Robert F. Walden Collection
Scope and Content
The Robert F. Walden Collection concerns the wartime operations of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in Hawaii. First, it contains records relating to the work done by and the contributions of civilian workers. The workers salvaged ships damaged in the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, and thereafter through the rest of the Pacific war repaired the fleet and kept it battle ready (ships were drydocked at least 2,600 times and came in for repair at least 7,000 times). Second, it covers development of Civilian Housing Area III (CHA III) where thousands of Yard workers lived. In addition, there are memorabilia saved by Walden, and documentation concerning Walden’s life and naval career.
The Collection contains approximately 600 pages of textual items, many on onionskin paper (either carbons or typed copies), and over 350 photographs, mostly 8 x 10 inch black and white prints.
The activities of the Navy Yard are covered in copies of correspondence and war diaries by Commandant of the Yard, Admiral R. Furlong, and speeches by Admiral Furlong and Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet. There are photographs of dignitaries, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Admiral Nimitz, General Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Furlong and his staff, Admiral William Halsey, Undersecretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal and visiting Congressional parties including then-Congressmen Henry “Scoop” Jackson and Albert Gore, Sr. On his retirement in July 1945, Furlong was replaced by Rear Admiral E. W. Hanson. Histories of the various departments of the Yard were written in response to his order in October 1945.
One of the primary subjects of documentation is CHA III. Both photographs and documents portray the development of this area, including facilities—especially the activities of Walden’s Construction, Repair and Utilities Department, and the work and recreation of the residents. At its peak during the war, more than 12,000 men at a time lived at CHA III, the third largest “city” on Oahu.
Residents of CHA III worked on various naval vessels. One hand-written document outlines repairs to the USS Maryland during 1944. Photographs show repairs to this battleship as well as to eight of the ships damaged during the Japanese attack, including extensive photographs of the work on the USS West Virginia.
Among items saved by Walden is a typed translation of a diary written by a Japanese soldier on Wake Island who subsequently starved to death.
The bulk of materials date from 1941 to 1946, with the R. F. Walden biographical materials spanning 1936 to 1991.
Dates
- Creation: 1936 - 1991
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1941 - 1946
Creator
- Walden, Robert F., 1916-1998 (Person)
- Stickney, H. L. (Henry Lindsay), Jr., 1915-1970 (Person)
Restrictions
None
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in this collection, their descendants, or the repository if copyright has been signed over, as stipulated by United States copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user to determine any copyright restrictions, obtain written permission, and pay any fees necessary for the reproduction or proposed use of the materials.
Literary Rights Notice
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the University of Hawaii Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the researcher.
Biographical Notes
H. L. Stickney, Jr., 1915-1970
Henry Lindsay Stickney Junior (known as Lindsay) was born in August 1915, one of five children. He spent his childhood in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
He graduated from the (then) State Teacher’s College, now University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in May 1936. He was an active performer in campus drama groups, and a feature writer and editor of his college paper, The Student Printz. He also worked nights on the county weekly. Tennis, golf and boxing were his sports.
For two years after college, he was with a large wholesaler in Washington, DC. His first government position was with the Department of Commerce. After a year, he transferred to the Interior Department. In April 1940, he was offered a position in the Department of Agriculture in Dallas, Texas, and in spring 1941 was made assistant to the Regional Director for Agricultural Activities in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
Stickney volunteered for the US Naval Reserve (special service, ensign rank) in early 1942. At Pearl Harbor he served in the Civilian Housing Area III Civilian Morale Activities Office. As part of his morale-building work, he started the CHA III newspaper, The Pearl Harbor Banner, and remained Officer in Charge of this publication until he was moved up to Admiral Furlong’s office as aide. He was promoted to Lieutenant, and later Lieutenant Commander. In December 1945 he received an award from Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. The citation read in part: “for especially meritorious service as aide to [Admiral William R. Furlong] the commandant of the navy yard, Pearl Harbor, T. H., from November 1943 to July 1945.”
Stickney and Admiral Furlong shared a common interest in the history of Pearl Harbor that Furlong encouraged. Furlong’s successor Admiral Hanson also recognized Stickney’s interest when he instructed all departments of the yard to write the official histories of their war experiences and submit them to Stickney. By 1946, Stickney was referred to as “Historian, of the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard.”
