Ethel Jorgensen Stafford papers
Collection Overview
Images, postcards, clippings, and photocopies of Ethel Jorgensen Stafford, a U.S. Army nurse stationed in Germany with the 113th Evacuation Hospital in 1945. Images show war damage to German cities where Jorgensen was based, including Aachen, Viersen, Gardelegen, and Berlin. Images from Gardelegen show the bodies of concentration camp inmates killed by Germans ahead of the U.S. Army's arrival, as well as the cemetery in which they were buried. Also included are postcards of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and propaganda postcards used by the German Red Cross. Photocopies and clippings include Jorgensen's World War II identification cards, prayer books, and an article she wrote about her service in Germany.
Dates
- Creation: 1943-1951, 2008
Creator
- Stafford, Ethel Jorgensen, 1923- (Person)
Language of Material
Materials in English and German
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Copyright Notice
The nature of the College of Charleston's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. Special Collections claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Biographical Note
Ethel Jorgensen was born in 1923. She served as a nurse with the U.S. Army during World War II, attached to the 113th Evacuation Hospital of the 9th Army. After a soldier returning from the front line gave her a camera, Jorgensen used it to document her travels through Aachen, Viersen, Gardelegen, and Berlin, Germany.
In April 1945, after American soldiers arrived in Gardelegen, they discovered a barn where more than a thousand concentration camp inmates had been burned alive one day earlier. The 113th Evacuation Hospital took over a German hospital to treat survivors and others. Jorgensen photographed some of the dead in the barn, as well as other locations in Gardelegen and Berlin.
In December 1945, Jorgensen traveled to Sandefjord, Norway, to see relatives, including her grandfather, aunt, and uncle. Jorgensen eventually settled in Mauldin, South Carolina.
Extent
0.1 linear feet (2 folders)
Abstract
The collection consists of images, postcards, clippings, and photocopies of Ethel Jorgensen Stafford, a U.S. Army nurse who was stationed in Germany in 1945. Included are atrocity photographs of concentration camp victims and photographs of war damage to German cities where Jorgensen was based, including Aachen, Viersen, Gardelegen, and Berlin.
Collection Arrangement
Materials are described at the folder level.
Acquisitions Information
Materials donated in 2004 by Ethel Jorgensen Stafford.
Processing Information
Processed by Rebecca McClure, October 2011.
Source
- Stafford, Ethel Jorgensen, 1923- (Donor, Person)
Subject
- Stafford, Ethel Jorgensen, 1923- (Person)
- United States. Army (Organization)
Genre / Form
- DVDs
- Black-and-white negatives
- Black-and-white photographs
- Black-and-white slides
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Digital images
- Identity cards
- Postcards
- Prayer books
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Inventory of the Ethel Jorgensen Stafford Papers, 1943-1951,2008
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by: Rebecca McClure; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rebecca McClure
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources supported the processing of this collection and encoding of the finding aid.
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
Special Collections
College of Charleston Libraries
66 George Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424
(843) 953-8016
(843) 953-6319 (Fax)