International Harvester Battalion

International Harvester is known as the competitor to John Deere in relation to farming machinery.  However, during World War II, the International Harvester Company (IHC) out of Springfield, Ohio, saw a great number of its employees volunteer for military service.  Additionally, IHC also had the first woman to sign up for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. 

There is a large collection being held at the Clark County Historical Society.  During the summer, Georgia and I worked on preserving a large flag collection and came across a flag that Virginia, the Director of Collections, identified as a IHC Battalion flag.  That flag presented a number of issues for preservation, but it allowed us to research the history of the organization and group.  Unfortunately, the IHC collection is largely unprocessed.  What we did find was that the internal, employee newsletters from 1942-1946, roughly, were bound together.  They had a number of cartoons and editorials about the production of trucks and information about those who were a part of the IHC battalion.  What this collection shows is how a community and company came together and had an impact on not only a national event, but also an international one.

Source: http://heritagecenter.us/images/upload/int%20harv.pdf