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

The Harley and Laurence Benedict papers consist of letters written by Harley and Laurence Benedict to their mother, grandparents, and sister in Ohio during the brothers' overseas service in the First World War.

The Harley and Laurence Benedict papers consist of letters written by Harley and Laurence Benedict to their mother, grandparents, and sister in Ohio during the brothers' overseas service in the First World War. In his first letter, dated September 23, 1917, Harley M. Benedict discussed his recent journey to Camp Sheridan, Alabama, and described the camp and the town surrounding it; he also noted the demographic composition of the town, roughly evenly split between African Americans and whites. Most of the letters date from 1918, and include correspondence addressed to their mother, Mrs. Frank L. Benedict (Bessie), and maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. F. P. McVey. Laurence also wrote one late letter to their sister, Marjory (November 27, 1918). Throughout his time in France, Harley discussed camp life, the army's rapid progress across France and into Belgium, and the hazards of fighting. On July 17, 1918, he mentioned seeing an airborne fight, and in several other letters reported German bombing raids and booby traps. At the end of the war, Harley was in Belgium, and looked forward to returning to the United States.

Laurence Benedict spent several months training at Camp John Dick, near Dallas, Texas, and traveled to Breton, France, by September 1918. There, he spent much time "loafing," though he did fly; on one flight near the end of the war, he sustained a minor injury, though he was reluctant to report it to his mother. Unlike his brother, who often described combat, Laurence focused primarily on his leisure time, though he did mention his unit's casualties (October 31, 1918). His late letters are chiefly concerned with his return home, expedited by his injury, which rendered him unable to fly. In addition to her sons' correspondence, Bessie Benedict also received a letter from Russell H. Walter of the 166th United States Infantry, a family friend, who reported that his unit was "busy rehearsing going 'Over the Top'" (May 15, 1918). The collection also includes two postcards of United States soldiers; one is a photograph, and the other a painting.

The Simonetti family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, printed material, and ephemera related to the family, who emigrated from Italy to the United States in 1920. The bulk of the material relates to Pius (Pio) and Gaetano (Nino) Simonetti and their service in the United States Army during the Second World War.

The Simonetti family papers contain correspondence, documents, photographs, printed material, and ephemera related to the family, who emigrated from Italy to the United States in 1920. The bulk of the material relates to Pius (Pio) and Gaetano (Nino) Simonetti and their service in the United States Army during the Second World War.

The Correspondence series , which comprises the bulk of the collection, covers the years 1909-1921 and 1942-1945 and includes approximately 1,000 letters and pieces of V-mail; Letters, V-mail, and Telegrams are housed in separate subseries. Roughly two-thirds of the correspondence is written in Italian, with the remainder of the material in English and a handful of items in French. Alberto Simonetti wrote the earliest items in the Letters subseries to his wife Angelica, and his letters often contain pressed flowers; these letters are in Italian. The later run of correspondence, including the V-mail subseries, consists of letters composed by and addressed to Pio Simonetti during his World War II service in Algeria, Italy, and France; these are written in both Italian and English. In his letters to his son, Alberto reported family news, and often discussed rationing as well as his personal opinions of the United States government and of the war. His son sent home news of friends and relatives, and often described his leisure activities and military life, though he seldom mentioned combat. During 1945, he frequently wrote of his upcoming marriage and of his efforts to secure a visa for his new wife. By 1945, Pio expressed his frustration at remaining in Europe despite the official conclusion of combat operations. The Telegrams subseries primarily consists of messages sent between Alberto and Angelica Simonetti in the 1940s.

The Photographs and Negatives series has 41 photographs and 10 negatives. Pio Simonetti took the majority of the photographs, which depict army life in France and Italy during World War II and include several pictures of Pio and his friends. Other material in the collection belonged to Alberto Simonetti during World War I or to friends of Pio and Nino.

The Receipts series contains 9 items, the majority of which are related to goods ordered by and sent to Pio Simonetti during his European tour of duty. One item, dated 1934, is in Italian.

The Army Informational Materials series features material owned by Pio Simonetti during his World War II service. Pio collected his notes, quizzes, and exercises in Italian and English, and wrote English-language notes in a spiral notebook during training. He also saved GI pamphlets on banking, real estate, and sexual health. Other materials relate to interrogation tactics and the treatment of prisoners of war.

The Maps series consists of maps of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Picardy Region, France ("Triville"), which Pio Simonetti acquired during his military intelligence training. The series contains additional map overlays, as well as two maps of Palermo, Sicily.

Printed material includes newspaper clippings in English, French, and Italian; the English and French clippings date from World War II and the Italian clippings from 1918. Among the later materials are several satirical cartoons by William Henry Mauldin ("Bill"). In addition to these, the series also holds two pamphlets, A Total Moral Defense (1941) and a Pocket Guide to France (undated), as well as a book, P. C. Wren's The Wages of Virtue (undated).

The Ephemera series incorporates a variety of materials collected by Pio Simonetti during World War II, including holiday greeting cards, postcards, prayer cards, schedules, programs, stamps, and Italian and French currency.