It appears that Stickney stayed in Hawaii at least until December 1946, then left with plans for “nothing more than visiting around the States.” He never returned. There is little information about his post-war life. In Spring 1955, he attended George Washington University Law School, apparently taking up graduate studies he began and dropped in Fall 1938. No degree was ever awarded. According to his youngest brother, Jere F. Stickney, he worked for a time as a foreign correspondent with Randolph Hearst’s International News Service (merged with UPI in 1958) and was profoundly affected psychologically by the experience. Some members of his family believe that he was working for an intelligence organization. He also had many ideas for business ventures that did not materialize, as in 1950 when he wanted to start a shrimp business in Florida with two of his brothers. He never married, and died in 1970 at age 54.
Stickney’s biography has been constructed from the following sources: degree verification from Credentials Inc.; information supplied in September and October 2005 by his last surviving brother, Jere F. Stickney of Petal, Mississippi and by Yvonne Arnold, the Archive Specialist at USM; the evidence of photographs and articles Stickney published in Paradise of the Pacific; the record of his contributions to the Hawaii War Records Depository; documents in the National Archives and Records Administration (San Bruno, CA) and Admiral Furlong’s papers at the Library of Congress; and from:
1936 “Three-act comedy will be presented by dramatic club.” Student printz, May 1, no. 30, p. [1]. [Lead story with photograph of leading man Stickney with leading lady]
1943 Register of the commissioned officers, cadets, midshipmen, and warrant officers of the United States Naval Reserve. Washington: GPO. (p. 1403), and 1949 (p. 977).
1945 “Lt. Stickney aide to yard commandant.” Navy Yard news, vol. 1, no. 4 (May 23), p. 6.
1945 Honolulu Star Bulletin, December 10, p. 12. [Photograph with caption of Rear Admiral Hanson presenting commendation to Stickney]
Robert F. Walden, 1916-1998
R. F. Walden was born in Mount Harris, Colorado, 2 July 1916, the fourth of the six children of Frank and Elizabeth Trussell Walden. He was raised and attended high school in California. In 1940 he received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.
At college he joined the US Naval Communication Reserve as a Radioman. His unit was called to report to the US Naval Training Station in San Diego in January 1941. He shipped out on the USS Enterprise the next month to join the USS San Francisco based at Pearl Harbor. He served aboard as a Radioman until June 15, 1941 when he was assigned to shore duty at the US Naval Radio Station at Wailupe, Oahu. He was at Wailupe on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack and is recognized as a Pearl Harbor Survivor.
Commissioned, effective May 18, 1942, and promoted to Lieutenant (jg) on May 1, 1943, he served as an engineering officer at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in the Industrial Department. In May and June 1942, as Assistant Yard Superintendent, he worked on salvage of ships from the harbor and on those returning from battle for repairs (including the USS West Virginia). He was responsible for testing air quality and ventilating the holds and spaces of the sunken and damaged ships before workers could safely enter.
From July 1942 to December 1945, Walden served as Construction, Repair and Utilities Officer at CHA III, which housed 12,000 of the Navy Yard’s bachelor civilian workers. His responsibilities included construction and care of:
• All utilities (water, gas and electrical distribution systems, telephone lines, switchboards and P.A. systems)
• All buildings, equipment, roads, sidewalks and grounds
• Motor Pool operations and management involving 120 vehicles
• The furniture manufacturing shop
• Stevedore Department operations that hauled and handled all supplies, stores and materials for CHA III
• Special projects such as a 7000 square foot shopping center, recreation facilities with 12 bowling alleys and 30 pool tables, and two ice cream plants
After the war, Walden joined the civilian ranks, staying in Hawaii for the rest of his life with the exception of a few years with the Civil Aeronautics Administration at Canton Island (now part of Kiribati). He retired in 1979 as Engineer with the Public Utilities Commission, State of Hawaii. His college sweetheart, Ala Mae Trott whom he married on December 24, 1943 passed away in 1980. He married Nancy Lewis in June 1987. He was active in the First Church of Christ Scientist and in the community. He died on January 28, 1998.
Tai Sing Loo, 1886-1971
Aside from H. L. Stickney, Tai Sing Loo is the only photographer whose work is identified by name in the photographs in the Walden Collection.
From 1919 to his retirement in 1947, he served as an official Navy photographer. In that capacity, he photographed the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and the battleships, and recorded VIP visits and recreational events. He also photographed for the Interisland Steamship Company and was an accomplished landscape photographer. (Personal communication from Lynn Davis, June 2001.)
According to the Pearl Harbor Banner (4 August 1945, p. 6), Tai sing Loo also worked in the Identification Photo Laboratory of the District Labor Office. In that capacity, he photographed thousands of PHNY workers for their identification badges, including every new arrival and anyone transferred or promoted.
