Selected Letters of the Leona Hudson Collection
The letters series of the Leona Hudson Collection is the largest part and spans in time from 1884 to 2008. The most interesting letters from a historical point of view are those from t he earliest years to the 1950’s. With correspondence from three generations, Annie Lee Hill Irvin, Rosa McCann Hill Strickland, and Leona and Dugald Hudson, these letters trace events from the global and obviously historical, such as American Missionaries in China, World War I, World War II and the Korean Conflict, to the historically personal, such as letters from Cuba on honey moon, or the first letter when Dugald begins to speak to Leona as more than a friend and distant cousin.
These letters should be of interest to military and military law historians, American history researchers, researchers in women’s studies, local historians and genealogists. To create this website we have included a small selection of letters selected from the years 1884-1957. These run the gamut from Dugald’s official journal from World War II, the invasion of Germany and his experiences liberating the concentration camp and his work at the end of the war with the Nazi war crimes trials to Annie Lee Irvin’s letters from Cuba on her honeymoon. If you want to find more letters on these and other topics, please see our catalog of the Hudson collection here Since many of these letters have been described as individual items, you should be able to easily find what you look for.
Please contact us at dsdavis@valdosta.edu.
Letters
Click on any of the following letters to view the entire letter as a pdf.
"To: Rosaline Hudson From: Annie Lee Hill January 31, 1884"
A letter from Annie Lee Hill to Rosaline Hudson detailing Annie Lee's honeymoon in Havana, Cuba.
"To: Rosa Hill From: George Hudson October 19, 1905 "
Letter from George to Rosa about his summer mission trip to China.
"To: Annie Lee Hill From: Rosa Hill October 23, 1911"
A letter from Rosa to Annie Lee Hill discussing her experiences at college in South Carolina
"To: Rosa Hill From: Rosa Strickland January 28, 1916"
A letter from Rosa to Will celebrating the first anniversary of their meeting
"To: Annie Lee Hill From: Rosa Strickland November 15, 1916"
Letter was written the day after Will & Rosa's wedding; mentions 'Birth of a Nation' the movie
"To: William Strickland From: Leona Strickland May, 1936"
Letter to her father asking how he is doing and telling him that she is excited that she will see him soon
"To: Rosa Strickland From: Annie Lee Hill September 7, 1937"
Visits from various family members; shopping trips and getting ready for school; Dugald going to luncheon at church; busy with Mary Jane being gone, Waddy may go back to China
"To: Leona From: Dugald August 10, 1944"
Dugald describes a snowball fight he had with fellow soldiers. He also describes opening his Christmas present from Leona.
"To:Leona From: Dugald November 27, 1944"
Dugald is living in a richly furnished home previously occupied by the local leader of the Nazi party. Dugald enjoys hearing about Leona’s activities and wishes he could be there.
"To: Will Strickland From: Dugald Hudson 1945"
A letter from Dugald to Leona's father Will Strickland.
"To: Leona and Dugald From: Howard Kinslaw January 26, 1945"
Four letters from the Chaplain to Dugald and Leona
"To: Leona From: Dugald May 13, 1945"
Letter is detailing how Dugald misses Leona and having to work a lot for his fellow soldiers.
"To: Leona From: Dugald August 15, 1945"
Letter is notifying Leona of V-J day.
"To: Leona From: Dugald September 5, 1945"
A letter detailing Dugald's plans for Labor Day.
"Report by Dugald on Franz Hofer, SS leader, letterhead"
Sent from Camp Shanks New York, referencing St. Die and military tactics
"To: Rosa and Will Strickland From: Leona Hudson February 2, 1952"
Letter describes Leona's trip to Munich and the people she has met while in Germany
"To: Leona Hudson From: Dugald Hudson August 20, 1957"
A letter from Dugald to Leona. Included with letter is a photo taken by a Japanese boy, of Dugald walking down a street in Tokyo, and later mailed to him.
"To: Leona From: Dugald October 13, 1957"
Letter discussing military cutbacks and the stock market.
"To: Leona From: Dugald September 24, 1957"
Letter explaining a court case where the accused was convicted of impersonation of a CID agent and larceny from the QM Warehouse; he went to a JA party at Seoul; he wants Leona to send him a harmonica “Octave G” for his Korean houseboy.
"To: Leona From: Dugald October 13, 1957"
Letter stating that he received a call from AG that he is going to be assigned to US Army Gamien? 3460, Ft. McClelland, Ala.