Scope and Content
The William Sylvanus Morris collection documents Morris’ United States Army service during World War I. The collection includes correspondence, diaries, photographs and an optical disc containing transcripts of manuscript material.
The optical disc in the collection contains electronic transcriptions of Morris’ correspondence and diary. The bulk of the material consists of correspondence sent by Morris to his mother. Topics covered include inquiries about family back home in Washington, D.C.; tailor-made uniform in Washington, D.C. due to limited sizes; receiving gifts and letters from family; weather conditions; receiving commission as First Lieutenant at Fort Leavenworth; disappointment of not getting promoted to captain due to raising age limit; having dinner at the Y.M.C.A. in Southampton, England, on day of arrival; lack of money for Christmas gifts to send home; frequently going to operas in France; celebrating a birthday; a lot of discussion about his uncle, Jefferson Randolph Kean, known as Uncle Rannie, who was also serving during World War I; uncle being promoted to general and duties throughout his service; death of his brother-in-law, Capt. Allen Melancthon Sumner, Jr., in action; living in a French chateau with a wealthy French family and being the only officer in town; French treated him very kindly; improvement speaking French; water supply work and gaining a lot of experience; and waiting to be shipped back to the U.S. at camp outside of Bordeaux, France.
The collection also includes Morris' record of assignments throughout military service during World War I. Photographs contain images of Morris and servicemen at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and at an engineer base in France; handling rifles; tug of war matches; marching; riding horses; playing instruments; archery range; and digging ditches.