By Cherie Acierno and Nicole Milano
Title: Paul A. Rie Collection, 1914-1990
Predominant Dates:1917-1918
ID: RG1/023
Creator: Rie, Paul A. (Paul Alexander) (1897-1991)
Extent: 0.53 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The photographic album is arranged in chronological order, and is housed with the framed photograph in one box. The papers and memorabilia are arranged topically in folders in the other box.
Date Acquired: 00/00/1992
Paul Alexander Rie served as an ambulance driver with the American Field Service and the U.S. Army Ambulance Service during World War I. The Paul A. Rie Collection includes a photograph album, medals, badges, buttons, ribbons, dog tags, a framed photograph, identification documents, certificates and other official documents from his World War I service, as well as post-war correspondence with AFS Director General Stephen Galatti and a short memoir.
The Paul A. Rie Collection includes a photograph album, medals, badges, buttons, ribbons, dog tags, a framed photograph, identification documents, certificates and other official documents from his World War I service, as well as post-war correspondence with AFS Director General Stephen Galatti and a short memoir.
The photograph album contains prints with captions, documenting Rie’s experiences in the American Field Service (AFS) and the U.S. Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) from May 1917 to June 1918, and concluding with two Rie family portraits from July 1918. World War I images in the album include portraits, group and candid shots of men in his units, as well as ambulances, battlefields, ruins, dressing stations, and landscape views. The collection also includes a loose photographic print of Rie receiving the Croix de Guerre, the same print taped to a General Order from 1918, and the same print in a decorative frame.
In addition to the photographic material, the collection includes Rie’s Croix de Guerre citation, various identification, immigration, license, certification and transport documents from France, England, and AFS, correspondence regarding promotions, citations, and orders, correspondence with AFS Director General Stephen Galatti regarding the post-war AFS exchange programs, , and a reminiscence written by Rie in 1990 of time he spent with clamshell diggers on the Tennessee River while on family business before joining AFS in 1917.
Finally, the collection includes the following items: Rie’s Croix de Guerre, his collar badges and Sergeant sleeve insignia from the USAAS, his U.S. Army medals, ribbon bar and dog tags.
Alternate Extent Statement: 2 boxes
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material.
Use Restrictions: Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the AFS Archives. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: The collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by Suzanne Rie Taylor in 1992.
Appraisal Information: The acidic frame originally housing the Croix de Guerre certificate was removed and discarded. Any identifying information from the frame was saved in the same folder as the certificate. No other items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; Paul A. Rie Collection; Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs, New York, NY.
Processing Information: This collection was partially processed by AFS Archives staff at an unknown date and again by Cherie Acierno in 2011. Preliminary finding aid written by Cherie Acierno in April 2011 and encoded in EAD in May 2011 under the scope of the 2010-2011 Basic Processing grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
