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McConnell, James Rogers, 1887-1917. Papers of James Rogers McConnell, 1915-1977 (bulk 1915-1917).

Title: Papers of James Rogers McConnell, 1915-1977 (bulk 1915-1917).

The collection consists chiefly of letters from McConnell to his friend Paul Ayres Rockwell and to Marcelle Guérin de Précourt, a French nurse. The letters describe McConnell's tour as an ambulance driver in France, training and flights as a member of the Lafayette Escadrille, convalsecence in an army hospital after a 1916 crash, trench warfare, aerial combat with German planes, and life in a French town near the front. Specific topics include a typical night on ambulance duty; dissension in the Escadrille and the abilities and dedication of each member; near wrecks in flight training; a French military funeral; German goose stepping and camouflage; Verdun battlefield from the air; downing of a German plane by French gunners; last flights of Kiffin Rockwell and Victor Chapman; and the bombardment of Pont-à-Mousson. Correspondents other than Rockwell and Guérin de Précourt include Edwin A. Alderman, Lewis D. Crenshaw, Edmund C.C. Genet, Armistead C. Gordon, Charles Chouteau Johnson, Henry Alan Johnston, Jean A.S.J. Jusserand, Walter Lovell, Ward McLanahan, Charles E.A. Marshall, Norman Prince, Georges Thenault, Frank Tupper, and McConnell family members. Most of these are located only on the Smithsonian microfiche, Mf-5. Memorial and printed material include photographs, clippings, proof of Georges Thenault's book "The Lafayette Escadrille," and memoirs of Marcelle Guérin de Précourt; pre-war articles by McConnell promoting North Carolina railroads; an article "With the American Ambulance," printed in "The Outlook"; a poem by him, a cigarette case given to him by Paul A. Rockwell; and a copy of a 1916 film "Escadrille Américaine." Subjects in the photgraphs include McConnell, his friends Kiffin Yates Rockwell and Victor E. Chapman, and commanding officer Georges Theanult; McConnell's grave near Flavy-y-Martel, Aisne, France; a monument to him in Carthage, N.C.; McConnell family members; Guérin de Précourt family members; and Rockwell family members.

ArchivalResource: 215 (ca.) items.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50861130 View