Reuben L. and Marcionella V. Curtiss papers

The Reuben L. and Marcionella V. Curtiss Papers consist mainly of correspondence between Mr. and Mrs. Curtiss during their service in the United States Army in the Second World War. Mr. Curtiss wrote his letters mainly from army posts in the United States (September 1942-July 1943) and from India and China (August 1943-June 1945). Mrs. Curtiss wrote her letters from Milford, Connecticut (September-November 1942), from army posts in the United States (December 1942-June 1944), and from Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines (June 1944-June 1945). The correspondence is most valuable for its descriptions and criticisms of army life and of the people and customs of the places in which the Curtisses were stationed. There is also a diary kept by Mr. Curtiss between February 1944 and December 1945.

The essential biographical source is a 3000-word letter that Mrs. Curtiss (now married to Leland Smith) wrote in February 1979 at the invitation of this department. It is boxed at the beginning of the papers. It not only provides information about parentage, schooling, employment, and the like, but also creates a vivid and moving impression of "Curt & Marcy - Their Life Together." This letter is essential to a full appreciation of the papers. For quick reference, however, please see the chronology selected from it in the Biographical Sketch above.