Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections

Summary Information

Repository

Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections

Creator

Wise, Ken C., 1913-

Title

Ken C. Wise papers

ID

Cage 864

Date [inclusive]

1942-2004

Extent

1.25 linear feet of shelf space, 2 boxes

Language

Collection materials are in English.

Abstract

The Ken C. Wise Papers consists of diaries, personal correspondence, and books which detail life aboard the frigate USS Hutchinson as it served in the Pacific theater of World War II. Wise was a junior navigator who served aboard the USS Hutchinson from 1943-1946.

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Biographical Note

Ken C. Wise was born November 17, 1913 in Calgary, Canada. He moved to California in 1922 and then to Pullman, Washington where he graduated from Washington State College in 1942 with an agricultural degree, majoring in forestry. In 1943 he graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut and then served as an assistant navigator on the frigate USS Hutchinson in the Pacific theater of World War II, seeing combat around the Philippine Islands. The Hutchinson took up patrol and escort duties around Leyte Gulf in the Philippines as the U.S. forces started to recapture the isalnds, engaging Japanese aircraft on several occasions. After the war he moved to Moscow, Idaho where he attended graduate studies at the University of Idaho. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service at the Forestry Sciences Laboratory until his retirement in 1974. Wise died in Moscow on June 23, 2011.

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Scope and Content

The Ken C. Wise Papers consist of materials that center on Wise’s time serving aboard the USS Hutchinson in World War II. Box 1 consists of a book titled Fore and Aft and a typed draft of The Course of the Hutch, both of which detail the journey of and life aboard the USS Hutchinson. The Course of the Hutch is Wise’s memoir about his experiences in World War II as a navigator. Box 1 also includes a letter from a personal friend of Ken Wise, Arnold Dillard, who describes his time serving with the U.S. Combat Engineers during the Battle of the Bulge in France during the Second World War. Box 2 consists of a scrapbook documenting the journey of the USS Hutchinson during the war. The scrapbook contains photographs of ship members, activities aboard the ship, places visited during the war and the inhabitants of those places. It also contains documents collected during the tour and a map of the ship’s route. Additionally there are two journals, one titled Navigator’s Notes and the other Navigation Log Book. Wise wrote both as he served aboard the USS Hutchinson, detailing navigational information and personal notes during World War II.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged in alphabetical order.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2017

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Acquisition Information

Donated to the Washington State University Libraries by Ken Wise in 2004 (MS.2004.06).

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Chris Halderman and Steven Bingo in 2017.

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Names and Subjects

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :

• Wise, Ken C., 1913- -- Archives.

Subject(s)

• World War, 1939-1945 -- Pacific Ocean.
• Wise, Ken C., 1913- -- Diaries.
• Military

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Detailed Description of Collection

			box	folder
Course of the Hutch December 1991			1	1
Arnold Dillard correspondence   March 31, 2004			1	2
Fore and Aft   undated			1	3
Navigation log book   February 1944-October 1945			2
Navigator's notes   May 1944-October 1945			2
Scrapbook   1942-1946			2