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Collection

Charles H. Foster collection, 1898-1967

3 linear feet

This collection is made up of correspondence, military records, photographs, newsletters, scrapbooks, and other items pertaining to the military career of Charles H. Foster, who served in the United States Navy from 1898-1934.

The Charles H. Foster collection consists of correspondence, military records, photographs, newsletters, scrapbooks, and other items pertaining to the military career of Charles H. Foster, who served in the United States Navy from 1898-1934.

The collection's correspondence (144 items) primarily relates to Foster's naval service after 1902. Letters, memorandums, orders, and reports concern his ship assignments and work at the Naval Gun Factory (Washington Navy Yard) during World War I. One group of letters from the early 1920s relates to the acquisition of dependent's pay for Foster's mother. A series of World War II-era documents respect Foster's fitness for active duty. After World War II, he received letters from military acquaintances and veterans of the Spanish-American War.

Charles H. Foster's 1918-1919 diary concerns his travel on the Huron between the United States and France. Notes, newspaper clippings, and a telegram laid into the volume regard deaths, the military, and historical inquiries.

The papers include 4 of Charles H. Foster's scrapbooks, which contain materials related to the USTS Alliance's 1897-1898 training mission; naval ships, personnel, and theatrical and musical programs and performances; the Mexican Revolution and Mexican politics in the mid-1910s; and naval equipment, camps, and weapons tests.

Sixty-three photographs depict U.S. Navy sailors and vessels. One group of pictures show scenes from the Huron's voyage between France and the United States during World War I. The collection also features photographic postcards sent by Charles H. Foster and others from Mexico, the Philippines, Japan, Germany, and Borneo.

Financial records, legal documents, and service records primarily pertain to Charles H. Foster, with a focus on his time on the USS West Virginia in the 1920s and his mother's financial dependency. Documents, blueprints, photographs, and other items relate to devices patented by Charles H. Foster and others. Two service ribbons appear in the collection, mounted onto a wallet printed with "United States Battle Fleet, Sydney, 1925," which also contains a travel pass and membership card for Charles H. Foster.

The collection includes 429 typescripts about early American history, the Civil War, South Carolina Confederate soldiers, the Spanish-American War, aviation, and the US Navy. Rosters of American Navy ships and personnel include information on Union vessels during the Civil War; casualties from the 1898 USS Maine explosion; USTS Alliance naval apprentices in 1898; USS West Virginia officers in 1926; and the names and addresses of members in several naval veterans' associations.

A "Personal Log" by Royal Emerson Foster relates to his service on the SSAC Bedford in early 1919, with descriptions and illustrations of naval equipment, ship construction, signaling, personnel, and other subjects. The navy publication Rules to Prevent Collisions of Vessels also appears in the Log.

US Naval Ex. Apprentices Association materials include copies of Trade Winds, the association's newsletter, from 1939-1964. The newsletters are accompanied by a list of Alliance apprentices in 1898. A copy of Rocks and Shoals, a publication for former crewmen of the USS Memphis, is also present. Other printed works include military publications about equipment and procedures, a handbook on medicine, the Mariner's Pocketbook, A History of Guantanamo Bay, newspaper clippings, a souvenir book from the US Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island, a death announcement, and a map of Arlington National Cemetery.

Notes, reports, and a bound volume concern the history of the Foster, Yates, and Lindstrom families.

Collection

David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography, ca. 1845-1980

Approximately 113,000 photographs and 96 volumes

Online
The David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography consists of over 100,000 images in a variety of formats including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, cartes de visite, cabinet photographs, real photo postcards, stereographs, and mounted and unmounted paper prints. The collection is primarily made up of vernacular photographs of everyday life in Michigan taken by both professional and amateur photographers from the 1840s into the mid-twentieth century. In addition to supporting local history research, the collection has resources for the study of specific events and subjects. Included are images related to lumbering, mining, suburbanization; the industrialization of cities; travel and transportation; the impact of the automobile; the rise of middle-class leisure society; fashion and dress; ethnicity and race; the role of fraternal organizations in society; and the participation of photographers in business, domestic, and social life. The collection is only partially open for research.

