Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing notes created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2001.0013: Chester W. Segers, 2001 April
[identification of item], Chester W. Segers Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0094, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 December; finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2021 February
Chester W. Segers (1927-2013) was a member of the United States Navy who served in Antarctica during Operation Deep Freeze (1956-1957); he was one of the first group of men to winter over at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Segers joined the Navy in 1945 at age 17, and served in the Pacific during the end of World War II. In 1956, he volunteered to go to Antarctica as a Naval Culinary Specialist during Operation Deep Freeze; he landed in Antarctica during December 1956, and stayed there until January 1958. Segers was responsible for cooking 3 meals a day, 6 days a week; the men were responsible for their own food on his day off.
Segers continued serving in the Navy until his retirement in 1966. Following his naval retirement, he drove 18-wheeler trucks for another 25 years. Segers passed away in 2013.
The Chester W. Segers Oral History, dated 2001, contains audio recordings, notes, and transcripts of the interview between Segers and Brian Shoemaker and Diane Bellanger of the American Polar Society conducted on April 12, 2001. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by the American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include Segers' trip to Antarctica from 1956 to 1958 as a chef for Operation Deep Freeze, his memories of life in Antarctica, and a brief discussion of his time in the United States Navy.