Emil Straka collection, 1914-1929 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Collection is arranged into two series:

Series 1: Correspondence

Subseries 1: to Lillian Rose (arranged chronologically, all written by Emil Straka)

Subseries 2: to Family (arranged alphabetically, all written by Emil Straka)

Subseries 3: Other (arranged alphabetically). Only one letter in this subseries is written by Emil. Correspondents include Emil’s brother, Joseph, friends and/or relatives of Lillian, and correspondents whose relations are unknown.

Series 2: Photographs and Ephemera

Emil Bohumil Straka was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 22, 1895, the second son of Czech immigrants Frank Straka (1872-1946) and Katerina Holpuch (1971-1935). Prior to enlisting, Straka worked at the Kellogg company in Chicago, Illinois, along with several of his family members and Lillian Rose (1901-1969), the woman who he would later marry.

Straka served in the United States Army’s 86th Infantry as part of the 311th Field Signal Battalion, Company B. He arrived at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois on September 22, 1917. On October 26, 1917, he was transferred to Camp Logan in Houston, Texas, where he was in the Company 122 Field Artillery. In May 1918, he went to Camp Merritt in New Jersey to prepare for his ship to France, where he arrived in June 1918 after an initial stop in England. His letters from August to October 1918 are written from “somewhere on the front line in France,” and he served during this time on the Argonne Front. After the armistice (November 1918), Straka spent time in Luxembourg. In May 1919 he arrived back on U.S. soil, stopping at Camp Mills, New York before returning to the Chicagoland area.

Straka and Rose married in 1920, settling in Cicero, Illinois. They shared two children, Helen and Gloria Straka. After the war, Straka worked at G.S. Blakeslee & Co., a kitchen machinery manufacturer. He died May 4, 1969, only a few months after his wife.