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Blue (Sylvester Thomas) Photograph Album and Correspondence
Related to World War II in China
photCL 711
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Sylvester Thomas Blue photograph album and correspondence related to World War II
in China
Creator:
Blue, Sylvester Thomas, 1919-1969
Identifier/Call Number: photCL 711
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1939-1945
Abstract: A photograph album and letters
documenting the experiences of an American serviceman stationed in China during World War
II.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Sylvester Thomas Blue photograph album and correspondence related
to World War II in China, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Stephen Thomas Blue and Teri Lynn Blue, May 2023.
Sylvester Thomas "Bud" Blue (1919-1969) served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a private and
automobile mechanic in Company B First Battalion, Fourth Marines, in Shanghai, China.
A photograph album and letters documenting the experiences of Sylvester Thomas "Bud" Blue,
a private in the United States Marine Corps, in Shanghai, China, during World War II. The
album contains 127 photographs: personal snapshots, photo booth portraits, commercially-made
photographs, and a few photographic postcards of Shanghai. The album has no writing and
people are not identified. Subjects include American and Chinese soldiers; images of war
dead and destruction in Shanghai; a military parade; portraits of American and Chinese
women; and scenes of soldiers drilling and at leisure. A few images show prominent figures
such as Chiang Kai-shek and Soong May-ling, and other military scenes in Shanghai.
Accompanying the album are nine letters from Blue to his parents in Danville, Illinois,
posted from Shanghai and elsewhere between 1939 and 1945. One letter includes a newspaper
clipping noting Blue and other soldiers being sent to the Fourth Marines in China.
Processed by Suzanne Oatey in November 2023.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
China -- History -- 1937-1945
China -- Photographs
Shanghai (China) -- Description and travel
Soldiers -- China
United States -- Armed Forces -- China -- History -- 20th
century
United States -- Foreign relations --
China
World War, 1939-1945
Letters (correspondence)
Photograph albums
Photographs