Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding aid for the Arthur Mansback papers
0040
0040
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Arthur Mansback papers
Collection number: 0040
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.79 Linear feet
2 boxes
Date: 1918, 1940s (bulk 1918)
Abstract: The Arthur Mansback papers consists of letters, postcards, telegrams, photographs, training materials, and printed ephemera
created and collected by Private Arthur Mansback during his tour of duty in the United States Army Expeditionary Forces in
France during the second half of 1918. The letters, in conjunction with Mansback's training materials and the postcards he
collected, provide a broad overview of the daily life of an American foot soldier during the last months of World War I.
creator:
Mansback, Arthur E.
[Box/folder# or item name], Arthur Mansback papers, Collection no. 0040, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of
Southern California
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections 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.
Donated by Eleanor Mansback, January 6, 1971.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
The Arthur Mansback papers consists of letters, postcards, telegrams, photographs, training materials, and printed ephemera
created and collected by Private Arthur E. Mansback during his tour with Battery A, 143rd Field Artillery of the American
Expeditionary Forces in France during the second half of 1918. The letters begin aboard the transport ship in August of 1918,
and end with Mansback's return to the United States (San Francisco) in January of 1919. In these letters, all addressed to
his mother, Mrs. Eleanor Mansback, Private Mansback discusses news of friends and relatives, financial matters (Mansback was
a stockbroker in Los Angeles), weather and conditions on board the transport ship and in France, censorship of letters by
Army censors, the cost of food in France, impressions of the French and their impressions of Americans, visits to local towns
and meals eaten, camouflage training school, life in the camp, Spanish flu, visits to the Amex Club and YMCA, occasional commentaries
on the progress of the war, and gifts purchased. Some letters are censored. Others contain letters from cousins living or
serving in France that Mansback forwarded to his mother. In addition to the letters are 59 postcards depicting scenes of the
war, Mansback's notebook from camouflage training and his two examinations (which are referred to in the letters), and a pamphlet
containing graphic images of dead soldiers. There are also 2 clippings and 2 pamphlets (World War II-era). Although Mansback
never saw combat, his letters provide a broad overview of the daily life of an American foot soldier during the last months
of World War I.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mansback, Arthur E. -- Archives
Correspondence
Photographs
Postcards
Printed ephemera
Soldiers--United States--20th century--Archival resources
Telegrams
United States--Armed Forces--History--20th century--Archival resources
United States--Armed Forces--Military life--20th century--Archival resources
World War, 1914-1918--Archival resources