The subject contents of different photographic format series within the Tinder collection vary, depending in part upon how each format was historically used, and the date range of that format's popularity. For example, cartes de visite and cased images are most often formal studio portraits, while stereographs are likely to be outdoor views. Cabinet photographs are frequently portraits, but often composed with less formality than the cartes de visite and cased images. The postcards and the mounted prints contain very diverse subjects. The photographers' file contains many important and rare images of photographers, their galleries, promotional images, and the activities of photographers in the field. See individual series descriptions in the Contents List below for more specific details.

Included throughout are images by both professional and amateur photographers, although those by professionals are extant in far greater numbers.

Collection

Demas Lindley Sears papers, 1916-1983 (majority within 1942-1946)

1.5 linear feet

This collection is made up of 158 letters, 8 speeches and writings, 36 documents, 25 ephemeral items and currency, 5 pamphlets or booklets, 43 newspaper clippings, 26 lithographs, and 99 photographs by or related to Lieutenant Colonel Demas Lindley Sears. The bulk of the collection pertains to his service as a mid-level intelligence officer in the U.S. Army's 37th Infantry Division during World War II. A small portion of the collection reflects his service in the 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment during the Punitive Expedition of 1916 and in the First U.S. Cavalry during World War I.

This collection is made up of 158 letters, 8 speeches and writings, 36 documents, 25 ephemeral items and currency, 5 pamphlets or booklets, 43 newspaper clippings, 26 lithographs, and 99 photographs by or related to Lieutenant Colonel Demas Lindley Sears. The bulk of the collection pertains to his service as a mid-level intelligence officer in the U.S. Army's 37th Infantry Division during World War II. A small portion of the collection reflects his service in the 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment during the Punitive Expedition of 1916 and in the First U.S. Cavalry during World War I.

The Correspondence begins with a telegram and four letters respecting the death of Demas and Lura Sears's child in August 1918. The remainder of the correspondence is made up of original and contemporary carbon copies of letters by Demas L. Sears between 1942 and 1946. The bulk of one hundred and forty three letters are personal letters from Demas "Pop" to his wife Lura "Mother" and daughter Frances "Baby," or from Demas to others, between January 1944 and December 1945.

Lt. Col. Sears was an engaging writer and he described everyday experiences with thoughtful attention to detail. Within the restrictive confines of military censorship, he was unable to share what he called "real news," but wrote about his living quarters, food, plans for his return home, requests for letters and photographs, and generally about life in the South Pacific. He sent his wife souvenirs, such as a Japanese rifle and an entrenching shovel. His descriptions of combat and war atrocities are vivid (see, for example, his letters from late February 1945, as the 37th fought to capture Manila).

Between April 2 and July 4, 1943, Demas Sears wrote a 46-page letter to his wife in a diary-like form. He kept the letter as an uncensored account of his time on the Fiji Islands and Guadalcanal (before departing for New Georgia). It is accompanied by a typescript of the letter, titled "From the Fiji Islands to Guadalcanal with the 37th Division."

Between March 8 and September 14, 1945, Demas also composed 10 diary-like letters, producing multiple carbon copies for Lura to distribute to particular family members. In the margins, Demas identified (by hand) March 8 and September 14 as the first and last of these "family bulletins," and provided his wife with lists of intended recipients.

A series of Writings and Speeches include one war date essay and eight postwar speeches. From the Solomon Islands after November 14, 1942, he reflected thoughtfully on the war as a "young man's war" (he was able to identify a total of 22 men out of 14,000 who had served in World War I) and the importance of maintaining U.S. military strength in peacetime. His speeches relate to his war experiences and his audiences included a Congregational Church Men's Club, a Memorial Day gathering at Bucyrus, an American Legion group, and others.

The collection's 36 Documents, 1917-1946 (bulk 1942-1946), include certificates and orders related to Demas Sears's commendations and awards; training materials; intelligence (G-2 Reports, copies of a captured and translated Japanese Sergeant's diary, summaries of the interrogations of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, a Japanese map of the Pacific, etc.), and other similar papers.

Seventy-one Printed Items include ephemera and currency, booklets and pamphlets, and newspaper clippings. Among the ephemeral items are three unique World War I-era holiday menus; a menu for a 1945 banquet in honor of Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler; admission and transport tickets; Japanese currency; two World War I-era record of service posters, and a manuscript note in Japanese. The two posters are located in the Graphics Division, and more information can be found in the Separated Materials section. The five booklets and pamphlets are each listed in the box and folder listing below. Forty-three newspaper clippings pertain to Lt. Col. Sears's World War II service.

