Last week we shared images from the papers of Pete Williams, an Army private who served as General Douglas MacArthur’s chauffeur throughout World War II’s Pacific campaign. But the Southwest Collection houses many other collections related to World War II. The image above, for example, comes from the papers of Joe D. Unfred. Unfred served as a Captain in the U.S. Army’s Third Armored Division during World War II. The Division was the first to breach the Siegfried Line, the first to cross the German border, and to capture the first German town. The collection consists primarily of photographs and scrapbooks documenting the day-to-day life of his service in Europe. The images above come from his time in France in 1944.
Fred Eurie Young’s papers date from 1917 to 1965 and document his time as a serviceman during World Wars I and II. Born in 1891, Captain Young went on to serve as the chief attorney for the Veterans Administration in Lubbock, Texas after the war (from 1946 to 1961). Much of his papers consists of correspondence, both personal and administrative, during both wars. This document, for example, is the notice that he received when he was called up from the Army Reserves in 1942.
Unique among all of our war-related collections is the Texas National Guard Records, 1900-1964. This image comes from a ledger documenting National Guardsmen’s requests in 1901. Although this item dates from prior to WW2, the bulk of the records consist of general files, the medical records and notes of one Dr. G. Schilling, and records and notes pertaining to the 36th Division and the 36th Division Association during that conflict. A variety of related correspondence, financial records, and other items are present, including an amazing six-volume stereographic photo library on World War II.
As always, our Reference Department would be happy to arrange access to these collections as well as our many other materials, whether they pertain to World War II or any of our other diverse collecting areas.
Southwest Collection Archive 