Mary Frances Goldmann Klein papers

The papers of Mary Frances Goldmann Klein document the life of a private, sergeant and an officer in the Women's Army Corps during and immediately after World War II. Consisting primarily of scrapbooks of correspondence and photographs, most of which were sent to her parents in Toledo, the collection covers in detail basic and officers' training, her recruiting work in Louisiana and Texas with impressions of those states and people, and her assignments in England, France, and Germany. Ms. Klein's correspondence, augmented by photos, gives and impressionistic and sympathetic analysis of the conditions surrounding her in each country, including her views on the landscape, the destruction in the cities, the people, their attitudes and morale level, the repatriates to France, VE Day in Paris, and VJ Day, the survivors (including Jews), the black market, prostitution, and other aspects of the War's aftermath in occupied Germany. Because of censorship, details of work assignments could not be included.

She also writes at considerable length of the people around her in the service and the deep friendships she makes in the intense atmosphere of wartime, the entertainment they create for themselves to relieve the constant tensions, their emotions, their fears, and their excitement.

The collection is a most valuable addition to the Women's Studies Archives as it pictures the war through the very observant and compassionate eyes of a woman in the service. It also is extremely useful for its sensitive portrayal of the United States, England, France, and Germany during World War II.