Scope and Content
This collection contains civilian papers, clippings, correspondence, military papers, and photographs. The majority of the collection consists of correspondence. While serving in the Army Nurse Corps from 03/17/1943 to 07/24/1944 Watson was stationed in North Africa and Italy. She wrote to her parents an average of three to four times per week and would frequently scold them if they did not write to her as often. She wrote about serving as a nurse in tent evacuation hospitals in the European Theater, often describing the terrible wounds that she would treat. She felt it was her duty as a nurse to not only medically treat the soldiers but to provide companionship, often having long conversations with her patients. She describes experiencing different cultures for the first time, traveling, sailing, and shopping while on leave. She wrote often of the weather in North Africa, she considered it a good day if it did not rain. she also details many of her experiences “dating” during her time in the service. Dating relationships appeared complicated and perhaps intended more for companionship and entertainment rather than for romance or sexual relationships. Watson wrote about dating married officers who were madly in love with their wives, dating a prince, and about missing her own fiancé, Anthony. In one letter, Watson sternly explains to her concerned mother that she would never become physically intimate with these men as she adores her fiancé too much. Complementing the correspondence in the collection are photographs of Watson in her Army Nurse Corps Uniform and working in the hospital tent.