Ashley W. Olmsted Collection, ca. 1917-1960
| Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs
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Abstract
Administrative/Biographical History
Ashley Williams Olmsted was born on October 6, 1915, in Buffalo, New York, to George William Olmsted and Olive Reed Eames. Olmsted attended the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, and later graduated from Yale University with the Class of 1938.
Olmsted worked as a dispatcher for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation in Buffalo, New York, before applying to become an ambulance driver with the American Field Service (AFS) in December 1942. Olmsted’s family had been involved with AFS during the First World War as well, when his parents donated an ambulance that was used for an AFS section on the French front. The local draft board approved Olmsted’s service with AFS in January 1943 and he departed from New York in April and arrived in Bombay, India, in July 1943. He was posted to the British 14th Army in December 1943 and unit IB 1 in August 1945 during the Burma Campaign. During his service with AFS he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant in August 1944, lieutenant in January 1945, and captain in August 1945. Olmsted was repatriated to the United States in January 1946, and was decorated with the 1939-1945 Star and the Burma Star for his service with AFS during the war.
Following the war, Olmsted joined the faculty of Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut, where he taught English and History. He was the faculty advisor for the student newspaper and the annual literary magazine, the Martlet. Olmsted also served as head of the Westminster Dramatic Association, where he directed several plays. He retired from Westminster School in 1975 and contributed several gifts to the academic theatrical community, including the Gilman Music Scholarship Fund and the Faculty Wives Fund for Dramat, a fund dedicated to the faculty wives who assisted with theater productions. His final bequest to the school was a gift for the lighting department in the Werner Centennial Center Theater.
Ashley Williams Olmsted died in Simsbury, Connecticut on September 18, 2005, at age 89.
Subjects (links to similar collections) Administrative Information
The Ashley W. Olmsted Collection consists of correspondence and official papers documenting his application process with the American Field Service (AFS), correspondence from AFS that was sent to Olmsted’s family during the war, a leather portfolio that was likely carried by Olmsted during the war (containing documents formerly stored inside the portfolio, including promotion notices, ribbons, and his Geneva card and license), a scrapbook created by Olmsted in 1950 (which contains papers and items from the war, including a loose movement order and letter of service which were formerly stored in between the front cover and first page), and post-war AFS student exchange program newsletters (1953-1960.) The collection also includes documents and correspondence from AFS to Olmsted’s family during the First World War, including a newsletter from the Buffalo Unit Ambulance Committee, an AFS Bulletin and report, and a letter from Stephen Galatti thanking Mr. and Mrs. George W. Olmsted for donating ambulance No. 612 (1917.)
The collection also contains a significant amount of artifacts, including military uniforms and apparel, a netted tent, visor cap, garrison cap, white canvas belt, leather belt, and insignia, buttons, patches, and other memorabilia related to his service as an ambulance driver. The memorabilia also includes a post-war AFS Stephen Galatti Heritage Society award, which was presented to Olmsted or his family at an unknown date.