Search

Back to top

Search Constraints

Start Over You searched for: Online Content Includes Digital Content Remove constraint Online Content: Includes Digital Content Collection Lawrence L. Witt and Laura A. Edge papers, 1943-2012 (majority within 1943-1946) Remove constraint Collection: Lawrence L. Witt and Laura A. Edge papers, 1943-2012 (majority within 1943-1946)
Number of results to display per page
View results as:

Search Results

Folder

Correspondence

Online

The Correspondence series (1 linear foot and 12.0 GB, 1943-2012) includes both original and digitized versions of documents and is divided into three subseries: Family correspondence, Personal correspondence, and Research correspondence. Family correspondence contains letters and related materials sent or received by Lawrence Witt's mother, Gladys Collins. The bulk of the correspondence was sent by Witt himself, and much of that from when he was a prisoner of war (POW) in Germany. Also included are notifications sent by the Department of War about Witt's status, a few notes or letters to Witt, and related materials such as newspaper clippings. Personal correspondence primarily consists of letters sent between Lawrence Witt and his future wife, Lois Davis, but also includes a few letters from other friends and acquaintances. The bulk of this subseries was sent following the end of the war. The Research correspondence subseries contains letters related to Laura Edge's research on her father's and other airmen's experiences as prisoners of war in Germany during World War II.

Collection

Lawrence L. Witt and Laura A. Edge papers, 1943-2012 (majority within 1943-1946)

1.5 linear feet (in 2 boxes) — 30.9 GB (online)

Online
Lawrence L. Witt was a Detroit native who served in the Army Air Force during World War II and was a prisoner of war (POW) for eleven months after getting shot down over Nazi Germany. His daughter Laura A. Edge later researched her father's story and wrote a book about his and other airmen's experiences as prisoners of war in WWII. Correspondence, various documents relating to military and prisoner of war experience, and audio-visual materials including oral histories of several WWII veterans.

The Lawrence Witt and Laura Edge papers document Witt's experiences during and after World War II, as well as his daughter's research on his and other airmen's experiences as prisoners of war in Nazi Germany. Most series consist of folders (both original and digitized copies) originally ordered and numbered by Laura Edge.

Folder

Collected materials

Online

The Collected materials series (0.5 linear feet and 14.8 GB, 1943-2010) includes originals, photocopies, and digitized versions of documents and is divided into three subseries: Military documents, Stalag Luft IV documents, and Miscellaneous. The Military documents subseries contains a variety of documents related to Lawrence Witt's military service. These include discharge papers, medical records documenting the physical and psychological implications of Witt's war experiences, certificates and diplomas, and other documents as well as copies of official military records that Edge requested as research materials. The Stalag Luft IV documents subseries consists of diagrams, notes, photographs, and printed materials related to the Stalag Luft IV prisoner of war camp. The Miscellaneous subseries includes the transcript of a serviceman John Anderson's diary, Witt's life story used at his funeral, and notes from interviews of Witt's crewmates.