Molly Thavenet Scrapbook
Scope and Contents
The scrapbook contains correspondence, ephemera, photographs, newsletters, official military communications and records, and clippings primarily related to Thavenet's service in the WAAC and WAC, primarily with the Army Air Forces from 1943 to 1945.
The correspondence is from Thavenet to her family describing her experiences in the service. There are also letters to Thavenet from family and friends from home and fellow WACs, as well as post-war correspondence up to 1950.
Included are clippings from the Rhode Island newspaper The Westerly Sun of Thavenet's letters to the editor about her experiences stationed in Italy, as well as clippings about the WAC and other military topics.
There are also WAC song sheets, bulletins, programs for plays and religious services, including four copies from 1945 of The Coronet, the newsletter for the WACs serving with the 15th Army Air Force.
The scrapbook also includes souvenirs from her sightseeing travels around the southeastern United States in 1943 and Europe in 1945, including Rome, Venice, Capri, Pompeii, Pisa, Florence, Czechoslovakia, Palestine, and Switzerland.
Dates
- 1940-1950
Creator
- Thavenet, Molly (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.
Biographical Note
Molly Thavenet was raised in Providence, Rhode Island, and worked as a secretary at Narragansett Electric Company in Waverly, Rhode Island, before enlisting in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). Thavenet reported for basic training on 4 June 1943 at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and then was assigned to the 162nd WAC Headquarters Company, 4th WAC Transportation Company at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.
In November 1943, Thavenet was transferred to Naples, Italy, as a stenographer to the Adjutant General Personnel Section of the Production Base Support (AGPBS). In April 1944, Thavenet was transferred to the 6720 WAC Headquarters Platoon with the 15th Army Air Force in Bari, Italy, where she worked with the reassignments of combat crews.
After returning to the United States in October 1945, Thavenet was discharged from the WAC with the rank of sergeant, and moved to Providence, Rhode Island.
Extent
0.80 Linear Feet (2 manuscript boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
Method of Acquisition
Purchased in May 2008.
Offensive Language Statement
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Processing Information
Processed by Beth Ann Koelsch, February 2009.
- Thavenet, Molly
- United States -- Armed Forces -- Women
- United States. Army--Women
- United States. Army. Women's Army Corps
- Women and the military
- Women in war
- Women veterans
- Women veterans -- United States
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Female
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Women -- United States
- Title
- Molly Thavenet Scrapbook
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Beth Ann Koelsch
- Date
- 2009
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- eng
Repository Details
Part of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives Repository