Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is primarily made up of 1st Lieutenant Benjamin A. Furman's outgoing correspondence during his service as a United States Army surgeon in France and Germany between August 1917 and early 1919, as well as picture postcards that Furman collected during his time in Europe. Furman discussed his voyage to Europe, work at an evacuation hospital, encounters with wounded African American soldiers, and postwar travels.

This collection is made up of 119 letters, most of them written by 1st Lieutenant Benjamin A. Furman during his service as a United States Army surgeon in France and Germany between August 1917 and early 1919; 2 photographs; approximately 290 picture postcards that Furman collected during his time in Europe; and 2 printed items. Furman discussed his voyage to Europe, work at an evacuation hospital, encounters with wounded African American soldiers, and postwar travels.

The Benjamin A. Furman Letters to His Parents subseries contains 97 letters that Furman sent to John A. and Emma C. Furman of Newark, New Jersey, about his experiences in the United States Army between August 1917 and March 1919. His letters form the majority of a numbered series that originally contained at least 87 items, plus additional unnumbered letters and postcards. In his earliest letters, Furman described his voyage from the United States to Europe, which included a close encounter with a German submarine, and his experiences with the 407th Telegraph Battalion. In July 1918, he transferred to the 2nd Evacuation Hospital, where he regularly treated patients suffering from wounds acquired at the front lines. On one occasion, Furman copied a portion of a soldier's letter about injuries sustained from a grenade explosion (August 11, 1918). By October 1918, he reported increased admissions of soldiers with illnesses, which included numerous cases of the mumps and the Spanish influenza. Furman occasionally treated African American soldiers and repeatedly shared his admiration for their bravery and dedication. After the war, he witnessed the plight of released British prisoners of war (November 17, 1918) and discussed his travels in France, which included a visit to no man's land. Furman spent much of early 1919 in Germany, and described trips to Koblenz, Köln, and cities across France.

The Other Correspondence subseries (22 items) is comprised of similar outgoing letters from Furman to other acquaintances, such as his brother John, friends, and a Boy Scout Troop. Several friends wished Furman good luck in a photographic postcard postmarked February 1918; the image depicts a building at Princeton University, his alma mater. Furman received a small number of other letters from friends in the United States during the war.

Two Photographs include a cabinet card portrait of Leon Unger, an American physician who also served in the war, and a snapshot photograph, which apparently depicts Benjamin Furman with his motorized ambulance and driver.

The Printed Ephemera and Map series contains an advertisement for the Hotel Atlantic & Annexe in Nice, France, and a map of the city of Nice.

Throughout his time in Europe, Benjamin A. Furman collected around 290 Picture Postcards of buildings and scenery in France and western Germany. He organized most of the postcards by place or region, and added brief notes.

This 132-page diary chronicles the experiences of Bert C. Whitney, of Washington, Michigan, who served with the 304th Sanitary Train in France during World War I. Whitney described his transatlantic voyages, his experiences near the front line at Verdun in late 1918, and his travels around France after the armistice.

This 132-page diary chronicles the experiences of Bert C. Whitney, of Washington, Michigan, who served with the 304th Sanitary Train in France during World War I. Whitney described both of his transatlantic voyages, his experiences near the front line at Verdun in late 1918, and his travels around France after the armistice. The journal is housed in a leather wallet, and has a drawing of a flag on its inside cover.

Whitney began his account in early July 1918, while en route to Brooklyn, New York, where his regiment embarked for France on July 10. During his time at sea, he described the ships in his convoy, submarine scares, and daily life onboard the transport ship Lutetia. Shortly after their arrival at Brest on July 21, Whitney recounted his movements in France until mid-September, when he reached the front lines. Though he did not participate directly in active combat, he described life behind the lines and witnessed artillery barrages, gas attacks, and aerial battles. Near the end of the war, he remarked about the destruction of the area around Verdun and anticipated an armistice, particularly after he saw a German delegation on their way to meet with General John J. Pershing. On November 11, 1918, Whitney counted down the final minutes of active combat, noting the ferocity of the fire until the stroke of 11:00 a.m. After the armistice, he recorded his travels around France and his negative opinions of French soldiers. He embarked for the United States in the spring of 1919 and wrote his final entry on May 30, 1919, as the ship approached the United States. Enclosures include poppies taken from a battlefield (pressed into the volume around October 22, 1918), 2 military documents related to his promotion to sergeant, and a poem entitled "Romeo to Verdun," printed in the Romeo Observer.

