a World War I veteran who followed his father's footsteps as a wagon maker and mechanic.

Ernest Kroeger moved about 1906 to Kearsarge, Houghton County, Michigan, where he found employment in a copper mining company office. On June 12, 1909, in Calumet, Michigan, he married Bertha Gray of Calumet, a Methodist of Cornish background. They lived in Calumet until about 1922, when they moved to Flint, Michigan. He worked as a machinist and then foreman at Buick Motor Division. In 1946, he retired and the couple moved to Davie, Florida, where they purchased a home and remained until their deaths. Bertha (Gray) Kroeger died in 1951 and Ernest followed in 1964. They had two children, Graydon (born November 30, 1912) and Theodora V., both of whom lived in Flint. Theodora, who never married, was an office worker and an employee of the Chevrolet Motor Division.

This is a comprehensive collection of correspondence and other papers and photographs. Nearly all of the correspondence is between family members. The earliest is from Ida (Meyerpeter) Allman to her sister Mary E. (Meyerpeter) Kroeger, dating from 1888. But the bulk of the earliest correspondence is addressed to Ernest R. Kroeger. His correspondents were his mother and brothers and a Civil War veteran named Theodore C. Hawkins. Most of the topics consists of news about family members in Sheboygan Falls. There are some letters from Fred Kroeger while in service in World War I. One significant item from the Calumet years is a copy of the Miners' Bulletin, the newspaper of striking Calumet copper miners in 1914. The collection of postcards has some value apart from the pictures. A number are from Charles George, Bertha Kroeger's brother-in-law, who moved to Flint in 1910. Several postcards from the teens describe his impressions of Flint and the job market there. There are also a number of letters to Bertha from her relatives. After retirement in 1946, most of the letters are from Bertha to Theodora Kroeger until the former's death in 1951, followed by letters from Ernest to Theodora. Topics include daily routines, gossip, and activities.

This collection has limited utility for Flint topics. Nevertheless, there are letters and, as mentioned above, postcards from relatives who had preceded Ernest and Bertha Kroeger to Flint. There are items pertaining to the Buick Retirement Club. An amateur photographer, Ernest Kroeger began taking color transparencies about 1940. The slides include a number of Flint scenes, including Bishop Airport, the construction of an underpass on Saginaw Street, a parade, and also some Ann Arbor scenes, all dating from the early 1940s. There are also a number of 8 mm films from the same period which feature Flint scenes.

The primary value of the collection is in the description of routine life, as a diary might be used. Comments on politics, radio programs, housework, finding work and economics, and many other topics abound.

FOLDER LIST

BOX 1
LETTERS TO VARIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS, 1888-
Kroeger, Mary E. (Mrs. Charles), 1888-1919 
Kroeger, Ernest R.
        1905-1906
        1907
        1908
        1909-1911
        1912-1914
        1915-1918
        1919-1927
        1944-1964
        Letters of sympathy on Bertha Kroeger's death, 1951 
Kroeger, Bertha (Gray), 1907-1951
Kroeger, Theodora
        1924-1947
        1948
        1949
        1950
        1951-1952
        1953
        1954
        1955-1956
        1957-1963
        1964
        Undated
To other family members
OTHER PAPERS
        Kroeger, Ernest R.
                Engineering examination, [191-?]
                Certificates, etc.
        General
                Birth, wedding, death announcements, etc. 
                Commencement programs, school report cards, etc. 
                Programs, 1923, 1934
                Receipts, bills, etc.
                Newspaper clippings
POSTCARDS
        1905-1961
                (1 of 2)
                (2 of 2) - includes undated
[separate container]:
FILMS
Sheboygan Falls, Chicago, 1939 Motor Festival parade American Legion 
parade, Milwaukee, Sept. 16, 1941 Copper Country (Keewenaw peninsula, 
Michigan), 1939 Horticultural gardens, Lansing; Detroit Zoo; Oxbow 
Lake, Michigan
        Flint (black and white)
        Flint scenes; air scenes
        Michigan scenes
Washington; Pennsylvania; 1939 World's Fair 1940 World's Fair; 
Washington; Pennsylvania 3 unidentified reels