William E. Garfield papers

Correspondence, letters sent and received, 1938-1980; Family correspondence, letters sent and received, 1893-1958; Miscellany, including Harvard University and Columbia University exam booklets, diploma, children's drawings, 1942-1980; Photographs including family and others, 1940-1980; Legal papers, 1939-1989.

The collection consists of letters primarily written to and from William E. Garfield, his mother Elizabeth Scot Garfield, and his younger sister Nancy Garfield Risdon, as well as letters from other family and friends including other service members. Legal documents and notes related to a property easement dispute in the 1980s are also included.

Series I, letters sent, are letters mainly written from William to his mother Elizabeth. The letters from 1942-May 1943 focus on Bill's first year at Harvard, his acclimation to the academic rigor and college community, as well as the growth of friendships with his roommates. The letters written from Bill during the war portray his homesickness during boot camp, his adaptation and frustration with military life and his daily work routines. Several wartime letters in the collection show evidence of military censorship. Included in the letters to his mother is a description of a battle, believed to be the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944. Additionally, Bill writes of his boat handling and navigation skills, his time spent at sea in a 100mph typhoon, his feelings about the development of the atomic bomb, the announcement of the war's end in the Pacific and the public jubilation encountered upon his stateside return.

Series II, letters received, are primarily from Bill's mother and sister but also include other friends and relatives in the military and civilian life. The letters sent to William from his family during the war show the relative normality of daily life in the United States despite the war. Researchers may find the letters from Army Pvt. Thomas Foster Jr. and William Howard, an American Field Service ambulance driver stationed in Italy to be of particular interest. Along with letters from other family and friends, the collection provides a scope beyond Garfield's naval point of view. Many of the letters sent to Bill after the war are from his sister Nancy Risdon. Researchers of social and women's history during the late 1950s and 1960s will find Nancy's letters conveying her joys and struggles as a wife, divorcee, single mother and career woman of particular interest.

Series III, other family correspondence, are letters between family and friends that exclude William. Many of the letters are from Bill's sister Nancy Risdon to their mother Elizabeth.

Series IV, miscellany, contains William's biographical and educational information as well as a children's drawings, artwork sent to Bill from his nieces in Seattle.

Series V, photographs, includes a snapshot of Bill in his "sailor suit" in Newport and several copies of his official Navy portrait. Photographs and negatives of Bill's nieces and several friends are also included. Researchers may find the photo of the chief gunner on Bill's PT boat to be of particular interest.

Series V, legal, contains documents related to a property easement dispute, Maine Superior Court Civil Action, Docket no. CV-85-83, William E. Garfield, Plaintiff vs. E. Ruth Perkins and Edna E. Hammons, Defendants.