World War II Resources in the Special Collections Research Center

Special Collections Research Center Access Tools: There are a variety of tools available to guide you in finding materials in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC). Don't forget that you also may come into the SCRC in person and consult with the staff member on duty for guidance.

Consult the Special Collections Research Center’s Web site for more information about using the collections. Registration  and search tools are available to see further descriptions of many of these collections as well as to search for additional collections. Some images and transcriptions of documents are available at the Digital Archive and at the transcription site. There is the option of Interlibrary Loan for books that Swem does not have. Staff is always willing to assist.

Some subject headings:

Special Collections Research Center Access Tools: There are a variety of tools available to guide you in finding materials in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC). Don't forget that you also may come into the SCRC in person and consult with the staff member on duty for guidance.

Consult the Special Collections Research Center’s Web site for more information about using the collections. Registration  and search tools are available to see further descriptions of many of these collections as well as to search for additional collections. Some images and transcriptions of documents are available at the Digital Archive and at the transcription site. There is the option of Interlibrary Loan for books that Swem does not have. Staff is always willing to assist.

Some subject headings:

World War, 1939-1945-- African-Americans

World War, 1939-1945-- Aerial Operations

World War, 1939-1945--Germany

World War, 1939-1945-- Japan

World War, 1939-1945--Japanese Internment Camp

World War, 1939-1945--Medical and sanitary affairs

World War, 1939-1945--Pacific Area

World War, 1939-1945--Personal Narratives

World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners of War

World War, 1939-1945-- United States

World War, 1939-1945--Women

Some of the collections and publications listed from the SCRC include photographs. The following are some World War II-related photographs in the University Archives Photograph Collection:

• Army Specialized Training Unit (P77.239, P79.869, P1979.1122-1123, P1988.268-272)
• Chaplain’s School (P77.209; P79.852-853, 856-859, 863-867, 1114,-1117, 1119-1120; P1987.290-293; P1988.273; P1989.239, 243-244)
• Plaques—World War II Casualties (P77.217, P1989.245)
• Red Cross blood drive (P1989.338)
• Ships:
  • SS James Blair (P1987.283-285, P1989.298-299)
  • SS John Eldridge (P1987.288)
  • SS Lyon Gardiner Tyler (P1987.274-282)
  • SS Russell M. Cox, Jr. (P1987.286-287)
  • SS William and Mary Victory (P.1982.103-114, P1987.263-273)
• Student projects for the WWII camouflage course (P1989.319-322)
• Students—World War II (P1982.298)

The following headings should also be requested from the collection:

• Military Science--Army Specialized Training Unit

• Military Science--Reserve Officers Training Camps

• Military Science--Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC)

Some manuscript collections also have photo albums, scrapbooks, or other materials with photographs.  Among them are:

• Colorado River Relocation Scrapbook, 1943-1944, which apparenly belonged to a female worker at this Japanese-American internment camp in Poston (Mss Acc 2008.127)
• James H. Critchfield Papers, includes photographs of concentration camp victims in Europe (Mss Acc 2004.09, 2009.367).
• Owen Jarboe Scrapbooks, 1928-1948, the second of which documents Jarboe's experiences in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II and his participation in the United Nations conference in San Francisco at the end of the war (Mss Acc. 2009.145).
• Betty Movern Diary, 1947-1948, records the epxeriences of an Army wife living in Germany, with many photographs of wartime damage (Mss Acc 2007.89)
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt Photographs, 1945, depict his funeral procession in Washington, D.C., and the swearing-in of Harry S Truman as president (Mss 1994.75)
• Harry and Anna Saxer Papers, 1949, has three scrapbooks, two focusing on Germany and one on France; many of the photos depict the damage inflicted by World War II.  Harry Saxer was a steel executive helpling rebuild industry in Europe (Mss Acc 2009.136, 2009.162).
• World War II Photo Album, 1945-1946, kept by a military man in the Pacific theater, with many photos of Japan during the American occupation, Japanese POWs, the damage caused byt he atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and similar topics (Mss Acc 2009.034)