FLVC logo

Bascom Walden Sparkman collection, 1942-1975, Date acquired: 05/29/2018, bulk 1942-1946

 

Summary

Creator:
Sparkman, Bascom Walden
Extent:
3 boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Bascom Walden Sparkman collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_18_0019.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection relates to Staff Sergeant Bascom Walden Sparkman who served with Service Company, 753rd Tank Battalion, in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Southern France, and Germany during World War II. The 753rd served as a detached unit assigned as armored support for both the 36th and 45th Infantry Divisions.  The collection includes letters sent from Sparkman to his wife Eleanor and his family.  Letters from his family to Sparkman are also included.  Furthermore, the collection includes documents, unit newspapers, diaries, postcards, personal items carried by Sparkman, and artifacts.

Biographical / historical:

Bascom Walden Sparkman was born on December 18, 1910, in Florida and was raised in Plant City.  Sparkman married Eleanor Marguerite Murrill on July 25, 1937, in Mulberry, FL.  He was drafted into the U.S. Army at Camp Blanding, FL induction center on June 18, 1941. Sparkman was then sent to Fort Knox, KY for basic training. Assigned to Service Company, 753rd Tank Battalion, he received additional training at Fort Polk, LA and Fort Hood, TX.

He departed overseas with his company on April 25, 1943.  The company arrived at Arze, Algeria on May 30, 1943.  Assigned to support the 45th Infantry Division, the company then landed on July 23, 1943, at Sicily, Italy.  At the conclusion of the campaign, the 753rd Tank Battalion participated with the landings at Salerno, Italy on September 15, 1943, when it was assigned to the 36th Infantry Division. Sparkman participated with his company in the drive towards Rome and was present during the Cassino battles.  Sparkman also participated in the landings of Southern France during Operation Dragoon in August 1944. He remained with his company through the campaigns in Germany and was discharged in June 1945.  Sparkman passed away in Tampa, FL on November 13, 1984.

Custodial history:

This collection was donated by Susanne Sparkman Newell, daughter of Boscom Walden Sparkman. The collection was acquired by the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience on May 29, 2018.

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to all researchers.

This collection is in an offsite storage location. Please contact lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu with requests for access or for more information.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [Box and Folder number], Bascom Walden Sparkman collection, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. http://purl.fcla.edu/fsu/WWII_18_0019.

Location of this collection:
116 Honors Way
Tallahassee
FL
32306-2047
USA