Preliminary Inventory to the Robert Eugene Meyer collection
Finding aid prepared by The Hoover Institution Library and Archives staff
Hoover Institution Library and Archives
© 2001
434 Galvez Mall
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003
hoover-library-archives@stanford.edu
Title: Robert Eugene Meyer collection
Date (inclusive): 1944-1969
Collection Number: 71001
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2 manuscript boxes
(0.8 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Writings, correspondence, printed matter, photographs, and miscellanea, relating to the history of air bases in the U.S. and
to miscellaneous subjects regarding Italy.
source:
Meyer, Robert, 1911-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1976.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Robert Eugene Meyer Collection, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Aeronautics -- United States
Italy
United States. Air Force
Meyer, Robert, 1911-
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
box 2
3. Thirteen colored caricatures drawn in North Africa
1943
box 2
4. Some 175 views of Italy printed before or during World War II
box 2
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
box 2
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
box 2
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
box 2
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
box 2
14. A bound copy of an essay describing the beauty of Florence, written by Maria Elena Casella in Rome
1945
box 2
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
box 2
4a.
Images of Italy, published by the Italgeo Publishing Co., Milan, in
1945
box 2
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)