Showing Collections: 1 - 15 of 15
369th African American Infantry Regiment Photographs
Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MS 00085
Scope and Contents
Over 170 photographs of African American men in military uniform, some of which feature a coiled rattlesnake, the patch adopted by the 369th Infantry Regiment which was stationed in Hawaii during World War II. Some of the photographs indicate names and additional data. There are also many photographs that show the men in them at work and at play including the unit marching in a parade, body building poses, cooking, and also the men in civilian dress. This collection...
Dates:
1942-1944
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
African American Soldiers in World War II
Collection
Identifier: MS 00088
Scope and Contents
91 photos of African Americans during World War II. Many of the photos are labeled Wissmar (captured by Ally forces May 2, 1945) and Frankfurt, Germany. Some names of the soldiers are printed on the back of the photographs. Most of the photos are not dated and depict men in their uniforms near military vehicles and in a casual setting. Some photographs are of the men with local (civilian dress) women.
Dates:
circa 1945
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
James W. Caywood Papers
Collection
Identifier: MS 00277
Scope and Contents
Scrapbook pertaining to James W. Caywood's service in the United States Navy during World War II while in Hawaii as part of the 26th Special Naval Construction Battalion. The bulk of the scrapbook contains photographs, newspaper clippings, and drawings kept by Caywood while serving in Hawaii. Some of the photographs document the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and depict Caywood and other African-American sailors in everyday life on the island, as well as local Hawaiian women. Newspaper...
Dates:
circa 1941-1949; Majority of material found within 1944-1945
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Charles Edward Gary, Jr. Papers
Collection
Identifier: MS 00017
Scope and Contents
These papers contain correspondence, photographs, business papers, artifacts, certificates, and other materials related to Charles Edward Gary, Jr. Mr. Gary was a prominent African American business owner in Williamsburg, operating for decades the West End Valet Shop off Prince George Street. The collection comprises business ledgers and other West End Valet Shop records over several years, as well as legal documents pertaining to the Valet Shop and Gary family estates such as leases and...
Dates:
circa 1870s-2000s; Majority of material found in 1940-1980
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Gertha Sykes Collins Papers
Collection
Identifier: Mss. Acc. 2011.487
Scope and Contents
Primarily this is a collection of love letters written between 1942-1944 to Gertha Barbara Jean Sykes residing in St. Louis, Missouri and James NMI Dansby, an African-American soldier in the United States Army. There are also letters from two other Army soldiers, Jack Smith, stationed in the Pacific and Benjamin D. Collins, an aircompany soldier, whom Sykes married in 1949. The letters begin when Dansby joined the Army and started basic training in Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg,...
Dates:
1942-1951
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
George Alfred Beasley Letters
Collection
Identifier: SC 01414
Content Description
About 40 letters from George Beasley to his sweetheart, Rosa L. Johnson written between June 1941 and May 1945. Beasley was a Sergeant in the Army stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Camp Rucker, Alabama, and then overseas in France and Belgium. He served with the 3rd and 4th Battalion of the Armed Force Replacement Training Center, a segregated African American unit.
Dates:
1941-1945
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Obelia "Bee" Graves Papers
Collection
Identifier: 01/Mss. Acc. 2008.123
Scope and Contents
This collection contains letters to Obelia "Bee" Graves, from her family and friends, while she attended Winston-Salem Teachers College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The institution is presently known as Winston-Salem State University. Winston-Salem Teachers College was the first historically black college to grant bachelors degrees in elementary school education. The collection also includes college documents from her time at college such as report cards and her admission acceptance....
Dates:
1936-1945; Majority of material found in 1937-1939
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Herman Recht Papers
Collection
Identifier: Mss. Acc. 2001.31
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of more than 700 letters written by Herman Recht (1908-1971), a Navy yeoman, from Camp Peary (U.S. Naval Construction Training Center), near Williamsburg, Virginia, between October 1943 and February 1946, to his wife, Esther, in Clairton, Pennsylvania. There are no letters from Esther because, as he wrote her, saving them would make him homesick.Recht had been a lawyer for eight and a half years before joining the Navy. He was very well read, and...
Dates:
1943-1946
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
John Tuthill Papers
Collection
Identifier: Mss. Acc. 2001.03
Scope and Contents
Papers of John Wills Tuthill, a United States 20th century diplomat. The collection includes papers from Tuthill's years as a student and professor, his State Department career, his private career with international organizations and his retirement years. He held many positions within the State Department, mostly in Germany and Europe, with his final posting as Ambassador to Brazil. As a private citizen, he was Director of the Atlantic Institute, President of the Salzburg Seminar, and...
Dates:
1933-1998
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Ardessa L. Coffee Pitts Letters
Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: MS 00233
Content Description
About 70 letters, telegrams and greeting cards from Ardessa (Dess) L. Coffee Pitts to her husband, Private Madison F. Pitts, who served with the 335th Aviation Squadron at Douglas Army Air Field (D.A.A.F) in Arizona during World War II. Most of the letters are personal in nature and express Ardessa's loneliness and desire for children. She also shared physical ailments and how she felt stress aged her. The letters include pledges of fidelity and sexual innuendos. Ardessa also frequently...
Dates:
1944 February- June
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Racial and Ethnic Ephemera Collection
Collection
Identifier: Mss 1.05
Scope and Contents
The racial and ethnic ephemera collection contains various materials regarding race, ethnicity, and racism in the United States. The collection includes papers and items that promote racial prejudice and propaganda. The collection also contains items and papers that exemplify the fight for civil and equal rights. African Americans are the most broadly represented group in the collection. Other ethnic groups include Native Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, and...
Dates:
1778-2005
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Sheet Music Collection
Collection
Identifier: Mss. 1.07
Scope and Contents
The Sheet Music Collection includes sheet music collected by the Special Collections Research Center.
Dates:
1827-1974
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Thomas M. W. Green Photograph Album
Collection
Identifier: SC 01455
Scope and Contents
Photograph album created by Thomas "Tommy" Matthew William Green, Jr. who served in the United States Army during World War II. He was a second generation African American soldier, his father, Thomas M. W. Green was a Sergeant - Cavalry Detachment in the Army and is buried at West Point Military Academy Cemetery. Green was part of a segregated unit and his album features photos of his friends and family along with other soldiers with whom he served. The photographs along with some of his...
Dates:
1943-1951
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
University Archives Oral History Collection
Collection
Identifier: UA 43
Scope and Contents
The bulk of the University Archives Oral History Collection consists of transcripts and recordings of oral history interviews conducted as a part of various projects at the College of William and Mary with administrators, faculty, students, and alumni. The specific projects include the College's oral history program from the 1970s, an oral history program sponsored by the University Archives beginning in the 2000s, "Stony the Road We Trod," and the Stephens Project. The...
Dates:
1959-2018 and undated
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center
Richard Williams Papers
Collection
Identifier: SC 00912
Scope and Contents
Papers, circa 1940s, of Richard Williams, an African-American soldier stationed in Alaska during World War II. Includes a diary, in which he describes the weather, fishing and other recreational activities, and his duties. There are photographs and postcards that have been glued into the diary, which depict the local post office covered in snow, the towns of Juneau and Sitka, as well as Williams and other people that he met. There are also loose photographs, which seem to have come out of...
Dates:
circa 1940-1949
Found in:
Special Collections Research Center