This collection contains correspondence related to Brewster E. Littlefield's service with the United States Army's 101st Engineers during World War I. Littlefield wrote around 110 letters to his family in Braintree, Massachusetts, about his experiences in France, which included service in the front lines. The collection also includes letters about Littlefield's death, poetry about the war, and photographs.

This collection (155 items) contains correspondence related to Brewster E. Littlefield's service with the United States Army's 101st Engineers during World War I. Littlefield wrote around 110 letters to his family in Braintree, Massachusetts, about his experiences in France, which included service in the front lines. The collection also contains letters about Littlefield's death, poetry about the war, and photographs.

The Correspondence series (135 items), which comprises the bulk of the collection, contains letters that Brewster E. Littlefield wrote to his parents from September 25, 1917-October 31, 1918. Early letters pertain to his journey to France via Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Southampton, England. After arriving in France in October 1917, Littlefield wrote about his daily experiences with the 101st Engineer Regiment. He discussed his living quarters, his religious life, and his work as a gas mask specialist, which involved frequent travel by motorcycle and on horseback. Littlefield also commented on his training exercises, which included a simulated gas attack, and mentioned his pride in the American "doughboys." He spent time in the trenches and near the front lines, traveled around France, and attended training in Paris; his letters include descriptions of artillery attacks, aerial warfare, and gas attacks. He reflected on the impact that the war had on him, such as his gradual adjustment to shelling. On several occasions, including in his final letter, he remarked on close encounters with German bombs. Littlefield also wrote about his relationship and correspondence with a girl named Almira, an encounter with German prisoners of war, and the impact of the influenza epidemic.

Additional correspondence items largely postdate Littlefield's death. In November 1918, the Littlefield family received a telegram and official letter notifying them of Brewster E. Littlefield's death, and they later received 2 letters from his army acquaintances about the precise circumstances of the incident. Later correspondence relates to Littlefield's personal effects and final paycheck. Two sets of military orders concern other American soldiers.

The Poems, Photographs, and Currency series (20 items) contains additional materials related to Brewster E. Littlefield and the First World War. Two typed poems concern soldiers' experiences during the war. Seventeen snapshots and card photographs (one of which is dated December 1, 1941) show families, a dog in the snow, and World War I-era United States soldiers in uniform, including Brewster E. Littlefield. The final item is a one-franc note.

This diary recounts the World War I experiences of Joseph Eve, who served in Battery F of the 101st Field Artillery Regiment during the final months of the war. Eve described his experiences at training sites in the United States, as well as while traveling through France during the months immediately following the war.

This 34-page diary, titled "My Diary while in the Army," recounts Joseph Eve's experiences with Battery F of the Battery F of the 101st Field Artillery Regiment during the final months of World War I. The volume, a running narrative, covers the entirety of Eve's military experiences, beginning with his departure from Salt Lake City on September 2, 1918, and concluding with his return on April 25, 1919. Eve first traveled to Camp Lewis, Washington, where he was formally inducted into the Army, and transferred to Fort Stevens, Oregon, on September 26. While in training, he reported frequent drilling, discussed some of his equipment, and reflected on his cross-country travels. He kept a list of major cities he traveled through both on his way to Oregon and between Oregon and Camp Merritt, New Jersey, where he embarked for Europe on the President Grant around October 28. After writing about the trip, during which a torpedo hit the President Grant's sister ship, the President Lincoln, Eve described the celebrations in France on Armistice Day, when he first arrived in the country.

