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Meyer (Robert E.) collection
71001  
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Table of contents What's This?

box 1

Department of Air Force correspondence, clippings, and brochures

box 1

The March Story, 50th Anniversary 1918-1968

box 2

1. A three-column news photo of the Arab Bowl New Year's day football games at Oran, Algeria 1944 January 1

Scope and Contents

The double-header program was probably the only one of its kind ever presented. The picture was published in The New Orleans Item, New Orleans, La., 1944 January
box 2

2. A program of the Grand Festival de Musique at the Theatre Municipal, Oran, Algeria 1944 February 12

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3. Thirteen colored caricatures drawn in North Africa 1943

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4. Some 175 views of Italy printed before or during World War II

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5 and 2a. A brochure containing descriptions in English, French, German and Italian of the Caffé Greco, 86 Via Condotti, founded in 1760.

Scope and Contents

The café has long been a popular gathering place for Americans in Rome
box 2

6. Printed matter

Scope and Contents

A brochure containing brief historical notes on the Cemetery for Non-Roman Catholic Foreigners near the Pyramid of Cestius, Rome; a biographical sketch of William Wetmore Story, an American sculptor who lived in Rome and created the marble Sorrowing Angel, which adorns the tomb in which William Wetmore Story and his wife are interred in the cemetery; and a postcard depicting the sculpture, a copy of which was dedicated at Stanford University to the memory of the victims of the 1906 earthquake
box 2

7. A bound copy of leading Risorgimento Dates, compiled by Dr. Maria Elena Casella, head librarian, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Rome 1939 September 1, 1944, 1945 November 25

Scope and Contents

Also enclosed therein are a small colored map of Italy in 1815, drawn by Dr. Casella, a prayer in English and Italian which she penned on the day World War II began; and a letter dated which might be typical of hundreds of letters written then to American service personnel in appreciation of food they presented to their friends in other lands to help them celebrate American's traditional Thanksgiving Day at a time when many persons at home and abroad had much for which to be thankful
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8. A catalogue of an exhibition of masterpieces of European painting, Palazzo Venezia, Rome, organized and arranged by the Division of Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives - Region IV, Allied Military Government 1944

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9. One copy of This Damn Tree Leaks, by Bill Mauldin. 1945

Scope and Contents

Each book contains 116 cartoons by Sgt. Bill Mauldin, reprinted from The Stars and Stripes, Mediterranean edition, Italy
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10. A book of historical and artistic outlines for Rome, Florence, Venice, by Mario Villoresi 1944 July 15

Scope and Contents

Includes 24 original engravings by Giuliano Grass, printed by the Arte della Stampa in Florence
box 2

11. A bound copy of an essay written by Dr. Maria Elena Casella 1945 August.

Scope and Contents

Also enclosed therein is a brief bibliography of writings pertaining to America, England, Italy and the Italian patriot Mazzini
box 2

12. A bound copy of an essay by Dr. Maria Elena Casella July 1944, May 1945, August 1945

Scope and Contents

Also enclosed therein is Non Molláre, by Ernesto Rossi, copied by Dr. Casella from Il Ponte, Florence, no. 6
box 2

13. A bound copy of a letter dated and written by Nella Santovito Vichi 1944 December 4-5

Scope and Contents

Director of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Rome, in appreciation of American book catalogues, which enabled him and his associates to choose up-to-date English and American books for the library. Also includes a letter dated Rome, signed by Maria Elena Casella, head librarian, accompanying the "First List of Books Desired by the National Library, Vittorio Emanuele, in Rome," and handwritten copies of official correspondence pertaining to the Italians' earnest efforts to replenish the depleted store of volumes in the public libraries throughout the nation
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14. A bound copy of an essay describing the beauty of Florence, written by Maria Elena Casella in Rome 1945

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1.a Letters written to Robert Meyer Jr. by Dr. Maria Elena Casella

Scope and Contents

Casella was an Italian librarian with whom Meyer became acquainted in Rome during July 1944 while he was a correspondent for the Mediterranean edition of The Stars and Stripes. Some pages of the letters were misplaced or lost at the time of donation.
box 2

3a. A program for a series of ballet performances at the Elasseo Theatre, Rome 1944 October 20-November 11

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4a. Images of Italy, published by the Italgeo Publishing Co., Milan, in 1945

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5a. Thirteen etchings, twelve of which represent the months of the year.

Scope and Contents

Given to Robert Meyer Jr. in Italy in 1944 or 1945
box 2

6a. Four bookmarks, a calendar for 1945, and six colored drawings of Italian provincial costume 1944-1945

Scope and Contents

All items created by Anna Maria Borgia, a sixteen-year-old Roman art student. They were part of a project an American soldier suggested to Miss Borgia and her mother when he became acquainted with them through an Italian friend who was concerned about their dire economic plight. Mrs Borgia's husband and Anna Maria's father was a prisoner of war. The couple's other children were Marco and Germana, who were then age twelve and age six respectively. When the GI learned that the Borgias had no income, and that Anna Maria was a competent illustrator, he asked her to design some inexpensive authentic Italian souvenirs which might be sold at the Post Exchange operated by the United States Army.
The Borgias liked the idea very much and began their own "casa" industry in earnest soon after the American started providing them with varicolored cardboard, paper and string discarded by fellow soldiers in his unit. PX officials welcomed the low-priced handmade mementos, displayed them at the store in Rome, then turned over to Miss Borgia all the money received. One day while browsing in a Roman flea market the American soldier saw an antique belt made of metal disks linked with flexible rings. That inspired him to design a contemporary female fashion accessory: a belt made of decorated lightweight wood and cord. He used wooden rectangles 1½" x 2" and twine. Anna Maria Borgia drew people or places on paper, then pasted them to the tiny panels that Marco had cut from scraps of plywood contributed by officers of a nearby U.S. Army glider base. Mrs. Borgia and Germana sorted and braided the string with which they joined half-a-dozen miniature paintings to form the belts. To emphasize the Italian origin of the souvenirs Anna Maria Borgia usually worked with red and green paint on white paper, and selected red and green cord for connections; but some belts were limited to single hues to complement the wearer's costume. The belts wee sold at the PX for 500 lire ($5)