The Harold K. and Charlene B. Hartell World War II Collection documents the careers of the Hartells during the war, primarily from 1942 to 1945. The collection documents Harold’s training and service as a bombardier in the United States Air Corps, as well as Charlene’s training and work for North American Aviation building B-25 bombers. This collection consists of flight records, training records, military orders, clippings, photographs, certificates and employee identification cards that document both Harold’s and Charlene’s contributions during the war. The collection is arranged in two series: Series I, Harold K. Hartell, 1942-2007; Series II, Charlene B. Hartell, 1942-1954.

Series I. Harold K. Hartell has been broken down into two subseries; one reflects his time in the United States Air Corps and the second is more personal in nature. The United States Air Corps subseries, 1942-1955, gives a detailed account of Harold’s training and missions as a B-17 bombardier. There are records of tests and flights taken prior to serving in the Air Corps as a First Lieutenant in the 490th Bombardment Group. There are photographs of Harold and his crew mates and aerial shots of bombs being released on German targets. Many of the photographs have transcriptions. In addition, there are photographs and reports that capture the aftermath of a major mid-air collision between two B-17s that Harold survived, along with only two others. In total, Harold survived three plane crashes during the war. The Personal subseries, 1940s to 2007, contains clippings about Harold’s time as a bombardier and photographs of Charlene and him together. There is also a correspondence file that contains a Valentine’s Day card the Harold sent to Charlene during the war.

The Charlene B. Hartell series, 1942-1955, is smaller in size with two folders related to Charlene’s career during World War II. The first folder contains her vocation training card to become certified as an aircraft radio and electrical assembler. Also, there is a certification card from Norther American Aviation Inc., where she worked during the war building B-25 bombers and a poem that Charlene wrote about her time with the company titled “Life in the Bomber Plant.” There are not many other documents related to her time as an original "Rosie the Riveter" building aircraft during the war. The last folder contains her war ration books.

The files within the two series have been arranged alphabetically.