Special Collections Research Center
spcoll@wm.eduAdministrative Information
Conditions Governing Use
Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.
Preferred Citation
Rosalie White Irwin Letters, Special Collections Research Center, William and Mary Libraries.
Content Description
A collection of two hundred and twenty-one letters sent to Rosalie White Irwin, a resident of Richmond, Virginia, dated from 1937 to 1950. Most of the letters included are from a variety of male admirers or boyfriends, including her future husband, Ted. The men are all serving in the army at the end of World War II and in the years following. Their letters provide descriptions of army and camp life both at home and abroad in India, the Philippines, Australia, Japan, and the South Pacific. Interspersed are letters from female friends. These letters cover a variety of topics including daily life and career choices that the women are pursuing; one woman in particular writes about serving as an operating room nurse at a veteran's hospital.
This collection also contains seventeen negatives, five photographs, and three metal address plates.
Content warnings for derogatory language.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Correspondence
- Love-letters
- Soldiers--United States--Correspondence
- Virginia--Social life and customs--20th century
- Women--Virginia--Social life and customs
- World War II
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives
- World War, 1939-1945--United States
- World War, 1939-1945--Women--United States
Significant Places Associated With the Collection
- Virginia--Social life and customs--20th century
Container List
Along with several letters, this folder contains two stamps, a pay envelope, and twelve (a year's worth) of work preformance reveiw slips for Rosalie White.
Three metal plates with the names and addresses of John H. White, Mrs. J.H. White, and Flora V. Headen. There are twelve photo negatives, and three photographs. The photographs are from India, the negatives depict a trip to a zoo.