World War, 1939-1945

Abstract NA3230 Lydia Franz, interviewed by Angela Nickerson, April 7, 2002, at her home in Owl’s Head, Maine. Franz talks about her experience in WWII as a WAC cryptanalyst; code and Japanese water-code; military secrecy and security; family home front and military experience; reaction to Pearl Harbor; recruitment and placement; basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, GA; work at Arlington Hall and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.; Japanese surrender and reaction to Hiroshima; early IBM computers;...

Scope and Contents This collection began with the research done by Rita Breton as part of her graduate work in history at the University of Maine. Breton conducted approximately twenty interviews with Maine women about their lives and work during the Great Depression and WWII. In addition, in the fall of 1982, students in Edward D. "Sandy" Ives’ class AY 125 were asked to locate and interview people on the topic of women's lives during the Depression and World War II. The semester project yielded forty-five...

Abstract NA4553 Margaret Frances "Peg" Redman, interviewed by Lacey Stone and Ellen Geraghty in Bangor, Maine, October 25, 2000. Redman discusses boot camp (not transcribed), her parents' reaction to her enlisting in the Army, her feelings about genders in the Army 55 years later, race relations in the south near Camp Hope, Louisiana, her encounter with Colonel Oveta Cult Hobby, being busted from First Sergeant to Private, her perception of the Red Cross vs. the Salvation Army in the treatment of...

Abstract NA3214 Marguerite McNeil, interviewed by Carol Toner and Mazie Hough, February 5, 2001. McNeil talks about joining the military when she was 26 years old during World War II; serving as an acting Sergeant and teacher (drilling and math skills) in Daytona Beach, Florida, and North Carolina; being sent to Lackey, Philippines where she served until contracting a fungal infection, was hospitalized and eventually discharged. Text: 23 pp. transcript. Recording: mfc_na3214_c2316_01,...

Abstract NA3243 Marion Townsend, interviewed by Phyllis von Herrlich, January 6, 2002. Townsend talks about joining the service in 1942; twenty-eight when she joined the Navy; Hunter College for boot camp training; lived in dorms; went to store keeper school; ordered supplies; was in for two years; trained with just women; didn’t get trained to shoot a gun; it was either get out or go to Japan; naval reserve for two years; type a certain WPM to pass store keeper school; went to Gates Business...

Abstract NA3217 Marjorie C. Hall, interviewed by Robin Arnold and Molly MacLean, November 15, 2000. Hall talks about completing her basic training at Hunter College in New York City in 1944; joining the Hospital Corps upon completion; being stationed at Bethesda Naval Hospital; and later at Great Lakes, Illinois as part of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service). Text: 18 pp. partial transcript. Recording: mfc_na3217_c2320_01, mfc_na3217_c2320_02 (C 2320). Time: 00:59:27....

Abstract NA4552 Mary Ann McGuire, interviewed by Rebecca Pelletier and Elizabeth Fowler in Orono, Maine on November 8, 2000. McGuire was born August 4, 1906, in Stonington, Maine and served in the U.S. Navy as a WAVE (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) during World War II. McGuire speaks about her childhood and not entering the military until she was in her 30s, signing up for service because "our country was in great trouble" following the attack on Pearl Harbor and there was a need of...

Abstract NA3215 Mary Elliott, interviewed by John Dunham, December 2, 2001, Camden, Maine. Elliott talks about training as a nurse in Massachusetts; becoming a member of the Red Cross; being called to serve in the Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor; being stationed at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Salisbury, England; being a Second Lieutenant nurse. Text: 18 pp. transcript. Recording: mfc_na3215_c2318_01, mfc_na3215_c2318_02 (C 2318). Time: 50 minutes....

Abstract NA4197 Mary Jane Miller, interviewed by Elizabeth Bunten, May 9, 2003. Miller, age 80, talks about her family; enlisting in the Navy (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in World War II; her family and friends’ reaction to her enlistment; her basic training experience; the relationship between male officers and female enlisted; her not going overseas during the war; whether she would do it all again; changes in opportunities for women in the military; leaving the Navy after the...

Scope and Contents

This collection contains both materials reflecting the life, interests, and activities of Frances Robinson Mitchell and materials which document the Robinson family's work in the lumbering and timberlands business in northern Maine. Included are correspondence, business records, photographs, newspaper clippings, deeds, leases, reports, tax documents, and plans.

Scope and Contents

Two series by Morgiana P. Halley, one dealing with marine disasters in Newfoundland folk balladry and the other with marine convoys of World War II.