The remainder of the diary concerns his movements throughout France in the following months. Eve often expressed his displeasure with the accommodations at French camps, and occasionally mentioned performing training exercises with trench mortars. At one camp, he saw a group of German prisoners of war; at another, he encountered veterans who laughed at his unit's prospects of becoming an occupation force. He also visited Paris and described the soldiers and ordnance around Metz, France, before returning to the United States onboard the Mongolia in April 1919. Eve's diary ends with his arrival in Salt Lake City on April 25, one day after his discharge from the Army at Fort Russell, Wyoming.

The final pages of the volume contain additional material, including 2 pages of financial accounts, a list of food items, and a 4-page list of cities Eve traveled through on his way from Shirley, Massachusetts, to Granger, Wyoming. Two pages contain rough sketches of the insignia of 42 infantry divisions of the United States Army, arranged in a grid according to divisional numbers. A ticket for the Paris Métropolitain and a contract between Joseph Bannister and Joseph Eve, granting Eve a lease on Bannister's farm in Grace, Idaho (October 1, 1916), are laid into the volume between the front cover and first page.

The Julius Bromet papers are made up of letters, postcards, and a diary that Bromet wrote while serving with the 305th Field Hospital (later the 305th Ambulance Company) during World War I. In his letters to his parents and brother, Bromet described his experiences at Camp Upton, New York, and in France; his diary pertains to his time in France during and after the war. The collection has four photographs.

The Julius Bromet papers are contains 145 letters and postcards and a diary that Bromet wrote while serving with the 305th Field Hospital (later the 305th Ambulance Company) at Camp Upton, New York, and in France during and after World War I. The collection also has 4 photographs: 2 photographs attached to the letter of December 7, 1917, and 2 in a separate series.

The Correspondence series consists of 145 letters and from Julius Bromet to his parents, Solomon and Annie Bromet; his brother, Louis Bromet; and "Minnie and Baby;" all letters were sent to his father's home in Brooklyn, New York. From March 7, 1917, to March 14, 1917, and again from December 9, 1917, to April 2, 1918, he wrote from Camp Upton on Long Island, New York, about his training and equipment. He also related rumors of his unit's upcoming transfer to Europe. After a brief period with the 152nd Depot Brigade in December 1917, Bromet returned to the 305th Field Hospital, which traveled to France via England in April 1918. In one 10-page letter from April 1918, he described his transatlantic voyage.

After his arrival in France around April 21, 1918, Bromet wrote about aspects of life near the front, including his account of witnessing a German and French "aeroplane fight" (July 26, 1918), and reported rumors that an armistice was imminent. After the war, he was stationed near Chaumont and Solesmes, France, where he described the scenery and conveyed the pleasures of sleep unhindered by the sounds of airplane raids and machine guns (November 12, 1918), though he admitted having an eerie feeling about the silence (November 14, 1918). He left France in May 1919. Two photographs of a soldier are enclosed in his letter of December 5, 1918. Illustrated postcards of various French scenes; new recruits at Camp Upton, New York (4 items, December 4, 1917); and several uniformed soldiers (3 items, undated). Bromet's co-workers sent him a postcard wishing him a safe return from the war (December 7, 1917).

Julius S. Bromet kept a Diary (53 pages) between April 6, 1918, and May 7, 1919, during his service in France. In daily entries, he noted the weather and interesting occurrences, such as a burial at sea during the voyage to France (April 18, 1918) and a close encounter with falling shrapnel (May 9, 1918). He also witnessed occasional air raids and unfavorably compared U.S. Army quarters to British quarters. He wrote his final entry just after arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, on May 7, 1919, and expected to be mustered out within the next two days; he wrote down "Thurs May 8" but did not complete the entry. The diary also contains addresses and a list of letters that Bromet mailed home.

The Photographs series includes a portrait of a soldier, which is housed in a frame with the word "Welcome," illustrations of American flags, and the date (May 10, 1919), and a picture of a man and three women in a domestic environment. Two additional photographs are attached to the letter of December 5, 1918.