Augusta Bjeldanes Papers

Augusta Bjeldanes was the founding librarian of the Roosevelt High School library, which opened in 1922. Bjeldanes became good friends with many of her student assistants. Some she corresponded with after their graduations. Three of these students were Marjorie A. Cook, Philip Jones, and Ralph Magelssen. During World War II both Jones and Magelssen were transferred from their regular Army units to become members of the original cast of Irving Berlin’s musical production called "This is the Army." Former student Philip Jones wrote about being on the cast of the musical. The purpose of the musical was to publicize and raise funds for the Army Relief Effort. The musical was scheduled to open on Broadway on July 4th, 1942. It was released as a motion picture in 1943. All of the personnel including musicians were in the army. It was one of many fundraising events for the Army Relief Effort.

In the course of their time in the service, Marjorie Cook and Philip Jones were stationed in the United States, Egypt, New Guinea, and Italy. The collection does not include any correspondence from Ralph Magelssen who went on to be a famous baritone singer, but it does include autographed photographs and other publicity material concerning him.