Charles J. Farley Collection, 1900-1921
| Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs
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Arrangement
Abstract
Administrative/Biographical History
Charles Judd Farley was born on September 6, 1891, in Brighton, Massachusetts. His parents were Helen Haunani Judd and Arthur Christopher Farley, partner of the dry goods firm Farley, Harvey and Company in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Farley, often referred to as “Judd,” attended Harvard University and the State College of Washington before entering the American Field Service (AFS), a volunteer ambulance and camion service serving with the French Army in France, on October 2, 1916, at the age of 25. He served as an ambulance driver with Section Sanitaire [États-] Unis (SSU) 9 and later became Commandant Adjoint of SSU 16, making him responsible for the enforcement of orders and the maintenance of discipline within the section.
In the summer of 1917, Farley attended the French Army Officer’s School at Meaux, and then became a camion driver with the Réserve Mallet, the branch of AFS engaged in the transportation of munitions and supplies, eventually serving as Commandant Adjoint of Transport Matériel [États-] Unis (TMU) 397. When the United States (U.S.) entered the war in 1917, AFS was absorbed by the U.S. Army and ceased to exist as an independent organization. Farley subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army and rose to First Lieutenant in the camion units of the United States Motor Transport Corps.
Charles Judd Farley passed away on January 2, 1965.
Subjects (links to similar collections)American Field Service--SSU 9
American Field Service--SSU 16
American Field Service--TMU 397
American Field Service--Transport Matériel [États-] Unis (TMU)
Bracelets (jewelry)
Camion drivers
Charm bracelets
Farley, Charles J. (Charles Judd), 1891-1965
Harvard University
Section Sanitaire [États-] Unis (SSU)
United States Motor Transport Corps (U.S.M.T.C.)
World War, 1914-1918
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The Charles J. Farley Collection includes papers, photographs, and memorabilia related to his time as an ambulance and camion driver with the American Field Service (AFS) and United States Motor Transport Corps (U.S.M.T.C.) during World War I. The collection contains wartime material, including official material transport orders and memoranda for the U.S.M.T.C. camion units, Farley’s identification card for the American Ambulance Service issued by the French Ministry of War (which includes a passport-sized photograph), clippings and full editions of American and French newspapers, French city maps (including Verdun, Meaux, and a wartime map of Paris with handwritten notations), wartime literature (including a Red Cross magazine, church sermon, pamphlet of poems, a graphic novel documenting the war titled Fragments from France: Part Five), and a bilingual booklet titled "Inter-Allied Rulings on Mechanical Transport Service" from 1918), and AFS promotional material.
In addition to the papers, the collection includes a photographic postcard (5.25” x 3.5”) captioned and sent to Farley by a female friend during the war , as well as five black and white photographic prints (2” x 3”), including two prints of Farley with his camion, and three unidentified images from the war.
The collection also includes several items of memorabilia related to his wartime service, including: two bracelets, each inscribed with his AFS unit number and “Ambulance Américaine”, one of which has charms attached; a cotton armband with a red cross, stamped "Ministère de la Guerre"; a cotton stocking, possibly a wound stocking or a cast protector for a leg; and one trunk with C.J. Farley’s name, “Ambulance Américaine”, and SSU 9 written on it.
While the bulk of the collection was created during World War I, the collection also includes a map showing the United States exhibition sections at the Paris World’s Fair in 1900, as well as post-war correspondence related to medals awarded by the American Field Service and the French Ministry of War.