Original Photographs, Manuscripts, Speeches and Documents concerning World War II:
Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Salvaging of Fleet, Civilian Workers, Civilian Housing
This web site is under construction.
As more materials from the Robert F. Walden Collection are processed and become available to the public, archival staff will add the materials to this site.
Introduction
The materials included in what is now called the Robert F. Walden Collection were created during World War II, then collected and stored by at least two officers serving in the United States Navy at that time, one of whom was Lt. Robert F. Walden. Mrs. Robert F. Walden, his widow and the donor of the Collection, believes that the purpose behind the collecting was to write a history of the contributions of the civilian war workers to the American war effort. Mrs. Walden indicated that shortly before his death, Walden told her that a Navy friend had collected some of these materials and had given them to Walden to keep until the friend could return to Hawai'i to retrieve them; the friend never returned for the materials. Walden kept the materials for almost fifty-five years.
Walden supervised the Civilian Housing Area III (CHA-III) from 1942 to 1946. He also served at sea aboard the USS San Francisco and in transit from San Diego to that assignment aboard the USS Enterprise. It is possible that he also had some direct involvement in the salvage operations for the USS West Virginia. None of these responsibilities would have provided Lt. Walden with extensive access to Admiral Furlong's office, much less to the files of Furlong's correspondence and the War Diaries. Mrs. Walden recalled her husband's having mentioned that some of the photographs came from a "good buddy" who as a photographer had access to "extras," but she notes that no mention of a photographer exists among Walden's files. As a result, Mrs. Walden has speculated some on the identification of the friend.(1)
In 1998, Mrs. Walden began negotiations with the Hawai'i War Records Depository for donating the Collection. Mrs. Walden completed the donation in late 1999.
1. Mrs. Walden tentatively identified the friend as H. L. Stickney. Stickney was a colleague at CHA-III and such a close friend that he was Best Man at Walden's wedding on 24 December 1943. Mrs. Walden's research in the Furlong Collection at the Hawai'i State Archives shows that Stickney was editor of the CHA III newspaper, The Banner, providing an opportunity for access to photographs. Stickney was promoted to Lt. Commander and transferred to Furlong's Information Office sometime in late 1943. He appears to be the only one in Walden's circle of friends who worked in Admiral Furlong's office where the diaries, correspondence, and speeches were kept. Mrs. Walden believes furthermore that some of the photographs likely came from Admiral Furlong's office. The Furlong photograph collection at the Hawai'i State Archives has an extensive collection of ship salvage photos, but has few of the USS West Virginia. The largest number of ship photographs in the Walden Collection are of the USS West Virginia. Mrs. Walden expressed her belief that Walden was assigned to salvage work on that ship from about March to June, 1942 and because of this, the USS West Virginia photographs were given to him.
INVENTORY
Photographs (Box 1)
Salvage and Repair of Ships
Civilian Housing Area III (CHA-III)
Pearl Harbor Views
Manuscript Materials (Boxes 2-3)
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