Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/vhp.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2015655446
In English.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
Arranged in two series: Manuscripts and Photographs.
Manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by type of material. Correspondence subseries is divided into three parts in order to maintain the donor’s arrangement: letters from Heuisler to her family (MS04); letter to Heuisler (MS05); letters removed from scrapbook (MS20) and arranged chronologically (MS06).
Photographs PH04-PH12 removed from scrapbook (MS20), original order retained. Photographs PH13-PH98 removed from photo album, original order retained.
Accessioned, 2011.
A road map of Northern France with dates and routes noted by Heuisler has been transferred to the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress. https://lccn.loc.gov/2012588623
Duplication of collection materials may be restricted.
Collection is open for research; access restrictions apply. To request collection materials, please contact the Veterans History Project at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/vhp.contact
Katharine Louise Heuisler Collection (AFC/2001/001/76950), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
Katharine Louise Heuisler was born January 13, 1911, in Baltimore, Maryland, the eighth child of Hildegarde Gardiner and Philip Ignatius Heuisler, who was president and chairman of Emerson Drug Company, and president of Maryland Glass. Heuisler was reared in Catonsville, Maryland, attended the Eden Hall Convent of the Sacred Heart School in Philadelphia, and in 1929, graduated from the Roland Park Country School in Baltimore.
At the outbreak of World War II, Heuisler was working for Piper & Hill Real Estate Company in Baltimore. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, she volunteered for the local Red Cross, driving trucks between military bases at night, and worked on the military radio assembly line at the Bendix Corporation in Towson, Maryland, during the day.
In late 1942, Heuisler volunteered for overseas service with the American Red Cross, and in May 1943, she sailed to Scotland aboard the Queen Elizabeth. Heuisler served as a Clubmobile captain, dispensing coffee and doughnuts to thousands of troops in England, France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland. After the war in Europe ended, she returned to Baltimore, but was soon asked to join the Red Cross in the Pacific. She spent six months on Okinawa as a club director, providing recreation services to Army and Navy personnel.
Following the war, Heuisler returned to Baltimore, where she was the proprietor of the Katharine Heuisler Dress Shop from 1946-1964. She remained a devoted Red Cross volunteer and donor. She died on November 30, 1994, in Baltimore.
The Katharine Louise Heuisler Collection consists of civilian papers, clippings, correspondence, creative works, a memoir, printed matter, regimental/unit histories, a transcript and photographs, documenting Heuisler’s work with the Red Cross in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. The bulk of the collection consists of letters written by Heuisler to her family and friends while she was overseas, 1943-1945. Topics covered include: Red Cross training; travel to Europe; living conditions in England, including food, housing and uniforms; duties as a Clubmobile crew member, including driving, making doughnuts, and providing refreshments to soldiers; concentration camps; Germany’s surrender; return to the United States; opening of a club on Okinawa; and recreation.
Photographs depict Heuisler at work and during time off, fellow Red Cross workers, US and foreign military personnel, and Red Cross equipment and supplies.
Catalog Record: http://lccn.loc.gov/2015655446
MS11: Fleet Christmas Club Report [1945].
MS13: American Red Cross press release (undated).
MS14: Memo from Heuisler to American Red Cross Club and Recreation Department, Opening of Kin Do Club (undated).
MS01: Includes press coverage of Heuisler's service in the American Red Cross, contemporary article about Okinawa, obituary.
MS04: Correspondence from Heuisler to family and friends, and from American Red Cross to Heuisler's mother. Topics covered include: Arrival overseas, concentration camps, German surrender, return to the United States, and opening of club on Okinawa.
MS05: Correspondence to Heuisler from Office of the Commanding General of Headquarters XIII Corps, inviting her to dinner with General Gillem.
MS06: Correspondence from Heuisler to her mother, aunt Becky, sisters Marie and Mikey, and friend Sue. Topics covered include: Red Cross training; travel to Europe; living conditions in England, including food, housing and uniforms; duties as a Clubmobile crew member, including driving, making doughnuts, and providing refreshments to soldiers; recreation.
MS06 continued
MS07: Application for a date with a Seabee.
MS08: Drawing depicting an intoxicated officer encountering the enemy.
MS10: Clubmobile life and activities, author unknown.
MS15: Hot Springs fountain tourist brochure, Liège, France (1939).
MS16: Okinawa, American Red Cross photo book [1946].
MS22: Postcard, Bad Harzburg Kasino (undated).
MS17: "The Road to Germany: The Story of the 5th Armored Division."
MS18: "Fourth Cavalry."
MS19: "Mission Accomplished: The Story of the Campaigns of the VII Corps United States Army in the War Against Germany, 1944-1945."
MS21: Baltimore Sunpapers Christmas Broadcast.
MS20: Copy of scrapbook containing letters, clippings, photos.
PH01-PH99: Heuisler at work and during time off, fellow Red Cross workers, US and foreign military personnel, and Red Cross equipment and supplies.
MS02: "The Sinker" American Red Cross Clubmobiler newsletter.
MS03: "The Puebla News" newsletter.
MS06