Finding Aid for the Marie Bernadette Groves First World War correspondence 2017.383.w.r
Wendy Gonaver
Center for American War Letters Archives
8/15/19
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Marie Bernadette Groves First World War correspondence
source:
Wardlaw, Rebecca E.
Creator:
Groves, Marie Bernadette, 1895-1987
Creator:
Troutman, Kenneth Foster, Private, 1894-1968
Identifier/Call Number: 2017.383.w.r
Physical Description:
.66 Linear Feet
(14 folders)
Date (inclusive): 1917 - 1942
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence to and from Marie Bernadette Groves, an army nurse stationed in France during the
First World War. It also contains ephemera, newsletters, and photographs.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWI 15
Container: 1-14
Container: 1-14
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Rebecca E. Wardlaw on behalf of the family of Marie Bernadette Groves Troutman and Kenneth Foster Troutman
Marie Bernadette Groves (1895 - 1987) was born Mary Amanda Groves in Callahan, Colorado. Her parents divorced when she was
young. She lived with various relatives thereafter, and eventually attended a convent boarding school in Nebraska near where
her father, Augustus Pizarro Groves, lived. She was renamed Marie Bernadette at the convent. Groves attended nursing school
in Chicago before joining the Army Nursing Corps during World War I. She was stationed at Base Hospital No. 11 in Nantes,
France. One of her patients was Private Kenneth Foster Troutman (1894 - 1968) of the 110th Infantry (10th PA), who she married
in 1920. The couple had two children, Kenneth Jr. (1920 - 2006) and Mary Ellen Troutman (1923 - 1987). They lived in Chicago,
Cinncinnati, and Pittsburgh before moving to New Mexico so Marie Bernadette could be treated for tuberculosis at Ft. Bayard.
The family eventually settled in Phoenix, AZ.
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Marie Bernadette Groves First World War correspondence (2017.383.w.r), Center
for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection contains correspondence, ephemera, newsletters, and photographs. The correspondence is mostly comprised of
letters that soldiers sent to Marie Bernadette Groves, an army nurse at American Base Hospital No. 11 in Nantes, France. The
correspondence includes a few letters to and from Pvt. Kenneth F. Troutman of the 110th Infantry (10th PA), a former patient
who Groves married in 1920. A letter sent to Troutman from Becky Steward asks, "does Miss Groves still love you?" A few correspondents
refer to Groves by her childhood nickname, "Bobby."
The correspondence also includes a discharge notice for Groves and letters from Congressmen John W. Rainey of Illinois and
and L.W. Douglas of Arizona regarding medical treatment for Groves and Troutman's postwar health problems. There is also a
1918 letter sent to Groves in response to her effort to locate her brother, Private Charles J. Groves (1895 - 1918) of the
364th Infantry, who was mortally wounded during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
Ephemera includes a handwritten menu and printed invitation to a dance organized by hospital nurses; blank postcards of France
(Reim, Cap d'Antibes, and Nantes-Doulon) and Denning, New Mexico; dried flowers from Nantes; and handwritten poetry, some
of which appears to have been composed and delivered by soldiers.
There is also Kenneth Troutman's application for membership in the Engineer Club of Cincinnati and a 1919 invitation to the
Presentation of Colors by the 311th Engineers at Camp Grant in Illinois, where Groves's unit was demobilized.
Newsletters in this collection are comprised of 1929 and 1930 editions of Eleven News, a publication for nurses who served
at Base Hospital No. 11; and isues 2-4 of The Buzzard, a newsletter for British Royal Air Force and U.S. Army Air Corps pilots
stationed at Falcon Field in Arizona. Marie Bernadette (Groves) and Kenneth Troutman were active in the American Legion and
hosted dinners for the pilots.
A highlight of the collection are 94 photographs. The photos are of soldiers who were treated at Hospital No. 11 in Nantes,
Groves and her co-workers, and scenes from France. The latter include a portrait of three Senegalese soldiers in uniform and
one of a group of French orphans. Some soldiers sent photos to Groves after they had recovered with messages written on the
verso. Other portraits were taken at the hospital and depict soldiers with visible injuries.
There are also photographs of a captured German submarine being hauled into port and of a small iceberg observed from aboard
the Matagama, the ship that transported Groves across the Atlantic Ocean. In addition, there is a photo of the grave of Pvt.
Charles J. Groves. "Charley" J. Groves is buried at the San Francisco National Cemetery. Lastly, there is a class photo from
1942 of the 4th Co., 1st Reg., WAC Training Center in Des Moines, IO. Mary Ellen Troutman (1923 - 1987), daughter of Marie
Bernadette and Kenneth, joined the Women's Army Corps that year.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War (1914-1918)
World War (1914-1918) -- Hospitals.
World War (1914-1918) -- France
Correspondence -- World War, 1914-1918
Battle of the Argonne (France : 1918)
Wardlaw, Rebecca E.
Troutman, Mary Ellen
Groves, Charles J. , Private, 1895-1918