Special Collections
In addition to materials from the local chapters of the Red Cross, the Nabb Research Center’s Special Collections document experiences of individuals around the country who provided their services to the American Red Cross.
Jeanne Severance Letters
During World War II, Jeanne Severance was sent to various countries, including France, India, China, Burma (now Myanmar), and Mexico, as a Red Cross volunteer for the U.S. Army. From 1945-1946, Severance wrote letters home to her friends Martha and Constance Greene reporting on her excursions on the Club mobile to serve food and supplies to troops, interactions with local populations, racial tensions between soldiers and the constant threat of contracting Malaria. Some of her letters were censored by the U.S. Army.
American Red Cross Hospital Photograph Album
Famous bone specialist Major Ralph Roswell Fitch (1878-1970) was the hospital administrator of the American Red Cross Hospital No. 2located in Evreux, France, during World War I. His photograph album captures daily life at the hospital in 1918. Photographs show the wards and operating rooms, hospital staff, wounded soldiers, prosthetics, Red Cross trucks and ambulances, and scenery around the city. Of special note is the inclusion of original prints of photographs taken by noted photographer Lewis Hine (1874-1940).
Clifton E. Burding Letters
Clifton E. Burding was a private serving in Company G of the 61st Infantry during World War I and wrote many letters home to his future wife, Lilian Snailhan, on Red Cross stationery. Burding wrote to Snailhan and provided insight into the daily routine of military camp life.
Diaries
Other items in the Special Collections include the 1943 diary of an unidentified woman from Brooklyn, New York, who talks of joining the Red Cross and the 1919 diary of Irene Smith and her work with the Red Cross in Washington, D.C.