Guide to the Richard H. Bryant Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Richard H. Bryant Collection
Creator:
Bryant, Richard H., 1906-1977
Identifier/Call Number: SC.CRB
Extent:
0.21 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1943-1945
Abstract: Richard H. Bryant served in the US Army
in the Pacific theater during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze Star. While serving
overseas, he corresponded via V-mail and regular post with his sisters Wava and Beverly in
Florence, South Carolina, his younger brother James, and numerous other friends and family
members both at home and overseas. The letters include news from South Carolina, especially
the local church, gasoline rations, women in the workforce, media coverage of the war, and
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's fourth presidential campaign.
Language of Material: English
Biographical Information:
William H. Bryant served in the US Army in the Pacific theater during World War II, and was
awarded the Bronze Star. While serving overseas, he corresponded via V-mail with his sisters
Wava and Beverly in Florence, South Carolina, his younger brother James, and numerous other
friends and family members both at home and overseas. V-mail, short for Victory Mail, was
used extensively during World War II in order to conserve the weight and size of
correspondence exchanged between servicemen serving in the European and Pacific theaters and
their families on the home front. Soldiers wrote on special V-mail letter sheets, which were
then censored, microfilmed, and shipped. After arriving in the United States V-mail letters
were re-printed at 60% of their original size and sent to their destination.
Scope and Contents
The
Richard H. Bryant Collection consists of letters written
to Major Richard H. Bryant while he served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The
majority of letters are authored by his sisters Beverly and Wava, schoolteachers living in
South Carolina during the war. He also exchanges letters with his brother James, referred to
as "J.O.B.," friends Millie and Scott, girlfriend Eleanor "Norsey" Grant, and others both at
home and overseas. The collection is divided into two series:
Correspondence (1943-1945) and
Personal Files
(1943-1945).
Series I,
Correspondence, consists of original V-mail, or
Victory Mail, and Airmail correspondence sent to Bryant by family, friends, fellow military
members, and his girlfriend, Eleanor "Norsey" Grant, while he was stationed in the Pacific.
The V-Mail letters include news from South Carolina, concerning subjects such as the local
church, gasoline rations, women in the workforce, media coverage of the war, and Franklin
Delano Roosevelt's fourth presidential campaign. In letters exchanged with his brother and
friends in other branches of the service he heard about conditions in the European theater,
especially in Italy, and Clemson University's 1944 football season. Bryant and his friends
also gossip about friends being promoted, getting married, and one who was arrested after
arranging a botched abortion for his girlfriend. The v-mail, having been reproduced from
microfilm, is around 60% of the original letters' size.
Series II,
Personal Files, consists of items saved by Bryant
related to his service in the military, including medical clearances, financial documents
regarding bonds and claimed property, moving orders for Bryant while in the Pacific,
addresses, and newspaper clippings.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Correspondence, 1943-1945
Series II: Personal Papers, 1943-1945
General
Other Information:
This collection was purchased with funds generously donated by Gus and Erika Manders.
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchase. 10/01/2013.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival
Materials
guide.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ephemera
Documents
Series I: Correspondence, 1943-1945
Series II: Personal Files, 1943-1945
Box 1, Folder 15
Addresses and Business Cards
Box 1, Folder 16
Financial and Claimed Property Documents,
1943-1944
Box 1, Folder 17
Medical Clearances,
1943-1944
Box 1, Folder 18
Military Moving Orders,
1945 July 1
