Archival Collections

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 includes 17 articles, which all pertain to either Francis Yonkin or the 11th Armored Division/3rd Army during World War II as they moved through Europe following the invasion of Normandy during World War II. Also included are 20 photographs, which include some of Francis Yonkin, and also prints of Nazi officers (in Paris at restaurants), and also photographs of tanks and the 11th Armored, as well as stock photographs of General Eisenhower, Churchill, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (possibly from the Tehran Conference).

The General Jean-Jacques-Germain Pelet-Clozeau Papers contain material from the early years of the French Republic in 1793 to Second Empire under Napoleon III in 1858. The greatest area of concentration deals with France during the First Empire under Napoleon. One of the largest segments of this collection includes journals kept during the major campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. Also included is correspondence from Napoleon to Marshals Berthier and Davout from 1805-1810. Much of the military campaign material is supplemented with hand-drawn sketches and maps along with situation reports of various units of the Grande Armée. Among the collection's other sources are autobiographical material on Pelet's early years as a student and a young officer in the Topographical Section of the French army, and as an officer-engineer in Italy. Included within these notes are sketches and hand-drawn maps of the sieges of Verona and Gaeta in Italy. In addition, a history of Napoleon's early career based on documents and accounts during the years of the Revolution and the Directory are included along with notes on the siege of Toulon in 1793. Also contained within the Papers are letters and documents concerning the Army of the Rhine in 1800. Throughout the collection are numerous letters and official correspondence with various officials and generals of the Republic and Empire. Sources from the post-Napoleonic period include a report to Louis Philippe on the condition of Lyons in 1831. Several documents dealing with Pelet's tenure as director of the archives of the Dépôt de la guerre are contained in extracts from 1830 to 1832. A large assortment of notes by Pelet from post-war interviews with many of the most important personages of the Empire are included in the Papers. Also contained in the Pelet Papers are numerous legal documents such as birth and marriage certificates, passports, military service records, and a will. Other documents include rewards and honors concerning the Legion of Honor, Cross of St. Louis, and the Freemasons. Some materials in the collection have been digitized and may be viewed in DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository.

The collection of John Robert Denny contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History. Also included in the collection are newspapers, a map, a manuscript, letters, artifacts, fine art, documents, photographs, and ephemera. There are also letters from Denny to his parents.

Rolande R. Faucon was a teenage citizen of France when the Germans invaded her town. She describes her music training, the presence of British and American military in her town, watching bombs fall from the sky and families identifying bombing victims, watching train cattle cars transporting people through her town. She also provides descriptions of the three paintings that she donated to the Institute. Documents in the collection include 2 photographs, a press clipping about Rolande's artwork, and descriptions about war-related paintings done in Albuquerque, NM.

This collection contains the personal letters of Roy Willard Meyer sent to Clifford Benson, a lifelong friend, during and after World War II.  Though Meyer didn't enter military service until 1944, the letters begin in 1941.  Roy Willard Meyer served with the 15th Army Group as a Clerk typist during the occupation period.

The collection of Tom L. Gibson contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History.  Gibson served during World War II with the 101st Airborne Division in Europe as a Second Lieutenant and participated in Holland during Operation Market Garden.

This collection relates to William Clayton Greene who served in the U.S. Army during World War II in Belgium and Germany. The collection includes informaton about his experience there. There are letters to his family, a friend, as well as letters from Nuns from a Belgian convent that Greene befriended. Also included is a German publication entitled Sparta: Der Lebenskampf Einer Nordischen Herrenschicht which is signed by Heinrich Himmler.