Obert Halland Photograph Collection
Collection
Identifier: Photo 2208
Scope and Content
The first folder contains photographs that are identified as that of Obert Halland. The second folder is mostly made up of snapshots of the U.S.S. Cortland crew members onboard the ship. The next folder has photographs that appear to have been taken while the crew were on shore leave. They include officers posing with women, humorous images of the crew posing in a “jail” in Long Beach and Tiajuana, and a formal portrait identified as “Gene Friss”. There is a folder of photos of ships in the United States naval fleet. Those that are identified include the U.S.S. Cortland, U.S.S. Saratoga, and the U.S.S. Lexington. The fifth folder contains images related to the Operation Crossroads, and include photos of the Atomic Bomb explosions, as well as the U.S.S. Cortland returning to the San Francisco after the operation. There are a set of photos from China, with one identified as the Catholic Church in Tingtao. There are four photos identified as the crew at Jen Sen, Korea, and another folder includes a set of photos from Okinawa including a soldier at a Japanese graveyard. The Hawaiian Island’s folder holds photos of the U.S.S. Cortland crew in Hawaii, and a number of views from the islands. Many were likely purchased. The U.S. Cities folder features postcards and purchased prints from Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The final folder holds one small negative showing an unidentified woman standing with a calf in front of a farm house.
Dates
- 1940s
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.
Copyrights
Copyrights to this collection are held by the NDSU Archives.
Biography
Obert Norman Halland was born on April 5, 1924 in Gary, Minnesota. He was the son of Nicholai and Olga (Haugen) Halland. He was raised in Buffalo, North Dakota, and graduated from high school in 1943. He joined the United States Navy in January 1944. His training was at the U.S. Naval Training Station, in Farragut, Idaho. He served on the U.S.S. Cortland in the South Pacific, and participated in the 1946 Operation Cross-Roads, the Atomic Bomb Experiment at Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. He was discharged in April 1947, and returned to home to farm in the Buffalo area. He was married twice, first to Evelyn Gubrud on October 9, 1946, together they had one daughter, Lynn. The couple later divorced, and Obert remarried to Shirley Woodruff Storhaug on July 16, 1962. Shirley was a widow with three daughters, Penny, Mara and Pam. Shirley and Obert had two more daughters, Tammy and Dawn. In 1978, Obert retired, and they moved to Tower City, North Dakota. Shirley died in 1995, and Obert died on December 5, 2007 at the Good Samaritan Center in Arthur, North Dakota.
Extent
150 Photographic Prints (150 photographic prints)
1 Photographic Negatives (1 120mm negative)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Collection of photographs from Obert Halland, of Buffalo, N.D. related to his time in the U.S. Navy as a Gunner's Mate, serving on the U.S.S. Cortland during World War II and the atomic weapons tests on Bikini Atoll.
Provenance
Donated by Margaret Vollmuth, 2020 (Acc. 2020-049irs)
Separated Materials
Manuscript related items, and U.S. Navy uniform jacket processed under Mss 3025.
Property rights
The NDSU Archives owns the property rights to this collection.
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Obert Halland Photograph Collection
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository
Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu