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WOMEN VETERANS HISTORICAL COLLECTION |
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Marcelle Fischer Papers, 1935-1961, 1990
#WV-0253
Name: Fischer, Marcelle K. Branch: WAAC, Air-Wac Served: 1942-1945
ACQUISITION: Acquired from Fischer's niece in April 2002
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DESCRIPTION: Marcelle Fischer had already held several jobs, one with the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, when she decided to enlist in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. In an essay entitled "Last Will and Testament" of 1942, she attributed her reasons for joining not only to a quest for adventure and travel but also to an intense patriotism, acquired from the example of male ancestors who served in previous American wars.
Fischer received her basic training at the 1st WAAC Training Center at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and completing that, had some advanced training in army administration at University, also in Des Moines. This collection of letters, written mostly by Fischer to her parents in Skokie, Illinois, follows Fischer from Fort Des Moines to Fort Custer, Michigan, to Rapid City Army Air Base in South Dakota, then finally to Ft. McPherson, Georgia, where she eventually left the army in November of 1945. In these letters, Fischer discussed her work, which involved handling technical manuals and teaching office work to male soldiers. She also discussed other features of WAC life, such as life in a barracks, dating, going on outings with other WACs, as well as feelings regarding her contribution to the war effort and her desire for advancement in the WAC. This group of letters also includes correspondence from male soldiers, both stateside and overseas, and correspondence from WAC friends, such as Mildred Estabrook, who was stationed in Europe in 1945. Another friend, Ruth Tamayo, wrote letters to Fischer from 1950-1953, first from her posts in Germany and later in Japan. The bulk of her correspondence to Fischer is religious in nature, most of it concentrating on mysteries such as the stigmatic, Theresa Neumann, and the visions of the Virgin Mary allegedly seen by children at Heroldsbach, Germany.
After the war, Fischer went to work for the Railroad Retirement Board, until, in 1951, she decided to resume her college studies and enrolled in the Sorbonne in Paris, France. While in Europe, she began visiting flea markets, a hobby which eventually launched her into a career of dealing in antiques. While vacationing in Berlin, she, accompanied by a West German woman, attempted to make some purchases at an government-owned store in the Communist sector. Both women were apprehended and taken into custody by Russian authorities, Fischer being detained and questioned for 18 hours without food or drink.
Also included in this collection are a few artifacts, some photographs of Marcelle and her WAC friends, newspaper clippings pertaining to Fischer and WACs at her various duty stations, military papers and other miscellaneous printed items pertaining to Fischer’s time as a WAC. |
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LOCATION Women Veterans Historical Collection Papers, Printed Material, Photographs Box 1
Box 2 Correspondence, 1945-1953, 1958, n.d. Greeting Cards, ca. 1939-1945
Box 3 13th Army Training Class notebook, 1942 American Legion, miscellaneous papers, 1947-48, 1952 Art work, miscellaneous magazine, ca. 1942-1945 Graduation, Eighth Specialist Classes of the WAAC program, December 18, 1942 Identification cards and passes, miscellaneous, 1942-1948, 1960-1961 Instructional manuals (contents of binder), 1943-1944 Instructional material, miscellaneous, 1942-1945 Military papers, 1942-1945 Newspaper clippings, 1942-1944, 1951 Notes, miscellaneous, ca. 1942 Papers, nonmilitary, 1940-1952 Poems, printed material, miscellaneous, ca. 1942-1945 Railroad Retirement Board All a Board! monthly publication, 1942 Application for Promotion and Transfer, 1947 Recreational News from the Special Service Office, vol. 1, no. 7, November 16-22 [1942] Soldier’s Data Book, 1942 Souvenir printed material and publications Army War Show announcement, Soldier Field, ca. WWII Boston: Guide Right, guide to Boston for service people, 1944 Boston: A Simplified Map, ca. 1944 Des Moines’ First Century, ca. 1942 Guide to the City of Boston with Telephone Information, ca. 1942-1945 Iowa’s Capitol, 1941 Marshall
Field & Company: Officially Speaking…To WAC and Army Nurses,
uniform McGraw Kaserne Chapel bulletin, 1951 My Daily Mass Action bookmark, ca. 1942-1945 Post Chapel Services, Fort McPherson, Ga., ca. 1945 This Week in the Nation’s Capital, February 22, 1942 Washington Navy Yard Navy Day Program, October 27, 1941 "To My Heirs," by Marcelle Fischer, 1942 Tool and Safety Booklets AAF Safety, 1945 Hand Tools, 1943 United States Civil Service Commission, Report of Ratings, 1940 WAAC/WAC programs and miscellaneous printed material Be An "Air-Wac," 1943-1945 Christmas 1943, Rapid City Army Air Base Consolidated Mess, menu and program, December 25, 1943 Thanksgiving Program, Rapid City Army Air Base Consolidated Mess, menu and program, November 25, 1943 Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, Information for Applicants, 1942 WAAC – Spirit of the WAAC postcard, ca. 1942-1943 Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, Season’s Greetings postcard, 1942 Your Service in the WAC Corps, souvenir booklet, ca. 1945-1946
Box 4 WAAC 2nd
Training Regiment, Fiscal Accounting & Procurement WAAC calendar, 1943 WAAC Drill Regulations, ca. 1942-1943 WAAC Historical Background, 1943 WAAC Rules and Regulations, 1943 WAAC/WAC songs, poems, ca. 1942-1945 Photographs, WAAC/WAC, ca. 1942-1945 Photographs, portraits, ca. late 1930s-1940s Photographs, nonmilitary snapshots, ca. 1940s
WVHP Oversize Box 2 Newspapers/newsletters Fort Custer News, Vol. 2, no. 50, January 15, 1943 Fort Custer News, Vol. 2, no. 52, January 29, 1943 The News (Skokie, Illinois), Vol. 19, no. 1, January 8, 1943 The Service News (Battle Creek, Michigan) Vol. 3, no. 8, March 26, 1943 Thunderbird
(Rapid City, South Dakota Army Air Base) Vol. 1, nos. 3, 37, 42, 44-46, Thunderbird Vol. 2, nos. 8, 14-15, 18, 24-26, 31, 34-35, December 1943 – June 1944 Thunderbird Vol. 3, nos. 22-24, 27-30, March – May 1945 WAAC News: The Armygal’s Publication (Fort Des Moines, Iowa), Vol. 1, no. 31, May 15-May 22 [1943]
Articles in newspapers "House of Two Lions a Store and Museum," September 5, 1990 "The Lady’s a Soldier," Collier’s, October 10, 1942 "WAC Recalls Her Part to Support War Effort," Walworth County Week, November 11, 1990
Artifacts (Artifacts ca. 1942-45, unless otherwise noted) First Sergeant’s chevron patch (2) Second
Lieutenant insignia pin Eighty-seventh Infantry Division (golden acorn) patch Wallet, black Wallet, OD Rapid City Army Air Base letter opener Name plate – Stf. Sgt. Fischer Cotton with stenciled Marcelle K. Fischer Miniature American flag Silhouette in frame (2), n.d. |
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Last updated Thursday July 17 2008.
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