Archival Collections

This privately printed memoir relates to Private First Class Carlton H. Stauffer who served with Company G, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

The collection of Carlton K. Smith, who served with the 185th Field Artillery during World War II, contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History.  This collection also contains a World War II history magazine, correspondence with French General Pierre Denis, summaries of unit actions, personal letters to family, newspaper clippings, unit newsletters, a binder with photocopies of newspaper articles, and one copy of Liberty's Victorious Conflict: A Photographic History of the World War I.

These papers relate to Clarence J. Inniss, an African American corporal who served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European Theater. The collection consists of an oral history interview transcript, a map, discharge papers, and photographs.

This collection relates to Diana Naylor Morgan who served as a junior USO hostess in New Jersey during World War II. The collection includes an oral interview with Morgan, news articles, photographs, and letters sent to her from American and British soldiers deployed overseas during World War II. In the letters, servicemen describe their day to day activities while deployed overseas, their locations, views on the Japanese, and opinions about the Atomic Bomb. A letter dated June 2, 1944, written by an American sailor Ernest Feasy was not censored; Feasy describes how he is waiting for D-Day to arrive.

This collection contains the oral history transcript of Lieutenant Colonel Eugene A. Dance pertaining to his World War II service as a First Lieutenant serving in Europe. Oral history transcript states that Eugene Dance (served 1941-46) discusses his experiences in the 38th Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne in World War II.

This collection relates to Everett Melvin O'Brien who served as a 1st Lieutenant with the 603rd Quartermaster Graves Registration Company in the European Theater during World War II. The collection contains photographs from O'Brien's service in Graves Registration in the U.S., France, Belgium, and Germany which include killed in action U.S. soldiers and graves. Photographs of the concentration camp at Dachau are also included.

This collection relates to Francis E. Ridgway who served as a Gunners Mate, Second Class, on the United States Naval Destroyer Ship U.S.S Ellyson. This collection contains 36 letters from Francis Ridgway to Ruth De Rosier and two letters from "Father Bill" to Ruth De Rosier. There is also a personal handwritten journal from Francis which documents his time aboard the Ellyson, and an Official Order for awards earned by Ridgway.

The Frank Facente transcript describes medic Frank Facente's service in the 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, as a part of the United States Army during World War II. Facente participated in the landing at Normandy, attacking the Siegfried Line, Battle of Huertgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge, and visiting the concentration camp at Dachau.

This collection pertains to Private First Class George Kass who served with Company E of the 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Division. The collection consists of letters written to and from Kass to his family, particularly his sister Rose Goldblum. Kass' letters provide detailed accounts of Army life, and Rose's letters provide a civilian perspective on life and the war. The letters begin after Kass' enlistment in 1942 and end when he is wounded in action on September 5, 1944.

Henry Louis Hill served as a captain with the U.S. Army's 97th Infantry, Field Artillery, S-3 Battalion during World War II. This collection contains a veteran's questionnaire from Louis Hill; a one-page faded cartoon of native women on Guadalcanal; and a brief (less than one page) recount of how Hill came upon a Japanese lantern, which is also part of the collection. The collection also contains a black and white photograph of the president of Florida State College for Women (FSCW), Dr. Edward Conradi, buying supposedly the first defense bond issued in Tallahassee, FL, from Miss Mart Pierson (later married to Henry Louis Hill). According to the inscription on the photograph, the date was 14 December 1941, the first day defense bonds were sold in the US. Miss Pierson was the president of the College Government and chairman of the College Student Defense Committee. Also, there is a book of war stories from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, but Hill is not represented.