The printed items also include 26 lithographs of pencil sketches by Edward "E. J." Dollriehs of the headquarters battery of the 37th Division. His illustrations include buildings, airfields, military headquarters, portraits, and the wreckage of Japanese planes. Dollriehs identified each with captions; most of the images are from the Luzon provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, and Tarlac.

The Sears papers contain 99 Photographs. Fifteen images from the period of Sears's service in World War I include two panoramic photographs of the First Cavalry Regiment, one panoramic photograph of the headquarters staff of the 37th Division, and 12 snapshots and portraits. The collection also contains 84 photographs from Sears's World War II service in the Pacific, including individual and group portraits, snapshots depicting camp life; a series of aerial snapshots taken from a C-47 on a leaflet-dropping mission over the Philippine Islands; five photographs of a Kava Ceremony in the Fiji Islands; and a selection of confidential Signal Corps photographs.

Collection

Elizabeth Bonney van den Bosch collection, 1943-2002 (majority within 1943-1951)

32 items

This collection is made up of military documents, photographs, and ephemera related to Lieutenant Elizabeth Bonney van den Bosch's service in the United States Navy and Naval Reserve during and after World War II.

The Documents series (15 items) contains official military records from Bonney's service in the United States Navy and Naval Reserve. They relate to her training at the United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Smith College and the Naval Training School at Mount Holyoke College; her promotions to ensign and lieutenant; and her formal resignation from the naval reserve in 1951. Also included are an identification card verifying her active duty in the United States Navy and certificates acknowledging her military participation in World War II.

Photographs (11 items) include black-and-white portraits of Elizabeth Bonney and other women in naval uniforms. Govert van den Bosch sent Bonney pictures portraying soldiers and a military funeral from his service in Indonesia with the Royal Netherlands Marines.

The Printed Materials series (6 items) consists of commencement programs for the United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School and the Naval Training School for communications, a commemorative book with photographs of navy officers in training at the Midshipmen's School, and a page from the Sundial with humorous cartoons and quips. Two items form 2002 are a printed poem dedicated to the memory of Elizabeth Bonney van den Bosch and her obituary from the Ann Arbor News.

Collection

Evans family photograph collection, ca. 1895-1960

6 volumes and approximately 60 loose photographs

The Evans family photograph collection consists of a six-volume set of albums and approximately 60 loose photographs mainly depicting the immediate family of Lucretia Booth Evans of Riverdale, New York. Three of the albums contain baby pictures of Evans and her brothers Mason and Morgan Jr. while the other three albums focus on family life and vacations taken by the family.

The Evans family photograph collection consists of a six-volume set of albums and approximately 60 loose photographs mainly depicting the immediate family of Lucretia Booth Evans. Three of the albums contain baby pictures of Evans and her brothers Mason and Morgan Jr. while the other three albums focus on family life and vacations travel.

Volume One: The Morgan Evans, Jr. Baby Book album (19.75 x 16.5 cm) contains 12 photographs of Morgan Evans Jr. as a young child. There is one photograph with his maternal grandmother, Susan Edwards Booth Robinson. Evans Jr.’s obituary, World War I draft registration certificate and a lock of his hair from when he was 14 months old are also present.

Volume Two: The Mason Robinson Evans Baby Book album (19.75 x 16.5 cm) contains 34 photographs of Mason Evans as a child. A lock of his hair from when he was 18 months old is also present.

Volume Three: The Lucretia Booth Evans Baby Book album (23.5 x 18.5 cm) contains 9 photographs of Lucretia Evans as a baby. Most pages remain blank, and a lock her hair from when she was 16 months old is also present.

Volume Four: The Point o' Woods album (22.25 x 39.5 cm) contains approximately 175 photographs and several negatives stored behind snapshots. This album focuses on summer trips to Point o' Woods on Fire Island, Suffolk County in New York State during the 1930s. Many of the individuals depicted in this album are identified with captions. Images of note include the aftermath of the September 1938 New England Hurricane.

Volume Five: The Lucretia Evans early adulthood album (26.75 x 34.25 cm) contains approximately 170 photographs and several negatives stored behind snapshots. The images include landscapes from the late 1930s and images of Lucretia's final days at the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and her time in school as an X-Ray technician.

