By Julianna Monjeau
Title: Robert N. Slawson Collection, 1902-1958
Predominant Dates:1917-1919
ID: RG1/026
Creator: Slawson, Robert N. (Robert Newman) (1898-1958)
Extent: 1.05 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The folders are arranged alphabetically by topic. Some of the photographs were grouped into envelopes prior to arriving at the AFS Archives, and the original titles recorded on these envelopes have been retained in the new arrangement. Oversized documents, including seven maps and “Cartoons as Illustrated by Some of Our Boys,” are separately stored in a tube.
Robert Newman Slawson was a United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) ambulance driver during World War I. The Robert N. Slawson Collection contains loose photographs, unbound album pages, a leather-bound diary, an annotated and typewritten transcript of the diary, maps, a postcard book, an American Expeditionary Forces newspaper issue, and miscellaneous clippings relating to his service in the USAAS between 1917 and 1919.
The Robert N. Slawson Collection contains loose photographs, unbound album pages, a leather-bound diary, an annotated and typewritten transcript of the diary, maps, postcards, an American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) newspaper issue, and miscellaneous clippings relating to his service in the United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) between 1917 and 1919.
The bulk of this collection is comprised of photographic material, including over 400 numbered and unnumbered photographs, many of which appear to have been separated from photograph scrapbooks. The photographs range in size from 1 ¾” x 2 ½” to 5” x 7”and include mostly casual photographs of ambulance drivers, military personnel, civilians, and rural and urban landscapes both before and after battles. Also included are separate groupings of photographs of Slawson in uniform, the German Crown Prince and Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, and a set of photographs given to Slawson by a friend. In addition to the loose photographs, there are unbound photograph album pages containing sixty nine photographs of ambulance drivers, soldiers, civilians and landscapes.
This collection also includes a diary handwritten by Slawson from June 1917 to May 1918, which describes his daily activities during training and in active service. There are transcribed copies of the diary entries, along with photocopied documents and letters (dated between June 1917 and May 1921) sent by Slawson to his step-mother and sister Eva, which were compiled and annotated his daughter, Carolyn Slawson DeCoster. The original letters and documents are not part of this collection.
The remainder of this collection is comprised of seven oversize maps of various locations in France, clippings, a page of “Cartoons as Illustrated by Some of Our Boys,” postcards (including one Cartes Postales Detachables booklet), AEF stationary printed by the YMCA, a copy of Plane News, the newspaper of the AEF, and one typewritten copy of an undated letter.
Alternate Extent Statement: 1 box, 1 tube
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. The clippings and curling photographs in this collection are fragile and should be handled with care. Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material. Permission to access the maps and oversize cartoon should be requested in advance.
Use Restrictions: Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs. In the event that this research becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required. Any copyright vested in Carolyn DeCoster Slawson has passed to AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc.
Acquisition Method: This collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by Robert N. Slawson’s daughter, Carolyn DeCoster Slawson, in 2007 and 2012.
Appraisal Information: No items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of Item],[Date]; Robert N. Slawson Collection; Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs, New York, NY.
Processing Information: This collection was processed by Julianna C. Monjeau in 2012. Finding aid written by Julianna C. Monjeau and encoded in EAD in December 2012.
