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Mary Louise Mason collection, 1951-2008

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Series I: Video Recording
BOX CDDVD118 Oral history interview, February 11, 2008
71 minutes
ID: AFC2001/001/62208 MV01
MV01: Topics covered include: participating in cadet nurse program during World War II; 4/1951 enlisted for service in Korean War; cadet nurses got their name on monument downtown recently; basic training at San Antonio, Texas; assignment to Walter Reed Hospital; getting used to military life, partying; friend had convertible to ride around San Antonio; learning military terms; driving from San Antonio to Walter Reed in friend's convertible; nurses' housing at hospital; working in the spinal cord injury ward; first evaluation and being told she was out-spoken; treating a sergeant for lung career; to feel like Mrs. Astor's pet horse; keeping a pack of cigarettes and a Snickers bar in freezer, in case she gets news she'll die; dancing on the bar; the sights of Washington, DC and feeling like she was really out in the world; inaugural balls for President Dwight Eisenhower; black dress with cleavage; meeting John Cabot Lodge; knew the nurses who cared for Bess Truman's mother every day; friendships with patients; friendships with other nurses; contact with family and friends; assignment to Japan; stopover in Juneau, Alaska, on way to Japan; stop at Cold Bay, desolation; assignment to Osaka; nice to have all people as short as she was; reading letter to mother describing airplane trip to Japan; reading another letter home; coming back into civilian life, return to schooling; being in Japan after World War II; viewing movie MASH and disapproving of the way the nurses were treated.
Series II: Manuscripts
BOX-FOLDER MSS1814/2 Clippings, 1951-1953
1 folder
MS01: A newspaper announcement about Mason completing basic training with an image of Mason (1951); two pages from the Sakaizette, a newspaper for the 279th General Hospital from Christmas (12/16/1953).
BOX-FOLDER MSS1814/3 Correspondence, October 27, 1953-November 29, 1954
1 folder
MS02: 13 original letters from Mason to her mother, and one letter from Mason's brother, Luther, to their mother, and 14 typed transcripts of letters, some of which are copies of included original letters (9/12/1951 - 11/29/1954). Topics covered include: Trip to Tokyo on R&R; gifts; weather; Marine Corps birthday; Shinto festival; daily life and activities; giving her mother a television for her birthday; work schedule; dining with an admiral; travel to Osaka, Kobe, and other cities.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1814/4 Creative Works, circa 1944
1 folder
MS03: Sheet music with lyrics for the Song of the Army Nurse Corps.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1814/5 Map, circa 1951
1 folder
MS04: A map of streets and buildings of the Army Medical Center in Washington, DC [1951].
BOX-FOLDER OVZ115 Periodical, June 15, 1951
1 folder
MS05: A six page issue of the Service Stripe, a newspaper for the Walter Reed Army Hospital Army Medical Center in Washington, DC (6/15/1951).
BOX-FOLDER OVZ113 Periodical, November 29, 1954
1 folder
MS06: An eight page issue of a ship newsletter, USNS Buckner Banner.
BOX-FOLDER MSS1814/8 Printed Matter, May 19, 1951-November 25, 1954
1 folder
MS07: A six page graduation program for Medical Service Women Officers Basic Course (5/19/1951); a four page Christmas dinner menu for the 279th General Hospital (12/1953); a two page Thanksgiving dinner menu from the Military Sea Transportation Service Pacific Area (11/25/1954).
Series III: Photographs
BOX-FOLDER MSS1814/9 Photographic Prints, 1951-1953
1 folder
PH01-PH22: Original and copies of photographic prints of Mason, other military medical personnel, and of medical and military facilities in Texas and Japan (1951 - 1953).
BOX CDDVD118 Electronic file of photographs, 2008
1 optical disc
ID: AFC2001/001/62208 CF01
CF01: A CD-R containing photographs PH01-PH22.
BOX CDDVD118 Electronic file of manuscripts, 2008
1 optical disc
ID: AFC2001/001/62208 CF02
CF02: A CD-R containing clipping (MS01), correspondence (MS02), creative works (MS03), maps (MS04), periodicals (MS05-MS06), and printed matter (MS07) in PDF.

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