WORLD WAR II RED CROSS NURSE DOCUMENTS – JAPAN, FUKUOKA, KYUSHU, 1945–1946

Item #1528

A compelling selection of documents, photographs, and ephemera relating to the wartime and immediate postwar service of Theresa “Tess” Nathanson, identified as a Hospital Social Worker with the American Red Cross.

The collection opens with a letter from the American Red Cross ordering thirty-seven nurses, including Nathanson (her name marked with a red check), to report immediately to the port of embarkation at Seattle for assignment overseas, first to Honolulu. A black-and-white group photograph of fifteen unidentified nurses accompanies this early material.

Among the most striking items is a typed letter from the Office of the Mayor of New York City, dated August 6, 1945—the very day of the Hiroshima bombing—assuring Nathanson of employment upon her victorious return. By that point, the war’s outcome was certain, yet Nathanson chose not to return stateside. Instead, she remained in service during the American occupation, working at the 309th General Hospital in Fukuoka, Kyushu at least through February 1946, as shown by the final documents in the set.

The assemblage contains fourteen pieces total (photographs, letters, and official documents), housed in a modern plastic album with protective sheathing, 9 3/4” x 11 5/8”, portrait orientation. All items are well-preserved, legible, and presented in excellent condition.

A historically resonant collection, offering personal testimony to the service of American women in Japan during the last year of World War II and the transition to occupation.

Price: $350.00