William Hannaher entered first grade at the St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota ( which now uses the possessive ) in the fall of 1937 (he was 6) and had improved enough after 36 weeks to be promoted to second grade.
William Hannaher ended second grade at the St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota in 1939 with significant improvement across multiple subjects, he was promoted to third grade.
William Hannaher started the third grade at the St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota with poorer grades, the blank columns are because Billy was promoted to the fourth grade.
William Hannaher improved after promotion to the fourth grade and into 1940 at the St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota, his promotion to fifth grade is decided as British forces continue to evacuate from Dunkirk.
William Hannaher slipped in Conduct and Effort with his first tardy in the fifth grade at the St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota, his promotion to sixth grade is decided at a time in 1941 of unlimited national emergency.
Time for a parent to consult the teacher about William Hannaher’s unsatisfactory work in Geography, his first “D”! The sixth grade at the St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota ends better, the promotion to seventh grade is decided in 1942 as war in Europe continues.
The St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota tracked Weekday Masses Attended and Other Services Attended in the seventh grade, William Hannaher maintained an “A” in Religion. Attendance numbers like these must have required doing so nearly every day. Sister M. Marguerite has taken the last column to mean Sum rather than the labeled “Average” for absences and tardies. The promotion to eighth grade is decided in 1943 as Allied countermeasures have turned the Battle of the Atlantic to their favor, with four German submarines sunk that day.
William Hannaher’s conduct in the eighth grade at the St. Joseph School of Moorhead, Minnesota was worse than before. The promotion to ninth grade is decided in 1944 as Allied troops advance on Rome.
No report card from ninth grade survives. William J. Hannaher’s time in the tenth grade in the secular, slogan-happy Moorhead Public Schools, Senior High School Division with the war ended by nuclear bombs was not untroubled. Tardies, average and below average grades in Biology, and his first “F” (in Phy. Ed.) are notable. He did Ok in English, Latin II, World History, and Band. A teacher assessed his apparent traits as “Could do better” and “Inclined to mischief” in the fifth six weeks.
William J. Hannaher’s time in the eleventh grade in the Moorhead Public Schools, Senior High School Division was no less troubled than in the tenth. Tardies and his second “F” (in English II) are notable. He did Ok in American History, Journalism, Chemistry, Band, and Orchestra. His apparent traits this year are “Discourteous,” “Hinders Others,” “Wastes Time,” “Annoys Others,” “Could do better,” and “Inclined to mischief.”
William J. Hannaher somehow settled down (it’s never Mr. Thos. O. Hannaher that signed his report cards) in the twelfth grade in the Moorhead Public Schools, Senior High School Division with just some tardies and an apparent trait of “Could do better” once from his English teacher. He did well in English, Social, Geometry, Band, and Orchestra.
The Regents of the University of Minnesota on Recommendation of the Faculty Have Conferred Upon William Joseph Hannaher the Degree of Bachelor of Arts Magna Cum Laude With All Its Privileges and Obligations Given in Minneapolis in the State of Minnesota the Fourteenth Day of June Nineteen Hundred Fifty-Two. The university’s eighth President, James Lewis Morrill, had started in 1945. He was overseeing a significant expansion in enrollment and would remain in the post until 1960.
The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York To All Persons To Whom These Presents May Come Greeting Be It Known That William Joseph Hannaher Having Completed the Studies and Satisfied the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Has Accordingly Been Admitted to That Degree With all the Rights Privileges and Immunities Thereunto Appertaining In Witness Whereof We Have Caused This Diploma to be Signed by the President of the University and by the Dean of the Faculties of Political Science Philosophy and Pure Science and Our Corporate Seal to be Hereto Affixed in the City of New York on the First Day of June in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty-Four. The Dean, Edgar Grim Miller, would be dead in 13 months. The President, Grayson L. Kirk, had taken on the role the previous year and would experience sequential headaches before leaving in 1968.
The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York To All Persons To Whom These Presents May Come Greeting Be It Known That William Joseph Hannaher Having Satisfied the Requirements of the Two-Year Graduate Course Prescribed by the Russian Institute with a Major Concentration in Literature Has Accordingly Been Granted The Certificate of the Russian Institute In Witness Whereof We Have Caused This Certificate to be Signed by the Director of the Russian Institute and Our Corporate Seal to be Hereto Affixed in the City of New York on the First Day of June in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty-Four. The Director of the Russian Institute of Columbia University, Philip E. Mosely, was “The Cold War’s Organization Man” having founded the institute in 1946. The Russian Institute became the W. Averell Harriman Institute for the Advanced Study of the Soviet Union in 1982 and the Harriman Institute in 1992 (source).
