Collections

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.

A collection of photographs of the Chapman family (Shaw and Wiley) from 1880 until before the advent of the Second World War. Included in the collection are numerous images, negatives, and some documents pertaining to the life of the family when the family lived in Tampa, Florida in the early years of the 20th Century.

This collection documents the military service, federal employment, and geodetic survey work of Fernando Rodriguez Mesa. Materials include military records, federal employment records, and geodetic survey materials. The collection also contains newspaper clippings, programs, and invitations documenting Mesa's personal life and social activities in Tampa, Florida. Photographs include images of Mesa and community events in Tampa, including the Beaux Arts Masquerade Balls and Gasparilla Day. The collection is arranged by subject and format.

Personal items of Florida State College for Women student Florence Gregory (B.A. Sociology, 1940) and Florida State University (M.S., Social Work, 1962). Items includes photographs, scrapbooks, and other ephemera related to her years as a student at FSCW/FSU.

This World War II collection relates to Covieau Rohlin and Rohlin's close wartime friendship with U.S. Army Air Corps Colonel Thomas Settle Voss. Voss served as base commander of MacDill Field, FL and 1st Advanced Air Depot Area in the European Theater.  The collection includes a captured framed lithograph of Le Mans-La Cathedrale St. Julien by Barday, 1933, MacDill Field Thunderbird magazines, Liberty magazine, unpublished memoirs of Colonel Voss, photographs of Voss, and military documents.

This collection relates to John Peacock who served with the the 8th Air Force, 45th Combat Wing, 388th Bomb Group, 560th Squadron also known as "The Peacock Crew" who served in England and Ireland during World War II. This collection contains a brief manuscript written by John F. Peacock entitled, "The Peacock Crew" that details information regarding their service and includes short biographies for the individuals. The collection also contains an addendum to the manuscript, including a list of crew members in chronological order by date of death. There is a digitally reproduced 8 by 11 photograph of the "Peacock Crew" at Avon Park, Florida, in 1944.

This transcript pertains to Joseph E. Peel, a gunner's mate who served aboard the USS Antietam starting in 1944. While the transcribed interview includes Peel's testimony on the latter years of World War II, it mostly details his experiences attending college after the war under the benefits of the GI Bill.