Montgomery County Clerk/Recorder Sandy Leitheiser and staff and Montgomery
County Veterans Assistance Commission Superintendent Cassandra Hampton and staff have received an Award of Merit from the Illinois State Historical Society for their recovery and digitization of a World War II Scrapbook at ceremonies held recently in Springfield.
This award is the result of a project completed when a citizen found a scrapbook in
a dumpster in Springfield that catalogued many Montgomery County World War II
veterans. The citizen donated the scrapbook to the Montgomery County Veterans
Assistance Commission, who provided it to the Montgomery County Clerk/Recorder’s office who properly preserved this treasure by first digitizing the scrapbook, thenindexing the materials, and finally creating a website for the public to access. Illinois Historical Society representatives stated “this was an amazing project that will continue to serve the citizens of Montgomery County for years. This project deserves an award
for the loving rescue of a WWII scrapbook that documents the fate of soldiers in the
Montgomery County area during the war.”
Hampton accepted the award for the offices, and she thanked two members of the
Montgomery County Clerk/Recorder’s Office staff, Sydney Holcomb-Barnes and Nicole Witt, for their dedication in compiling this important digital publication. She stated because of their time and talent, the treasured history of many of our beloved Montgomery County Veterans will live on.
The digitized scrapbook can be found on the Montgomery County website at
www.montgomerycountyil.gov. Those accessing the website should select the County Clerk & Recorder page, then the Recording and Fees section, then the Veterans Medals, Memorial Lists and Publications section and locate the link for “World War II Newspaper Publicati ons for Veterans of Montgomery County and Surrounding Area.” Anyone needing assistance locating the publication may contact the County Clerk/Recorders office at 217-532-9530.