EC Form 170 (7 Jan 1950) old EC Form 1-1142, presumably a souvenir of the private’s tour in the U.S. Army. The United States European Command (EUCOM) was established in 1952.
William Hannaher is enrolled in the Universität-Heidelberg and receives a student identification card, the sole stamp is for the Summer Semester.
Another identity card for Herr William Hannaher valid through February 28, 1957 (the issue date in Heidelberg in 1956 is less legible) entitled him to take advantage of discounts afforded to students of the University by the city’s municipal transit (Heidelberger Straßen- und Bergbahn AG).
The President of the United States of America To William J. Hannaher, of Minnesota, a Foreign Service Officer of the United States of America, Greeting: Reposing special trust and confidence in your Integrity, Prudence and Ability, I do appoint you a Secretary in the Diplomatic Service of the United States of America and do authorize and empower you to have and to hold the said office and to exercise and enjoy all the rights, privileges and immunities thereunto appertaining during the pleasure of the President of the United States and until the end of the next session of the Senate of the United States and no longer. In testimony whereof, I have caused the Seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Done at the City of Washington this twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-first. By the President: Dwight D. Eisenhower. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State. One of three proclamations issued this day, the others were for Vice consul of career and Foreign Service Officer of Class 8. Eisenhower had just been re-elected on the sixth, and Dulles would stay on until 1959. If we take the next session of the Senate to be the 85th, that term ended January 3, 1959.
William J. Hannaher receives an International Certificates of Vaccination as approved by The World Health Organization card, which includes sections for smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, and other. The first immunization on January 4, 1957 is for Polio. He will get another shot for Polio and shots for Typhoid and Typhus in the months ahead. The last shot is for Smallpox which he gets aboard the S.S. Liberté on his return to the United States after his marriage.
William J. Hannaher completes a draft of his tax return for 1956 using the instructions for the card form of Form 1040A . This was his oldest surviving record of tax preparation.
The President of the United States of America To William J. Hannaher, of Minnesota, a Foreign Service Officer of the United States of America, Greeting: Reposing special trust and confidence in your Integrity, Prudence and Ability, I do appoint you a Foreign Service Officer of Class 8 of the United States of America and do authorize and empower you to have and to hold the said office and to exercise and enjoy all the rights, privileges and immunities thereunto appertaining during the pleasure of the President of the United States. In testimony whereof, I have caused the Seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Done at the City of Washington this twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-first. By the President: Dwight D. Eisenhower. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State. One of three proclamations made that day, to the same positions as in November but removing the limit based on Senate terms.
The Moorhead Daily News published “Hannaher Gets Post in Belgrade” below the fold on its front page on June 20, 1957. William Hannaher wouldn’t be 26 for another three days! (The Fargo Forum had a similar article the previous day on page 2.)
Yugoslavia and Serbia issue William Hannaher a drivers license on March 15, 1958 valid through the end of the subsequent year. What utility having his father’s name (Томас) on the license, or what Serbs would make of a birthplace of Фарго, isn’t apparent.
Yugoslavia issues William Hannaher an international drivers license on March 28, 1958, valid for one year. The languages inside include Serbo-Croatian (in Latin alphabet), French, (UK) English, German, Italian, and Russian. The stamps applied in Belgrade on the last panel lack specificity, it’s likely William of Fargo was only entitled to drive vehicles of category B.
The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York To All Persons To Whom These Presents May Come Greeting Be It Known That William Joseph Hannaher Having Completed the Studies and Satisfied the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Has Accordingly Been Admitted to That Degree With all the Rights Privileges and Immunities Thereunto Appertaining In Witness Whereof We Have Caused This Diploma to be Signed by the President of the University and by the Dean of the Faculties of Political Science Philosophy and Pure Science and Our Corporate Seal to be Hereto Affixed in the City of New York on the Twenty-Eighth Day of July in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Sixty-Nine. The dean, George K. Fraenkel, had joined the faculty in chemistry in 1949, he became dean in 1965 and would remain as such until 1983, retire in 1991, and die in 2009. The Acting President, Andrew W. Cordier, was not so lucky. He would obtain the permanent title later in the year, achieve “moderate success” in dealing with the student unrest that had led Kirk to leave, and die in 1975.
William Hannaher was 40 when his father died. “Thomas Hannaher Funeral Set Tuesday” ran in a local paper (likely The Fargo Forum ) on May 15th, 1972. The second son’s family had been living in northern Virginia nearly a year and a half, stating for accuracy’s sake “Alexandria, Va.” would not have taken any more column inches.
