Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Lucy Herndon Crockett Papers must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Lucy Herndon Crockett Papers, Ms2011-032, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The original collections of materials for the Lucy Herndon Crockett Papers were purchased by Special Collections in two separate accruals in 2011. Additional materials were purchased by Special Collections in 2014 and 2015.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Lucy Herndon Crockett Papers was completed in March 2011. In early 2016, the existing materials were combined with newer purchases and the collection was re-processed and additional description was completed.

Biographical Note

Lucy Herndon Crockett (born 4 April 1914 in Honolulu, Hawaii) was a Red Cross worker in the Pacific during World War II. She travelled as a speech writer and secretary for the chairman of the American Red Cross. An author of nine books, illustrator and designer, she wrote the 1954 book The Magnificent Bastards about her experiences with the U.S. Marine Corps (the book was later made into a film) and Popcorn on the Ginza about her time in occupied Japan. Later in her life, she lived in Seven Mile Ford, Virginia.

Scope and Content Note

The Lucy Herndon Crockett Papers consists of type and manuscript versions of some of Crockett's published and unpublished novels, her illustrations and art for her publications, and a small group of personal papers and papers about her. Materials date from about 1940 to 2015.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into three series.

Series I: Personal Papers includes materials from 1941 to 2015. This series contains book previews, biographical information and photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, non-fiction writing, and land documents relating to Crockett's home at Seven Mile Ford. This series is arranged by type of material. Within each material type, folders are in chronological order.

Series II: Illustrations and Art consist of ink and pencil drawings and illustrations by Crockett, primarily for her own works. Identified illustrations include art for Capitan , Popcorn on the Ginza: An Informal Portrait of Postwar Japan and Teru: A Tale of Yokohama . A number of the illustrations are not clearly associated with one project and could be for her works, though she was also know to illustrate for other authors. This series is arranged by size and items relating to a specific known project are house separate from unidentified art.

Series III: Manuscript and Typescript Works conatins various drafts of published and unpublished works, dating from 1940 to 1972. Drafts of published works include: Capitan , Popcorn on the Ginza: An Informal Portrait of Postwar Japan , Teru: A Tale of Yokohama , Magnificent Bastards , and Kings Without Castles . The series also has two versions of an unpublished manuscript for "The Devil Chasers" and a partial manuscript for "Bus Station Blues," dated September 1972. This series in arranged in chronological order by publication/creation date.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Local/Regional History and Appalachian South
• Women -- History