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Robb (James M.) Collection
SC0652
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Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: James M. Robb collection
Identifier/Call Number: SC0652
Physical Description:
1.75 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1938-2008
Summary: This collection
includes typescripts of James M. Robb's manuscript "Carry On" written while he was a patient
at the Bilibid prison-hospital in the Philippines during World War II; correspondence from
his parents' efforts to locate the manuscript, 1946-48; reports and documents pertaining to
Japanese treatment of Philippine prisoners of war, especially the "Hell Ships" that
transported POWs to Japan; resources collected by his sister Marion Robb about the history
of POWs in the Philippines with related correspondence, 1980-98; and additional family
materials from his daughters Jannis Robb Garred and Allison Robb Marks, including a letter
(photocopied) from James M. Robb to his wife, 1938.
Language of Material:
English .
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Gift of Marion Robb, 2002; additional materials from Jannis R. Garred and Allison R. Marks,
2008.
This collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must
be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent is given on behalf of Special
Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright
owner, heir(s) or assigns. See:
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of
digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
James M. Robb Collection (SC0652). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives,
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
James M. Robb earned his A.B. in political science at Stanford in 1931 and his law degree
in 1934. He worked for three years with the Oakland Title Company before returning to Manila
in 1937, where he joined the law firm of DeWitt, Perkins and Ponce Enrile. When World War II
broke out, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a first lieutenant in the Quartermaster
Department during the siege of Bataan. He survived the Bataan death march and several POW
camps in the Philippines, but died at sea in January 1945 while being transported with other
POWs to Japan. Robb worked on a book detailing wartime conditions in the Philippines and the
POW camps while he was a patient at the Bilibid prison-hospital; the manuscript was buried
for safekeeping and retrieved when American troops liberated the Philippines.
This collection includes typescripts of James M. Robb's manuscript "Carry On" written while
he was a patient at the Bilibid prison-hospital in the Philippines during World War II;
correspondence from his parents' efforts to locate the manuscript, 1946-48; reports and
documents pertaining to Japanese treatment of Philippine prisoners of war, especially the
"Hell Ships" that transported POWs to Japan; resources collected by his sister Marion Robb
about the history of POWs in the Philippines with related correspondence, 1980-98; and
additional family materials from his daughters Jannis Robb Garred and Allison Robb Marks,
including a letter (photocopied) from James M. Robb to his wife, 1938.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Japanese.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- Philippines.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Philippines.