Extent
4.5 Linear Feet
Language
English
Abstract
Concerns wartime operations of Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Hawaii. Focuses on (1) work done to salvage ships damaged in the Japanese attack, December 7, 1941, and thereafter to repair the fleet and maintain it battle-ready throughout the war, and (2) the development of Civilian Housing Area III (CHA III) where thousands of Yard workers lived. Documents include textual materials (reports, war diaries, correspondence, speeches, clippings, personnel and administrative records, and Robert F. Walden biographical materials), and photographs including the work of Tai Sing Loo (many apparently gathered for possible publication in the weekly newspaper Pearl Harbor Banner or to illustrate a future history of the Yard). Most of the materials were compiled at the end of the war and left with Walden by his friend, H. L. Stickney, Jr. Donated by Walden’s widow, together with memorabilia saved by Walden, and documentation concerning Walden’s life and naval career.
Provenance
The donor is Robert F. Walden’s widow, Mrs. Nancy Walden. She believes that the purpose behind collecting much of this “firsthand” material in what is now called the Robert F. Walden Collection was to write a history of the achievements of the civilian defense workers at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard during World War II. At the time, most information about the extent of the damage from the Japanese attack, and the effectiveness of the salvage and maintenance work was classified. The men, from virtually every state, were dispersed after VJ Day and did not appear to establish clubs or organizations to perpetuate their memory or identity. Their contributions to the American Pacific war effort have never been widely appreciated, and a number have since died from asbestos-related disease.
Most items in the Collection were written or created by people, some unidentified, serving in their official capacity as naval officers and photographers at Pearl Harbor. It appears that at the end of the war copies were compiled by a Naval Reserve Officer, Lieutenant Commander H. L. Stickney, Jr. The Collection has been augmented by other items saved by or relating to his fellow officer and friend, Lieutenant Robert F. Walden. Materials gathered by Stickney were not clearly separated from those saved by Walden; therefore, an external order was imposed on their arrangement by the donor and later the Library staff.
Nancy Walden married R. F. Walden in 1987. He had arrived at Pearl Harbor in 1941 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, to take up a brief assignment aboard the destroyer, USS San Francisco. After the December 7 attack, he had some direct involvement in the salvage operations for the USS West Virginia. He served as Construction, Repair and Utilities Officer in the Civilian Housing Area III (CHA III) from 1942 to 1946. None of these responsibilities would have provided him with access to the office of the Commandant of the Yard, from where many of the items in the Collection appear to have come.
Nancy Walden recalled that her husband rarely spoke about the Collection. Shortly before his death in 1998, he told her only that a Navy friend who had collected the material left it with him intending to return but never did. Having lost touch, Walden saved it for almost fifty-five years together with his own materials. She also recalled him saying that some of the photographs came from a “good buddy” who as a photographer had access to “extras,” but he never mentioned a name. She was able to identify him as H. L. Stickney, Jr., Walden’s colleague at CHA III and such a close friend that he was best man at Walden’s first marriage, to Ala Mae Trott, in 1943.
The identification of Stickney as the main compiler is based on the following information:
Among other things, Stickney was Officer in Charge of the CHA III newspaper, The Pearl Harbor Banner, which provided him an opportunity to take photographs and to access photographs from various official sources. He was transferred to the office of the Yard Commandant, Admiral William R. Furlong in 1943. Stickney was the only one in Walden’s circle of friends who worked in the Commandant’s office where the war diaries, correspondence, and speeches were written, copies of which are now in the Collection.
Admiral Furlong had a deep interest in history and was recognized as a record keeper. He encouraged a similar interest in Stickney and it appears they worked together on some writing projects related to the history of Pearl Harbor. At the end of the war, Furlong’s successor, Admiral Edward W. Hanson instructed all departments of the Yard to write histories of their war experiences and submit them to Cmdr. Stickney. Copies of some of these histories are also in the Collection.
Many of the photographs likely came from Admiral Furlong’s office. They appear to complement the Furlong photograph collection at the Hawaii State Archives. However, the largest number of ship photographs in the Walden Collection is of the USS West Virginia. The Furlong photographs at the Hawaii State Archives include ship salvage photos, but few of the USS West Virginia. Mrs. Walden expressed her belief that as Walden was assigned to salvage work on that ship from about March to June 1942 possibly the USS West Virginia photographs were given to him.
Provenance
Gift of Mrs. Robert F. (Nancy) Walden, December 21, 1999.
Source
- Walden, Nancy (Person)
- Title
- Robert F. Walden Collection Finding Aid
- Author
- Bronwen Solyom
- Date
- July 2004, revised March 2006
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Libraries Repository