Ruth E. Curtis Letters

This collection has not yet been digitized.

https://uncg.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/591

Seven letters from Ruth Curtis to her family in Springfield, Massachusetts; that trace her travels to India in late 1945 and early 1946 and her service with the Red Cross in the China-India-Burma theater during World War II. Curtis provides extensive descriptions of her surroundings and social life on the ships as well as at both hospitals in India. Specific subjects include the separation of women and men on the USS General Muir; the large hospital complex near Ledo; her observations on the native Indian people that she encountered; her Red Cross uniform; the administration of Red Cross workers in India; Indian tea gardens; and her travels along the Ledo Road and Pangsau Pass on the India-Burma border. Of particular note is Curtis's excursion to an elephant camp and her description of elephants moving logs onto flat cars. Also included is one photograph of Curtis.

Ruth Curtis served with the American Red Cross in the China-India-Burma theater during World War II. She sailed on the United StatesS General Muir to Calcutta in October 1945. She worked out of the 20th General Hospital near Ledo, Assam, India, and out of the 234th General Hospital in Chabua, Assam, India, as assistant field director for the next several months. She left Calcutta on the United StatesS General Patrick in late December, and by March 1946 had arrived in the United Kingdom. Curtis visited London, Southampton, and Edinburgh before embarking on her return to the United States.

Women's History
Military

Red Cross

World War II era (1940-1946)

World War, 1939-1945
American Red Cross

Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries