By Nathasha Alvarez
Title: John G. Reid Collection, 1917-1935
ID: RG1/064
Creator: Reid, John G. (John Graham)
Extent: 0.2 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The folders are arranged alphabetically by genre.
Languages: English
John Graham Reid was a camion driver with the American Field Service (AFS) for six months during World War I. The John G. Reid Collection contains one letter written to Reid by Harry Howard Webb Jr., one letter from Lucy de Maine to Thomas Means, and issues of the American Field Service Bulletin and Bulletin of the AFS Association.
The John G. Reid Collection contains one letter written to Reid by Harry Howard Webb Jr., one letter from Lucy de Maine to Thomas Means, and issues of the American Field Service Bulletin and Bulletin of the AFS Association.
The letter from Webb, also a former member of Reid’s AFS camion unit (TMU 133), is dated September 11, 1918, and contains updates about other former members of TMU 133. Webb, who was with the United States Army Air Service at the time he wrote the letter, provides an account of an accident which caused him to lose his right hand, and also includes news about the death of a mutual friend, nicknamed “Grub,” in an airplane crash. The second letter in the collection was found among the Bulletin issues and is addressed from Lucy De Maine of the American Field Service Association to Thomas Means, a former camion driver in the American Field Service (TMU 526.) The letter contains De Maine’s response to the request of Means for the December 1920 Bulletin produced by the AFS Association, as part of a larger project aimed at creating a bound copy of the Bulletins. The letter also includes information on the transfer of records from the former AFS Boston office to the home of AFS Director General A. Piatt Andrew. Accompanying the letter is a small paper, presumably containing notations from Means regarding his response to De Maine.
The collection also includes seven American Field Service Bulletins and thirteen Bulletins of the AFS Association, neither of which constitutes a full run of either Bulletin. The American Field Service Bulletins are dated between September 1917 and July 1920, and were provided on a subscription basis. These Bulletins include a letter from the editor, literature submissions by subscribers (such as poetry, essays, short stories and letters from former drivers), and section updates (such as section leader promotions, rules for transfer, citations administrative notices), among other general news. The final American Field Service Bulletin includes information regarding the newly-formed American Field Service Association, including meeting minutes, officers elected, a copy of the organization’s constitution, a recapitulation of the first AFS reunion (including banquet speeches, telegrams sent and received, attendance at the reunion according to AFS unit), a list of AFS Fellowships for French Universities recipients, and personal notes regarding AFS members. The Bulletins of the American Field Service Association are dated between July 1921 and March 1935, and include information regarding AFS reunions and member milestones (including engagements, marriages, births and deaths), among other news.
Alternate Extent Statement: 1 box
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.
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 Bulletins and letter from Lucy De Maine to Thomas Means were donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by Mrs. Mary W. Russell at an unknown date. The letter from Harry Howard Webb, Jr. to John G. Reid, was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by an unknown donor at an unknown date.
Appraisal Information: No items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Related Materials: Other Bulletins for the American Field Service can be found among the records of the American Field Service in World War I, and among the records of AFS Association available in the AFS Archives. Additionally, the Thomas Means Collections contains Bulletins related to the American Field Service and AFS Association.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; John G. Reid 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 Nathasha Alvarez in 2012. Finding aid written and encoded in EAD by Nathasha Alvarez in May 2012.
