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This collection contains 14 letters that Pharmacist's Mate Robert N. Harrington wrote to his aunt and uncle, Ella and George R. Bliss of Greenfield, Massachusetts, while serving in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He commented on life at Camp Waldron, Idaho, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; provided a detailed account of his experiences during the Battle of Iwo Jima; and described his service in Hawaii near the end of the war.

This collection contains 14 letters that Pharmacist's Mate Robert N. Harrington wrote to his aunt and uncle, Ella and George R. Bliss of Greenfield, Massachusetts, while serving in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He commented on life at Camp Waldron, Idaho, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; provided a detailed account of his experiences during the Battle of Iwo Jima; and described his service in Hawaii near the end of the war. The collection also holds a letter Harrington wrote while in college, a letter that the Bliss family received from a serviceman named "Bill," and an undated real photo postcard.

Harrington first wrote his aunt and uncle from Seattle, Washington, on September 28, 1942, about a recent trip to Chicago with his grandmother and about expectations for the coming school year. He sent 13 letters while serving in the United States Marine Corps between May 1943 and December 1945, and 1 on June 22, 1946, after his discharge. He wrote about military life at Camp Waldron in Farragut, Idaho, in 1943, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, until October 1944. Among other topics, Harrington discussed his desire to enter combat and his romantic life. In one letter, he scolded his aunt for her failure to treat her diabetes properly. Two of his letters contain enclosures: newspaper clippings of a humorous military cartoon and quips (October 23, 1944), and a newspaper clipping of a column by Ernie Pyle (October 29, 1944).

Harrington arrived in the "Central Pacific" by December 1944, and he participated in the Battle of Iwo Jima in early 1945. On April 8, 1945, he wrote a 5-page letter to his relatives detailing his experiences in the battle. He commented on the size of the forces, on his pleasure at seeing the Japanese positions being bombed by navy ships and by airplanes, and on his distaste for the Japanese. He also described his experiences losing friends and treating wounded soldiers, provided details on the kinds of wounds others received, and discussed the positive effects that blood transfusions had on patients. Harrington, who had been wounded, continued to serve in Hawaii and in the Pacific until at least December 1945. He frequently described his leisure activities, and in June 1946, he shared the details of a recent trip to New York City with a friend.

The remaining 2 items are a letter that "Bill" wrote to George and Ella Bliss while serving at the New Orleans Army Air Base in December 1943, and an undated real photo postcard to Walter D. Vaughan of Clarendon, Vermont, which depicts a flag-raising ceremony.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour through the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Samuel L. Young of Reading, Pennsylvania, kept this 108-page journal "during a tour of the United States" between June 1, 1846, and October 12, 1846. He traveled by railroad, steamship, and stagecoach, and recorded his impressions of major cities, local scenery, and fellow travelers. Young ventured as far west as St. Louis, Missouri; as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada; and as far south as Lexington, Kentucky.

Young's journal, which contains descriptions and anecdotes from his travel, begins with an entry expressing his sadness upon leaving his loved ones (p. 1). He departed Reading for New York City, where he remained for 4 days; there, he witnessed a procession by the Sons of Temperance. Young then traveled to Connecticut and Massachusetts, where he commented on Boston's Chinese residents (p. 8). He continued to Niagara Falls, Detroit, and Chicago. In Detroit, he received copper samples from Morgan Bates, a prospector (p. 31); in Chicago he recorded his disappointment with the city and its construction. While in western Illinois and Iowa, Young visited a smelting furnace and mine (pp. 43-44), a "lead cave" and mine (pp. 48-49), and the Mormon temple at Nauvoo, Illinois (pp. 56-58).

When Young reached St. Louis, Missouri, he boarded a riverboat bound for Louisville, Kentucky, though he and three other travelers opted to walk the final stretch of the trip (pp. 70-71). Young recalled a stagecoach conversation about slavery, though he declined to participate (pp. 74-75). Upon his arrival in Lexington, Kentucky, he met with Henry Clay at his Ashland estate (pp. 87-88). Young spent much of September in Cincinnati, Ohio. Between Cincinnati and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), he met Lewis C. F. Fatio, former captain of the United States revenue cutter Wolcott, who was on his way to contest a charge of disobedience in Washington, D. C. (pp. 101-102). Young began the last leg of his journey on October 10, 1846, heading for Philadelphia and, later, Reading, where he returned on October 12 (p. 108).

Young occasionally encountered dangerous situations, including a narrowly avoided stagecoach accident between Kalamazoo and St. Joseph, Michigan (p. 33), a fire next door to his Chicago hotel (pp. 36-37), and a suspicious stagecoach passenger at Rockford, Illinois (p. 42). He made acquaintance with many fellow travelers, and often joined them for excursions. Young played the accordion, read local newspapers and the works of Friedrich Schiller, occasionally measured the distances he traveled or noted the costs of transportation, and recorded the name of every hotel at which he boarded.