Content Description

Bound copy of the memoirs of Nathaniel Crowley, who was an alumnus of the University of Maine and a Hall of Fame recipient (2002 - Class of ’42). The memoir was published by his son Roger Crowley (donor) in hardback for his family and friends. The memoir includes stories from Crowley's time at UMaine, including in sports, as a member of the Senior Skulls, and Class Treasurer.

Scope and Contents From the Collection: A 1992 community based oral history project co-sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center and the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine generated a series of 35 interviews focusing on the culture and history of the French Canadian immigrant community located on French Island, Old Town, Maine. The project also resulted in a book of photographs, interview excerpts, and articles, Nos Histoires de I’lle: History and memories of French Island, Old Town, Maine (1999) ...

Scope and Contents The records mainly contain textual information created and curated by the University of Maine Dean of Men Office, but there are also photographs of students at Maine Day events. The record series Correspondence and Subject Files are mostly from the files of Dean Lambert Seymour Corbett who was dean of men from 1929-1945. Corbett's correspondence is with academic colleagues, representatives from various organizations, University of Maine faculty, staff, students, and parents on a...

Scope and Contents The records mainly contain textual information created by the University of Maine Dean of Women office, but there are also photographs of women cleaning the dorms (vacuuming, cooking), dorms, women lounging in living area, women studying in rooms, portraits, and group photographs. The record group includes:Various items regarding the administration of the Intercollegiate Association of Women Students, particularly the organization of the 1968 convention that was held on the...

Scope and Contents The records mainly contain textual information created and curated by University of Maine Professor Matthew E. Highlands, but there are also photographs of his family, time in the U.S. Army, and of his mentor Samuel Cate Prescott. The record series Academic & Family Records contains material related to Highlands’ academic career at the University of Maine (both as a student and professor) and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Massachusetts,...

Abstract

1673 Raoul Pinette, interviewed by Raymond Pelletier and Mark Silber, May 14, 1981, Lewiston, Maine. Pinette talks about his father’s unlikely career as an undertaker/funeral director (because he was afraid of the dead); the importance of education; working for his father during WWII; his identity as an ‘American with French-Canadian heritage’; how being Franco-American can be a benefit; and developments in funeral services. Text: 25 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1793 1-1/4 hours.

Scope and Contents Scrapbook from University of Maine alumni Loren F. Stewart. The scrapbook contains clippings regarding University of Maine athletics and programs from meets and games, various dance cards, programs, photographs, and memorabilia regarding Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Tau Omega, clippings and programs from various Maine Masque Theatre performances, clippings regarding a fire at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house in Orono, a copy of the student handbook (1942), and various clippings and...

Scope and Contents Scrapbook from University of Maine alumni Loren Prescott Stewart. The scrapbook contains photographs of the University of Maine's Orono campus and buildings, students, staff, and faculty, Bananas the University of Maine's mascot, Military Department certificates, clippings and photographs regarding University of Maine athletics and programs from meets and games, various dance cards, programs, photographs, and memorabilia including regarding Sigma Alpha Epsilon and trips Stewart took,...

Content Description Miscellaneous items from Wallace Augustus Weston (Class of 1901), Virginia Smith Weston (Class of 1944), and William Weston (Class of 1949) curated during their time at the University of Maine. Includes: University of Maine bills, invoices, and payment receipts for expenses occurred at the University including for Omega Mu Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, Y.M.C.A. Topic Card (1899), Women's Athletic Association Banquet program (1941), football schedules and tickets, copies of the...

Abstract 1091 Sylvia MacEldowney, interviewed by Ann Mills, November 18, 1976, Orono, Maine. MacEldowney discusses important events of the 1930s and 1940s; how her family survived during the Great Depression; her experiences as a female engineer after WWII; college education at Rhode Island State College and the scarcity of male students due to WWII; American entry into WWII and the attitudes of her peers in high school; her decision to return to college in her fifties; radio programs of the 1930s;...

Scope and Contents

The papers of a professor of international relations at Syracuse University. Included are two commendations relating to military activities in 1946, a photograph, and three papers: The Soviet history of World War II (1959), Soviet occupation and administration of northern Korea by Lowell R. Eklund (1948), and The Socialist Party of the United States by Philip H. Taylor and John D. Hall (undated).

Scope and Contents

Pamphlets, magazines, and other materials published during World War II. Includes copies of Bulletins from Britain (no. 32, week ending April 9, 1941-no. 111, week ending Oct. 14, 1942), Facts in Review issued by the German Library of Information (v. 2 no. 16, April 15, 1940-v.3 no. 20, June 7, 1941), War in Pictures (Jan. 1941-April 1942), and other periodicals.

Scope and Contents

This is an arbitrary collection of accessions created in June 2014 to bring together interviews that focus on WWII. There are 150 series in NAFOH that relate to WWII, but 18 belong soley to this collection.