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Emma Delano Pettengill collection, 1942-1991

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Series I: Manuscripts
BOX-FOLDER MSS1757/1 Clippings, undated
1 folder, 1 page
MS01: A photocopied newspaper article about William Corcoran being burned while experimenting with phosphorus in an attempt to make matches.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1757/2-3 Correspondence, 1942-1991, undated
2 folders, 339 letters
MS02: Letters received by Emma Corcoran. Most of the letters were sent by Kenneth Pettengill, Emma's future husband, as well as family and friends such as her mother, also named Emma Corcoran, her sister Mary Corcoran, friends such as "Crawford", and other suitors. A number of letters were sent to Emma before her service with the WAVES, while she was still at Hyannis State Teacher’s College and while she was living in Orleans, Massachusetts, with her family.
The majority of the letters from Kenneth date from 1944 onward. They concern his Navy service training and studies regarding radio, his life on the submarine USS Runner (SS 275), leisure activities, planned visits, speculations regarding his and Emma's eventual marriage, Emma's interest in joining the WAVES, news of friends and family, literature, and Kenneth's daily activities.
Letter dated 1/18/1946 includes a one dollar bill. Some letters are only partial pages (6/8/1942 - 2/21/1991). The letter dated 2/21/1991 is addressed to "Mother," sent from an unknown author. Also includes a few picture postcards (6/11/1944).
BOX-FOLDER MSS1758/1-7 Correspondence, 1944-1945
7 folders
MS02 (continued)
BOX-FOLDER MSS1759/1-7 Correspondence, 1945-1946, 1948, 1954, 1991, undated
7 folders
MS02 (continued)
BOX-FOLDER MSS1762/1 Correspondence, undated
1 folder
MS02 (continued)
BOX-FOLDER MSS1762/2-7 Correspondence, 1944-1949, undated
5 folders, 170 letters
MS03: Letters written by Emma Pettengill, most sent to Kenneth Pettengill, one sent to "Crawford," a family friend of the Corcorans, and two sent to unknown recipients. Includes partial pages of letters (2/1944 to 10/4/1949).
Topics include Emma's health, leisure time and visits with friends, summertime in Cape Cod, family news, dating life for both Emma and Ken, Emma's enlistment in the WAVES in February 1945, political news, daily life as a WAVE including her duties as a librarian and a meteorologist, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in April of 1945, visiting Quonset Point Naval Air Station, and her impressions of Norfolk.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1763/1-2 Correspondence, 1944-1949, undated
2 folders
MS03 (continued).
BOX-FOLDER MSS1763/3 Correspondence, 1945-1946, 1949
1 folder, 13 letters
MS04: Letters written by Emma's husband Kenneth Pettengill and sent to his mother regarding his Navy service, travels and leisure trips, and Ken's plans to marry Emma. The last letter, dated July 7, 1949, mentions their son, Kenny Junior.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1763/4 Correspondence, 1952-1956, undated
1 folder, 5 letters
MS05: Letters received by Emma's husband Kenneth Pettengill, seemingly written by friends and family, including Mr. and Mrs. Donald Marshall, Frank Pettengill, Kit Parker, and Emma and Kenneth's daughter Claire Pettengill. Topics covered include news of family and friend's lives and activities, Frank Pettingell's marriage and assignment to Fort Benning.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1763/5 Correspondence, 1945, undated
1 folder, 3 letters
MS06: Three letters, including a letter written to Emma (or "Corky") by Annie Shaw (6/2/1945), an incomplete letter written by Emma's sister Mary to an unidentified recipient, and a letter fragment from an unidentified author to an unidentified recipient. Topics covered include social activities and news from home.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1763/8 Military papers, 1944-1946, undated
1 folder
MS07: Photocopies of military papers for Emma and Kenneth, including a Navy Training Course Certificate for Radio Material for Kenneth Pettengill (12/15/1944); orders to proceed home and release from active duty for Emma Corcoran (2/5/1945); enlisted record for Emma Corcoran (5/23/1946); discharge certificates for Emma Corcoran and Kenneth Pettengill (5/23/1946); and a notice of separation for Kenneth Pettengill (undated).
BOX-FOLDER MSS1763/9-10 Printed material, 1944-1945, undated
2 folders
MS08: A Massachusetts Department of Public Works Registry of Motor Vehicles operator license for Emma Corcoran (10/2/1944); a New York Telephone Company bill for Emma Corcoran (4/24/1945); a ticket stub for a Cincinnati Bengals football game at Soldier Field (undated); a program for a service at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at Norfolk, Virginia (undated); and a commencement program for Hyannis State Teachers College for the class of 1944.
Series II: Photographs
BOX-FOLDER MSS1763/11 Original photographic print, circa 1944
1 black-and-white photographic print
PH01: A portrait of Kenneth Pettengill, wearing his Navy uniform, sitting on a bench next to a harbor, ca. 1944.

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