Search

This collection contains over 500 letters that Captain Edward Van Winkle wrote to his wife Sama while serving in the United States Army during World War I. Van Winkle, a member of the 24th Engineer Regiment, discussed his experiences at Washington, D.C. and Camp Dix, New Jersey, and in France and Germany from 1917-1919.

This collection (0.75 linear feet) contains over 500 letters that Captain Edward Van Winkle wrote to his wife Sama while serving in the United States Army during World War I.

The Correspondence series contains 533 letters and telegrams that Van Winkle (who signed his letters "Papa" or "Ted") sent to his wife while serving in the United States Army from September 1, 1917-June 2, 1919. Van Winkle trained at American University in Washington, D.C., and worked at the General Engineer Depot from September 1917-November 1917, when he joined the 24th Engineer Regiment. By November 1917, he had joined the 24th Engineer Regiment at Camp Dix, New Jersey, and he wrote about the regiment's preparations to head overseas in February 1918.

From February 1918-May 1919, Van Winkle was stationed in France, where he served behind the front lines. He described his quarters and his daily activities and discussed topics such as an American cemetery, German air raids, French and German soldiers, and his trips to the front to observe the fighting. After the armistice, Van Winkle traveled to Germany; he noted the disintegration of the German army, and anticipated his return home while he was stationed in France throughout early 1919. Van Winkle sometimes included sketches in his letters; one letter is written on the back of a military map of Bitburg, Germany (December 4, 1918).

The Documents, Map, Printed Items, and Poem series (12 items) contains additional material related to Edward Van Winkle's army service, including a brochure about insurance policies, a directory for the United States Army's Office of the Chief of Engineers, and a memorandum regarding Van Winkle's transfer to the 24th Engineers. The series also contains a copy of a European edition of the New York Herald from September 14, 1918, and additional newspaper clippings pertaining to the war. A program for a production by the 25th Engineers, Company F, is illustrated with a drawing of soldiers in costume, posing as the bottom halves of the letters in the word "camouflage." The final items are a manuscript song about engineers' war experiences and a manuscript map of the Leonval Camp, located in the Forêt de la Reine in eastern France.

The Photograph shows a United States soldier in uniform.

The Realia series includes a black case and canteen that belonged to Edward Van Winkle. The case holds 6 medals, 5 buttons and cufflinks, and a compass.

This collection is made up of letters that Louise Maxwell received from family members who served in the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps during World War I, including her brothers Daniel, Peter, William, John, and Joseph, as well as her cousin, Fred Gibbs. The servicemen commented on their training and other military experiences in the United States and Western Europe.

This collection is made up of 92 letters that Louise Maxwell received from family members who served in the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Corps during World War I, including her brothers Daniel, Peter, William, John, and Joseph and her cousins Fred Gibbs and Dan Maxwell. Louise's correspondents wrote about many aspects of their service in the United States and Western Europe during and after the war; they occasionally relayed and commented on news of each other. Some mentioned conditions in training camps in the United States, where they participated in gas mask drills and other exercises. The soldiers and sailors discussed travels in England, particularly to London, during the war, and in Belgium, Germany, and the Orkney Islands after the Armistice. Joseph mentioned a plane crash in his letter of October 25, 1918, and Will referred briefly to his combat experiences. Some of the letters are addressed to the Maxwells' mother.

This collection is primarily made up of letters and telegrams that Thomas E. Snook sent to his parents in New York City about his experiences as an United States Army engineer from 1916-1919. The collection also contains letters written by Snook's father and another soldier.

This collection (59 items) is primarily made up of letters and telegrams that Thomas E. Snook sent to his parents in New York City from July 12, 1916-May 24, 1919, pertaining to his service as a United States Army engineer. Snook wrote 5 letters to his parents about his military training in Plattsburg, New York, in July 1916; he commented on drill, marches, his fellow soldiers, and his diet. From July 1917-June 1918, he described his training with the 306th Engineer Regiment in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; and Camp Jackson, South Carolina. He was promoted to captain during this period. Snook's letters concern training exercises, unit organization and reorganization, a quarantine, and preparations for embarkation. In his letter of June 13, 1917, he mentioned his intention to marry Virginia Wright.

From August 1918-May 1919, but mostly after the Armistice, Snook discussed his experiences in France. Though he occasionally heard artillery fire, he later reported that he had not participated directly in combat, telling his family about the engineers' role during the final months of the fighting. After the war, he wrote about his interactions with French citizens and the Americans' efforts during and after the war. His letters of June 3, 1918, and April 12, 1919, contain lists of American casualties, and his letter of December 15, 1918, has a list of all of the items that he carried on his person. In addition to Snook's correspondence, the collection contains a small number of letters from his father and one letter to his mother from S. T. Bennett, another soldier serving in France (September 22, 1918).

This collection is made up of correspondence, military documents, photographs, printed items, and ephemera related to Dr. William Jason Mixter, who served in the United States Army during World War I, and his wife Dorothy.

This collection is made up of correspondence, military documents, photographs, printed items, and ephemera related to Dr. William Jason Mixter, who served in the United States Army during World War I, and his wife Dorothy.

