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Save Our Stories

Help Preserve these Ridgefielders’ Stories

In February 2023, as part of Fairfield County’s Giving Day, the Ridgefield Historical Society launched the Save Our Stories (SOS) campaign, an effort to raise funds to support the transcription of 41 World War II oral histories shared by Ridgefielders who served in the Second World War. The oral history interviews were captured by Betsy Reid, RHS Collections Manager, and are remarkable chronicles of a very important time.  

The response on Giving Day was swift and generous and, as of March 1, we are exactly halfway to our goal of $4,100.  

Thank you to all of you pioneers who donated on Fairfield County’s Giving Day and recognized the importance of preserving the voices and words of the past.

50 donors helped us raise $2050 in under 24 hours. (A new record for us.)  Now, we invite others to help us reach the finish line. 

Our WWII oral histories tell the stories of Ridgefielders who were living and serving in extraordinary times.

These stories should not be lost.    

With your help, we can secure professional transcriptions of all of these stories to be preserved and shared with individuals and historians for generations to come.   

Donate

Help us preserve their stories

The following Ridgefielders shared their World War II stories with the Ridgefield Historical Society. Help us transcribe and share their accounts.

Stephen Antkiw
Joseph Arena
Paul Baker
Gino Baldaserini
Charles Baldwin
G. Kenneth Black
Wendell Cultice
Jack Daniels
Murray Darvick
Ed Delaney
Rene Franks
Artie Frattini
Walter Goodman
Richard Howard
Hal Hval
Gabe Kaimakides
John Klauber
Robert Lanehart
John Lavatori
Frederick Lenz
Margaret Malval (homefront)
Richard Mayhew
Alexander McCallion
Roger McCollester
Helene Merrick (homefront)
Earl Meyers
Robert Milo
Frank Montanari
Fred Montanari
John Morris
Helen Pfeifer
Rita Potter
James Principi
James Robertson
Marie Stefanelli Russo
Casamir Rzeczycki
George Ventres
Richard Von Olson
David Watson
Frank Weber
Evelyn Shretenthaler Wisner

Thank You

The Ridgefield Historical Society WWII oral histories are being transcribed and preserved through the interest and generosity of our donors.  Thank you all for appreciating the importance of individual stories in the context of our past, present, and future.

Kay Ables
Pamela Anderson
Laurie McGavin Bachmann
Maya Bachmann
Peter Bachmann
Marilyn Bartkus
Stephen Bartkus
Andrea Beebe
Christopher Bennett
Lauren Carlotto
Sara Champion
Gary Condon
Robert DeFalco
Katherine Fischer
Susan Garrett
Dorothy Giersch
Richard Godbout
Robert Harrington
Rhonda Hill
Kevin Julier
Donna Knoche
Margaret Law
Gerri Lewis
Robert Lewis
Steven March
Monica McMorran
Andrea Melendez
Victor Melendez
Pam Miller
Sean O’Neil
Elizabeth Reid
Macklin Reid
Nancy Rowe
John Sanders
Sally Sanders
Curt Schibli
Carol Schilling
George Schuster
Jon  Seem
Tracy Seem
Nancy Selander
Raymond Sementini
James Thayer
Ruth Van Den Nieuwenhuizen
Byron York
Jason Zides

The WWII Oral History Archive is Now Available

The following Ridgefielders shared their World War II stories with the Ridgefield Historical Society. Read and listen to their stories. Additional Oral Histories will be added as the project continues.