Volume Six: The Lucretia Evans travel album (22.75 x 31.75 cm) contains approximately 200 photographs, 4 negatives and 35 pieces of printed ephemera representing trips to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Canada in the 1950s. Inside the front cover is a 50th wedding anniversary clipping of Kitty and Morgan Evans Sr.

There are approximately 60 loose photographs that range from early 20th century cabinet cards of Kitty Evans' family to a large class picture of Lucretia Evans’ X-Ray Technician class.

Collection

Fred S. Dunham papers, 1903-1970

2 linear feet

Professor of Latin in the School of Education at the University of Michigan; correspondence; student notebooks, topical files, and photographs.

The Fred S. Dunham collection includes professional correspondence and notes taken while a student at the University of Michigan, 1903-1907, in classes taught by Francis W. Kelsey, Walter Dennison, Robert M. Wenley, Joseph Drake, and James B. Angell. Other portions of the collection include lectures, publications, and topical files relating to professional affiliations and the University of Michigan School of Education. There are also some photographs and papers of L. Elizabeth Reed Dunham relating to her organizational activities.

Collection

Greening family papers, 1833-1963 (majority within 1858-1919)

0.25 linear feet

This collection is made up of 16 letters, 17 documents and printed items, 58 photographs, and 4 photographic postcards related to the family of William J. Greening of Middletown, New York. A portion of the collection relates to a self-oiling axle he patented in 1907, including his copy of the official patent award. Most of the photographs depict his children; four show a meat market owned by the Greening family.

This collection is made up of 16 letters, 17 documents and printed items, 58 photographs, and 4 photographic postcards related to the family of William J. Greening of Middletown, New York. A portion of the collection relates to a self-oiling axle he patented in 1907. Most of the photographs depict his children; four show a meat market owned by the Greening family

The Correspondence series contains 13 letters, 2 wedding invitations, and one Christmas card. E. Treadwell of New York City wrote the first three letters to Hermann Brockaway of Poughkeepsie, New York, in June and September 1858, inquiring whether or not Brockaway would be able to make some repairs to Treadwell's ovens. Other early letters include one from Mary E. Gross of Nanuet, New York, to her cousin, Smith Nance of Newburgh, New York (April 4, 1872), and a letter from William J. Greening to his future wife, Huldah A. Stanton of Thompsonville, New York (May 11, 1885). Both letters provide family news.

The remaining 11 items relate to William J. Greening or the Greening Axle Company, which produced carriage axles in Middletown, New York. Three, including one from the United States Quartermaster General's Office (March 17, 1908), offer praise for Greening's self-oiling axle. Albert H. F. Seeger, a lawyer from Newburgh, New York, wrote Greening two letters in December 1916 and one in August 1917, regarding a broken Greening axle. Greening also received information from Henry C. McLear of the Carriage Builders' National Association about the group's upcoming exhibition (April 23, 1914). The correspondence series also contains a letter, written by an unidentified man named Aaron to his brother, that mentions the cost of installing parts on a three-seated wagon (March 30, 1915); wedding invitations for Greening's daughters Mabel (September 11, 1913) and Flora (October 14, 1919); and an undated Christmas card addressed to "Mrs. Greening."

The Documents, Financial Records, and Printed items series contains 17 items, of which 4 relate to William J. Greening and his children, including his daughter Flora's baptism certificate (June 11, 1905) and high school diploma (June 1913), and 2 of his daughter Hazel's report cards (undated). Nine items pertain to Greening's interest and involvement in the manufacture of wagon axles, such as 2 printed advertisements, 1 original advertisement illustration, 1 printed page of user testimonies, 2 printed items related to an exhibition held by the Carriage Builders' National Association in October 1913, 1 typed list of wagon factories in several states (3 pages, undated), and Greening's copy of United States patent number 851,201, issued for his "Lubrication Means for Axles or the Like," later manufactured and sold as the "Greening Axle" (April 23, 1907). The 4 remaining items include a notarized financial document reflecting the cost of quills, paper, and ink in Baltimore, Maryland (May 19, 1835); a typed copy of the last will and testament of William J. Greening's sister, Grace Ella Greening (August 30, 1927); a certificate for Ethel Mae Bird's (née Greening) lifetime membership in the Women's Christian Temperance Union (May 10, 1963); and an undated printed advertisement for Maple Park Farm in Ferndale, New York, owned by Mrs. James Gibbons Greening.

