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Sammie M. Rice Papers, 1942-1950
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DESCRIPTION: Lt. Sammie Rice was among the first
African American nurses to serve in an overseas theater during World War
II, arriving in Liberia in March 1943. She was also the first African
American nurse from South Carolina to be sent overseas in WWII. Most of
this collection consists of letters written home to Lt. Rice's sister in
1943, but there are also letters written to Lt. Rice by friends and family. This collection begins with a letter from the
Presbyterian National Board of Missionaries, an organization Lt. Rice was
involved with, wishing her luck on her enlistment in the Army Nurse Corps
(July 24, 1942). She was then stationed to Fort Bragg, NC in August of
1942 where she remained very busy, unable even to return home to South
Carolina for Thanksgiving Lt. Rice began her service in Liberia working as a nurse
in the Officers ward of the Army hospital. Overall, she was very excited
about her new assignment, despite contracting Malaria on at least two
occasions and suffering an ankle injury that would plague her for the rest
of her tour. “I wish that everybody I know could see the
things I have seen,” she writes on March 16. In particular, she found
the native people fascinating and especially enjoyed the dances they
performed. By November of 1943 Lt. Rice was transferred to Northern Africa,
and in late January 1944 she had returned to the United States where she
was stationed at Camp Livingston, LA. Also included in the collection are many letters from family and friends written to Lt. Rice during her service. Especially interesting are a series of letters from her suitor, Lt. W.T. Briscoe, who was serving in Tennessee and Georgia. They reveal the many difficulties reassignments and travel placed upon their relationship. It is obvious from his early letters that Lt. Briscoe possesses a tremendous amount of affection for Lt. Rice. "May St. Christopher spread his protecting arms around you," he writes in March of 1943, "and set you in of the new horizon." Her reassignment to Liberia, however, interferes with their once frequent correspondence. While we do not have a record of Lt. Rice's letters to Lt. Briscoe, his letters to her turn progressively plaintive and disappointed. In a letter in December of the same year, he notices that she has "not opened up any lately" and wonders if she has her heart set on someone else. The correspondence stops abruptly in February of 1944 with their relationship apparently over. The other letters are from various family members and other suitors (there appear to have been many), many of whom were proud that she was having the opportunity to serve her country in Africa. "I can hardly wait to get the low down on Africa -- how is it over there?" asks a friend serving in Florida. "Well, they really won't get a chance to say that you did not get a chance to go back home (smile)." Also included is a letter written to Lt. Rice in December of 1946 from a family she apparently lived with in England. It provides a vivid portrait of the ways one English family was adjusting to a new social and political landscape after the war. |
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Last updated Tuesday July 08 2008. The information and/or photographs on this page are not to be republished or reproduced in any format without written consent of Jackson Library, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. All rights reserved. |
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