Scope and Contents: The Luther Nelson Collection consists of correspondence, newspapers (including clippings), a diary, a lithographic print, ephemera, a passport, and photographs relating to Nelson’s service with the American Red Cross, American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly-sur-Seine, and Section Saitaire Americaine No. 5 (SSU 5) of the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps.
The correspondence spans the years 1916-1917 and documents Nelson’s service in the war, including his brief time spent with the American Red Cross and his time spent driving an ambulance at the Verdun front. Correspondents include family members (including his father, sister Selma, and brother Julius), the American Red Cross, and U.S. Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, who wrote a letter of recommendation concerning Nelson’s qualifications to serve with the American Ambulance Hospital in Paris.
The clippings span the years 1916-1917, represent national publications (such as the New York Times) and local Minnesota periodicals (such as the Northfield News and the Murray County Herald), and consist of articles about Nelson, including published versions of selected correspondence from Nelson to his family about Verdun.
Nelson’s unbound diary dates from September 1, 1916 to February 28, 1917, and provides his personal account of the Verdun front and his service as an ambulance driver with the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps.
Other material includes a lithographic print (entitled “A Day in the American Ambulance”), a postcard, train ticket, an AFS “General Orders” broadside (all from 1916), a printed tribute to Richard Norton (August 4, 1918), and approximately 263 small photographic prints and two sleeved negatives that document Nelson’s service in SSU 5 of the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps (1916-1917). The photographs depict landscapes, trenches, aerial views, SSU 5 ambulance drivers attending to the wounded, SSU 5 members posed in front of their ambulances, German prisoners of war, and the war-torn areas surrounding the Verdun front.