Michael J. Macalla papers, 1918-1956

University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

1150 Beal Avenue

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113, USA

bentley.ref@umich.edu

Creator:: Macalla, Michael J.
Abstract:: Member of Co. G, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition" and officer in the Polar Bear Association. Collection includes papers on the committee sent to Russia in 1929, to recover the bodies of men slain during the expedition, including material on their reinterment in White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery, Troy, Michigan, and the dedication of the Polar Bear monument.
Extent:: 0.4 linear feet
Language:: English.
Call Number:: 851792 Aa 2
Authors:: Finding aid prepared by: Len Coombs

Scope and Content:: The collection includes a copy of a petition, Feb. 1919, from people in Detroit asking for the withdrawal of American troops from Archangel; a diary, July-Sept. 1929, describing his trip to Russia and the search for bodies; correspondence, 1929-1930, regarding the commission and its work; a list of the bodies recovered and a map showing the location of some bodies found around Kodish; papers relating to the reinterment of the dead in White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery; a 1965 memoir of the 1929 commission, and two letters, 1966 and undated, from Arthur Wickham relating his memories of service in Archangel. Also included are bulletins, meeting notes, speeches, eulogies, and programs of the Polar Bear Association and the constitution and bylaws of the Polar Bear Post, No. 436, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Biographical / Historical:: Served with Co. G, 339th Infantry, and was a member of the Michigan commission sent to return the bodies of men killed in Russia.
Acquisition Information:: The collection was donated by Michael Macalla, of Detroit, Michigan, in 1965 (Donor no.: 4274 ).