The Correspondence series (1.75 linear feet) comprises the bulk of the collection. The first group of correspondence is made up of 48 letters and postcards that William Jason Mixter sent to his wife Dorothy from March 9, 1915-May 21, 1915. He described his voyage to Europe, his brief stay in England, and his experiences working in French hospitals near the war front. His letters include details about his work with specific patients, comments about the sinking of the Lusitania, and other war news.

William Jason and Dorothy Mixter wrote most of the remaining correspondence to each other between May 1917 and April 1918, while William served with Base Hospital No. 6 in France and Base Hospital No. 204 in Hursley, England. He shared anecdotes about his experiences and reported on his medical work. Dorothy provided news of their children and life in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Their correspondence includes letters, telegrams, and postcards. Other writers include Samuel J. Mixter, Jason's father, who wrote from Boston, Massachusetts, about his daily life and about his work as a medical inspector. Other soldiers, former patients, and acquaintances also wrote to members of the Mixter family.

The collection includes 25 picture postcards depicting French scenes during and after the war; 3 are integrated into the Correspondence series, and the remaining 22 are housed with the Printed Items and Ephemera series.

The Military Papers series is divided into three subseries. Chronological Military Papers (51 items) include memorandums, orders, letters, telegrams, and other items pertaining to William Jason Mixter's military service during World War I, particularly related to his discharge in 1919. The subseries contains a list of personnel who served at Base Hospital No. 6. The Account Book, Diagnosis Book, and Notebooks subseries (4 items) consists of William Jason Mixter's account book from the London City & Midland Bank (June 30, 1918-January 15, 1919), a diagnosis book regarding soldiers' complaints onboard the SS Northland from February 11, 1919-February 17, 1919, and a notebook with brief personal memoranda. William Jason Mixter kept a medical notebook during his time at Hursley Camp Hospital near Winchester, England. He recorded biographical and medical information about his patients, and information about medical treatments. The Hursley Camp Hospital volume enclosed numerous clinical record slips and other manuscript notes.

The American Women's War Hospital Documents (3 items), pertaining to an institution in Paignton, England, are comprised of a photograph of nurses and patients outside of the hospital (December 1914) and two bundles of letter typescripts that a nurse named Mary Dexter wrote to her mother about her work at the hospital (November 22, 1914-January 9, 1915, and January 15, 1915-July 16, [1915]).

The Writings series (10 items) contains 9 typed and manuscript poems, mostly related to American soldiers' experiences during World War I, on topics such as volunteering for the army, traveling overseas, and encountering death. The poems "The Americans" and "Only a Volunteer" are present in manuscript and typescript form, and "The Young Dead" and "The Woman's Burden" are attributed to female authors (Lilian Palmer Powers and Laura E. Richards, respectively). The final item is a typescript of a resolution presented at a social club encouraging its members to proclaim loyalty during the war.

The Photographs series (114 items) is comprised of 113 photographic prints and a 32-page photograph album; some images are repeated. Items include studio portraits of William Jason Mixter in uniform; group portraits of nurses, doctors, and other medical personnel; pictures of wounded and convalescent soldiers during and after operations; interior views of medical facilities; and views of buildings and destruction in France. The photograph album and 80 loose items are housed in the Graphics Division (see Alternate Locations for more information).

The Printed Items and Ephemera series (59 items) consists of 3 unique pamphlets; 18 unique newspapers, newsletters, and newspaper clippings; 28 unique ephemeral items; and 4 books.

The pamphlets include 5 copies of an article by William Jason Mixter entitled "Surgical Experiences in France," originally published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 173.12 (September 16, 1915), pp. 413-418. The other pamphlets are an advertisement for an "Exhibition and Sale of the War Cartoons by Louis Raemaekers" (October 1916), including an introduction and small reproductions of the drawings, and "Welcome Home," a book commemorating the return of the 26th Division in April 1919. Newspaper articles and other publications (including 6 items housed in Oversize Manuscripts) pertain to aspects of the war, particularly concerning medical personnel, civilian relief organizations, and the medical career of Samuel J. Mixter. A copy of The Boston Herald dated November 11, 1918, announces the Armistice.

The 28 ephemeral items include programs and advertising cards pertaining to church services held in honor of Base Hospital No. 6; the collection includes several copies each of 2 programs. Other printed items include a small map of Cambridge and Boston, a circular related to the Boston Society of Psychiatry and Neurology, and a book of stationery with engravings of Belgian scenes. A few personal items relate to the Mixter family, such as visiting cards on which William Jason Mixter wrote personal messages, cards from Mixter's children with sewn pictures, a certificate regarding Dorothy Mixter's service with the American Red Cross canteen, and a small French-language almanac affixed to a card with colored illustrations of the Allied Nations' flags. Three additional items pertain directly to the American Red Cross: the cover of the December 1918 issue of The Red Cross Magazine, a Red Cross service flag for display in a home window, and an American Red Cross canteen worker patch. Other insignia items are a button and ribbon commemorating the 26th Division's return to the United States and two small pins that belonged to William Jason Mixter. Also present is William Jason Mixter's passport, issued on February 6, 1915.

The 4 books include: The History of U.S. Army Base Hospital No. 6 (Boston, Mass.: 1924), given to William Jason Mixter, Jr., by his father; Independence Day in London, 1918 (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1918); The Old Humanities and the New Science... (London: J. Murray, 1919); and Dere Mable: Love Letters of a Rookie (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1918).