The Photographs series consists of 64 items, including 44 loose snapshots, 14 card photographs and portraits mounted in cardboard frames, 4 photographic postcards, and 2 negatives, taken in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The bulk of the photographs and postcards depict Hazel Greening and other members of the Greening family, including her parents, siblings, and a pet dog. One snapshot is of a "Greening Axle," invented by Hazel’s father. Many snapshots were taken in front of the family's home in Middletown, New York, and others by an unidentified lake. One postcard from "Frank H." to Hazel Greening shows a United States soldier; 2 of the remaining postcards are addressed to William J. Greening from his sons.

The framed photographs and card photographs are formal portraits of Greening family members, including 2 images of Flora in a wedding dress. One photograph shows a butcher standing in front of W.J. Greening's Market, New York. The negatives, including 1 glass plate negative, are of people standing inside and outside of Greening's meat market. The final item in the series is a box for "The Stanley" 6 ½" x 8 ½" dry plates, made by the Eastman Kodak Company.

Collection

James Leonard Sturgeon collection, 1900-1967 (majority within 1900-1920)

0.25 linear feet

This collection is made up of correspondence, military documents, photographs, and other items related to James Leonard Sturgeon's service in the Royal Air Force in Canada during World War I. The collection also contains family photographs from 1900-1933.

This collection (0.25 linear feet) is made up of correspondence, military documents, photographs, and other items related to James Leonard Sturgeon's service in the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force during World War I. The collection also contains family photographs from 1900-1933.

The Correspondence series contains 15 letters and letter fragments that Sturgeon wrote to his family between March 1918 and November 1918. Sturgeon, who signed his letters "Leonard," wrote 2 letters while traveling from California to Canada in the spring of 1918. He wrote the remaining letters while serving in the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force) in Long Branch and Deseronto, Ontario, describing his experiences during training flights and airmen's duties. Several letters from late 1918 pertain to his stay at a base hospital and to the influenza epidemic, which led to a complete quarantine of his unit. In November 1918, he was stationed at Camp Rathbun, where he considered the possibility of remaining in the air force after the war. An undated letter written from Vancouver, British Columbia, mentions a physical examination at the Royal Flying Headquarters and wounded soldiers who had returned home.

The Military Papers series (8 items) concerns James L. Sturgeon's military service. These include a base pass, Sturgeon's official service record, a discharge certificate, and 2 items about his honorary appointment as second lieutenant. The series also includes King George V's address to Royal Air Force members on Armistice Day. Two newspaper clippings relate to James L. Sturgeon's military service, including his spinal meningitis infection, and one concerns pioneers in Manitoba in 1881 and 1882. The final item is a membership card for The Aero Club of Canada.

The Photographs series contains over 160 photographs related to James Leonard Sturgeon's military service and to the Sturgeon family from 1900-1933. One group of photographs, including all of the military material, is housed in the Graphics division. The earliest photographs represent members of the Sturgeon family, including James Leonard Sturgeon and his siblings, as well as a festival that took place in Riverside, California, in 1900. Items pertaining to Sturgeon's military service in 1918 include photographs of Sturgeon, members of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, crashed military airplanes, Long Branch Camp, and Camp Rathbun. Later photographs and undated items show Sturgeon among fellow Stanford University students, scenery from vacations in the western United States, and the Sturgeon family. One photograph is printed on a small metal plate.

The Soldiers and Sailors Book of Worship is the following volume: For Soldiers and Sailors: An Abridgement of the Book of Common Worship[,] Published for the National Service Commission of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (1917).

Collection

John H. Griffith collection, 1942-1972 (majority within 1942-1945, 1951-1952)

1.5 linear feet

The John H. Griffith collection contains letters and documents pertaining to Griffith's time as a surgical technician in the United States Army during World War II and to his life in Bologna, Italy, as a Rotary Fellow from 1951-1952. Much of the collection consists of Griffith's wartime correspondence with his parents.

The John H. Griffith collection contains letters and documents pertaining to Griffith's time as a surgical technician in the United States Army during World War II and to his life in Bologna, Italy, as a Rotary Fellow from 1951-1952. Much of the collection consists of Griffith's wartime correspondence with his parents.

