Collections

The collection of the 460th Heavy Bombardment Group Society contains a unit history of this B-24 U.S. Army Air Corps Group, 55th Wing, 760th, 761st, 762nd, 763rd Squadrons and Group Headquarters, which served in the Italian Campaign. This collection primarily focuses on the memory of the war and those who served in the 460th. Included is a listing of the airmen who were held as prisoners of war, including their squadrons, positions on the plane (e.g. pilot, gunner), the date, mission, and what country or stalag in which they were held. Also included is a booklet, "Remembering the 460th Bomb Group (H)," which contains photographs, personnel lists, and maps, and was prepared as a gift from Duane and Betty Bohnstedt to their members. There are mission lists, target details, flight records, and crew searches. The collection includes issues of the society's veterans' association magazine, "Black Panther" from mid-1990 to their final issue, December 2005.

This collection consists of the business records from the Apalachicola Tent and Awning Company once located in Apalachicola, Florida. The company manufactured pyramidal tents under contract from the United States Army from early 1941 to at least October 1942. The records are unclear as to when the company ceased operations.

This collection relates to former Florida State University History professor Edward Davis Wynot, items are from his personal collection. The collection contains multi-media items about World War II including VHS sets and DVDs.  This collection also includes a World War I helmet. 

This collection pertains to Evelyn King who served as a U.S.O. hostess during World War II. The collection contains letters, postcards, V-mail, and greeting cards. The collection also contains newspaper and magazine clippings, various booklets and pamphlets, numerous lifestyle magazines, Navy and Army uniform buttons, and prints.

This collection centers around a Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force.  It includes items related to his time in the military and his personal life before and after retirement. It includes personal letters, special orders, magazines, books, newspapers and clippings, event brochures, pamphlets, education records, personnel files, flight logs, photographs, VHS Tapes, cassette tapes, and flags spanning from the 1930s until the early 2000s.

Jose M. Colon Collection (1928-2017), a Merchant Marine Veteran, this collection includes his service awards and medals, set of publications regarding the Merchant Marines. Although many of the publications memorialize fallen Marines and Merchant Marine Veterans, one publication goes into detail about the history of the Merchant Marines and their involvement in World War II. Mr. Colon served in both World War II and the Korea War.

This collection consists of an oral history interview transcript of Joseph Jennings, who was enlisted in the U.S. Navy and worked as an aircraft radio operator during World War II and served in the South Atlantic guarding the Brazilian coastline near Rio do Janeiro. The interview covers his duties and anecdotes, like his training in Norfolk, VA, his emergency appendectomy, and his time in Dutch Guyana. The interview also describes his early years during the Great Depression in Oklahoma.

This collection pertains to Laura Mae Jackson DuFore who served with the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II. The collection contains four letters that she wrote to her sister and family while she was overseas, two letters from friends, a collection of black and white photographs mainly from New Guinea and the Philippines, foreign currency, various military documents, artwork created by DuFore, a metal bracelet with the name "Laura" etched in, a cigarette lighter made from a .50 caliber round, a Japanese fan, a Japanese cigarette, an Enlisted Infantry collar pin, photocopies of two scrapbooks, and various newsletters from air fields, ships, or other posts. The collection also contains a copy of DuFore's autobiography A Life So Full.

This collection pertains to Commander Leonard D. Ellingwood who had served as an Acting Pay Clerk with the U.S. Navy during World War II. Ellingwood was stationed on the USS Shaw during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Shortly after surviving the attack, Ellingwood was transferred to the Naval Supply Corps, where he had remained until his honorable discharge in 1966. This collection includes Ellingwood's official Naval personnel documents from 1936 to 1966, newspapers in which Ellingwood recounts his experiences during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and various photographs of Ellingwood in Naval uniforms. In addition, the collection includes information about Leonard's death and subsequent burial-at-sea as well as numerous artifacts, including his Continuous Service Certificate, Naval ID Cards, and Navy Commander's uniform.