Collection is composed of items – photographs, ephemera, V-Mail, Envelopes, photographs, keepsakes, and letters – written from Sacramentan James Hickey to his wife Dorothy Hickey during his time serving as an officer in the U.S. military in Italy during World War II.

Captain James W. Hickey, born on June 15, 1897 and dying on August 17, 1961, was a lifelong resident of Sacramento, California. Hickey was a tax attorney for the State of California's Tax Division, where he worked his way up to head the department. When the World War II broke out in Europe, Hickey enlisted as an officer to help set up provisional a government as the Allies liberated Italy. He felt it was his duty to help those who had been affected by the war providing his assistance in the manner of establishing an effective bureaucracy to stand in place of the decentralized Fascist Italian regime. Hickey was also a devout Catholic and attended mass on a regular basis while in Italy. Hickey was no stranger to civic duty. Along with his wife Dorothy and extended family, which included the famous Didion family of Sacramento, the Hickeys were active in local religious and fraternal organizations.

1 Linear Feet

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