The Correspondence series (344 items) relates to Griffith's life in Ann Arbor before the war, his service in the United States Army Medical Department, and his experiences in Europe as a research fellow in Bologna, Italy. Griffith addressed the majority of his correspondence to his parents, Leon and Amelia Griffith of Vicksburg, Michigan; Griffith also wrote to his younger siblings, Richard ("Dick") and Helen. His earliest letters document his life as a freshman at the University of Michigan. One letter contains newspaper clippings pertaining to a convoy trip taken by a University of Michigan student (December 6, 1942); several letters to Griffith's father from the university offer congratulations on Griffith's academic record.

After he was drafted in 1944, Griffith wrote to his parents about army life, documenting his service at Camp Bowie in Texas; Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia; and Moore General Hospital in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Enclosures include newsletters from Camp Bowie (April 29, 1944; May 6, 1944) and an "Organization Day" flyer from Lawson General Hospital (July 2, 1944); one letter contains a diagram of a battlefield (June 8, 1944).

Griffith remained in the United States with the 86th Evacuation Hospital and the 134th Evacuation Hospital until the latter was deployed overseas in January 1945. His later letters, some of which have been censored, pertain to army life during the closing stages of combat in the European Theater. Griffith described postwar Germany and "the constant dribble of slave laborers leaving the Reich" (April 20, 1945). He wrote 1 letter to his grandfather in German, remarking on the beauty of the German countryside (April 28, 1945).

After the war, Griffith returned to the United States; he resumed his correspondence in August 1951, when he related his experiences traveling throughout Europe and living in Bologna, Italy. The collection also contains 2 letters in German to Leon and Amelia Griffith from a relative, "Uncle Chris," in Genkingen, Germany, whom Griffith visited during his travels abroad (December 27, 1951; January 14, 1952).

The Documents series (18 items) contains items related to Griffith's education and World War II service, including a notebook and a certificate for successful course completion at the United States Army Surgical Technician School, Griffith's curriculum vitae, report cards from his elementary and high school studies, and a war ration booklet.

The Photographs series (100 items) contains portraits and landscapes shot in Europe during the war and during the early 1950s. Most items are labeled, and include scenes from postwar Germany.

The Printed Materials series (24 items) contains clippings of Ernie Pyle columns from a Michigan newspaper as well as clippings mentioning Griffith's university scholarship; a copy of The Daily American (November 27, 1951); 2 books for American soldiers, including an "overseas edition" of James Thurber's My World--And Welcome To It; and a program from graduation exercises for the Army's School for Medical Department Technicians.

The Artifacts series contains 2 World War II Army patches, 1 WWII blue star service flag, and a flashlight.

Collection

Katharine Prest scrapbook, 1930-1954 (majority within 1941-1945)

1 volume

This scrapbook contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera related to the soldiers' canteen that Katharine G. Prest hosted at her home in Lancaster, Massachusetts, between June 1941 and August 1945.

This scrapbook contains around 120 pages of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera related to the soldiers' canteen that Katharine G. Prest hosted at her home in Lancaster, Massachusetts, between June 1941 and August 1945.

Soldiers stationed throughout the United States and in both major theaters of war frequently wrote to Prest, expressing their gratitude for her hospitality and sometimes reporting on their experiences after leaving Massachusetts; soldiers' wives and mothers occasionally thanked Prest as well. Emily J. Nichols, who worked for the American Red Cross at Fort Devens, corresponded with Prest about upcoming events for wounded men. The servicemen sent manuscript letters, V-mail letters, postcards, and Christmas cards. Many of the postcards include cartoons and other illustrations, most frequently regarding military life. Snapshots and formal portraits show groups of young men and women relaxing at the Prests' home, often near the pool, and soldiers in uniform at various locations.

Prest collected newspaper clippings about her wartime activities and about the war, particularly related to soldiers' experiences in the European Theater. Some clippings include photographs of Prest. The scrapbook contains a small number of printed programs, song lyrics, insignia patches, and a pin from the 101st Cavalry Regiment. One page consists of several soldiers' drawings, including a caricature of Adolf Hitler with target values printed on various parts of his body. A colored illustration commemorating the 101st Cavalry Regiment and several portraits of unidentified individuals are drawn directly into the volume. Later items include awards and certificates of thanks that Prest received from various organizations (undated, WWII era), an award celebrating her commitment to fighting cancer (1951), and a birth announcement (written on a photograph) (January 25, 1954).

Two items pre-date United States involvement in the war: a 1930 group photograph of the "Lawyer's Club" (including William M. Preston), and a 1940 book entitled Yuletide in Many Lands.