Prior to the formation of the War Records Committee in September 1943, information on former students, alumni, and staff serving in World War II accumulated in the office of the Dean of Men, the Publications Department, and the Alumni Office. O.A. Fitzgerald, director of publications was asked to head the War Records Committee, whose purpose was to maintain contact with military personnel formerly associated with the university, and to preserve data needed for writing a history of the university and the war. At the end of the war the committee disbanded and a separate War Records Division was established in the Alumni Office, and James Lyle assumed the responsibility for record keeping.
From the guide to the Military Personnel Files, 1941-1956, (University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives)
