[Various locations, mainly Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas]: 1945. Two albums. Album I: [24] leaves, illustrated with twenty-four original photographs, over two dozen postcards (mostly photographic), original letters and military documents, and a large quantity of ephemeral items. Folio. Contemporary cream cloth decoratively stamped on front board in gilt and silver, string tied. Album II: [11] leaves, illustrated with ninety-eight photographs in mounting corners, six loose photos, and a couple of ephemeral items. Oblong folio. Contemporary brown cloth decoratively stamped on front board in gilt, yellow, and red, string tied. Overall minor wear. Very good condition. Item #12886

A pair of annotated vernacular photograph album / scrapbooks compiled by Lt. Erma J. Frazier and her mother during her wartime service in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Frazier served in the Nurse Corps at various hospitals in the Trans-Mississippi West, at Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas; Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas; Okmulgee, Oklahoma; and Camp Robinson, Arkansas. Frazier hailed from East Brady, Pennsylvania and worked as a Registered Nurse at the nearby Kittanning Hospital before she entered military service. She enlisted in early 1945 and served throughout the conclusion of the Second World War. The present albums record her service time in unusual detail, with a mixture of original photographs, picture postcards, original military documents, a few manuscript letters, and various ephemeral items.

The first album was compiled by Frazier's mother, who inscribes the first page: "I dedicate this book to my daughter Erma Jean Eberhart Frazier, who entered the Armed Services on March 17, 1945 as a 2nd Lt. in the Nurse Army Corps a Camp Swift, Texas." This album focuses mainly on Frazier's time at Camp Swift and Okmulgee, Oklahoma. This album contains the lion's share of the ephemera, including a patch, the floral corsage she wore on the day she left for service, military paperwork and forms, and various newspaper clippings. The military paperwork includes enlistment documents (including her "Application for Appointment"), a manuscript postcard from the director of the Red Cross describing Frazier as a "professional qualified for military service," Army documents on qualifications for nurses, and more. Other ephemera includes letters and cards received by her at Camp Swift, a page of five pressed "Flowers from Texas," each preserved in a small plastic bag, shipping tags from packages of clothing sent home by Frazier, a couple of church programs, a page of ten small postcards from her visit to Austin, a menu from Brooke General & Convalescent Hospital at Fort Sam Houston, some greeting cards, and so forth. The photographs include portraits of Frazier from 1943 and 1944 while a nursing student; eight pictures of Frazier and other soldiers at Camp Swift; and eight shots of Frazier, fellow soldiers, and their barracks and administration buildings at Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

The second album was compiled by Frazier herself, who provides a manuscript title on the inside front cover: "Memories of the Army Nurse Corps." There are also two photographs inscribed in the first person ("Me on arrival at G.G.H." and "side entrance to my b[arrack]s G.G.H."). This album is almost entirely comprised of captioned photographs, particularly valuable for identifying numerous fellow soldiers serving with Frazier. The images emanate from the last three locations at which Frazier served, which she lists on the inside front cover: Brooke General Hospital at Fort Sam Houston, Glennon General Hospital in Okmulgee, and Regional Hospital at Camp Robinson, Arkansas. Perhaps Frazier felt her mother's album, largely focused on Camp Swift, sufficiently memorialized here time there. The photographs are presented in chronological order, and include portraits of dozens of men and women with whom Frazier served, or patients served by Frazier, often accompanied by informative and sometimes humorous manuscript captions on the album leaves or directly on the images. The photos also picture the hospitals themselves and include a handful of images taken during leisure time on base.

A unusually informative pair of World War II-era albums and scrapbooks preserving the service of a highly-qualified Army nurse from Pennsylvania serving in the American West during the last year of the war.

Price: $2,750