Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

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.

Preferred Citation

Lina Nancy Potter WWII Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information

The materials were acquired by Special Collections Research Center from ebay.com on 04/22/2007.

Processing Information

Processed by Zachary R. Jones in 2007.

Biographical Note

Lina Nancy Potter (1901-1975) of Narragansett, Rhode Island, enlisted in the United States Armed Forces in 1942 and served as a 2nd Lt. A.N.C. nurse in a military hospital in India from 1943-1945. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki: <a href="http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Lina Nancy Potter">http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Lina Nancy Potter</a>.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, photographs, and military papers concerning the World War II service of 2nd Lt. A.N.C. Lina Nancy Potter (1901-1975) of Narragansett, Rhode Island. Potter enlisted in the United States Armed Forces in 1942 and served as a nurse in a military hospital in India from 1943-1945. This collection consists of 23 letters of her outgoing wartime correspondence to family (her Aunt Harriet E. Weaver and Uncle Charles Weaver of Rhode Island) in the United States, her military papers, and three wartime photographs of Potter and her fellow nurses. Potter's correspondence is of special interest because Potter was allowed to censor her own letters (perhaps because she was an officer) before they were sent to the United States. Thus, Potter's correspondence contains a log of wartime conditions at a hospital near Burma, India. Her letters discuss poor food and housing conditions, status of her work in India, the war in India and China, and aspects relative to women's history during the Second World War.

Arrangement of Materials

Collection has been arranged into three series: Series I: Correspondence, Series II: Military Papers, and Series III: Photographs. Correspondence has been arranged chronologically.

Index Terms

Genre/Form of Material:

• Certificates
• Correspondence
• Photographs

Topical Term:

• India--History--20th century.
• Medicine, Military--India.
• United States--Women--History
• World War, 1939-1945--Medical and sanitary affairs.
• World War, 1939-1945--Pacific Area
• World War, 1939-1945.

Additional Information