By Johnamarie Macias and Nicole Milano
Title: Norman C. Kunkel Collection, ca. 1943-1993
Predominant Dates:1943-1945
ID: RG2/019
Creator: Kunkel, Norman C.
Extent: 0.6 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: This collection is partially processed. The papers in Box 1 are arranged by size, and the musette bag and 35mm slides are stored by size in Box 2.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2006
Languages: English
Educator Norman Clyde Kunkel (1918-2009) was an American Field Service (AFS) ambulance driver during World War II. The Norman C. Kunkel Collection contains a type-written transcript of his diary and photographs documenting his engagement with the American Field Service (AFS) from 1943 to 1945.
The Norman C. Kunkel Collection contains an unbound typewritten transcription of his wartime diary, which documents his engagement with the American Field Service (AFS) from July 29, 1943 to August 5, 1945. The daily entries record Kunkel’s routine activities, personal experiences as an ambulance driver, general war conditions, and assignments across India, Burma, Italy, and Germany. The collection also includes photographs (were reproduced on standard computer paper), a transcription of the Holocaust educational program in 1993 (produced in collaboration with his wife, Georgie Kunkel), a musette bag (which he carried throughout the war), and 35mm black and white slides reproduced from photographs at the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs that record his service in India-Burma from 1943-1944 and Belgium-Germany in 1945 (which were used in a presentation given by Kunkel.)
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 Archives. In the event that this research becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required. The Kunkel family and their heirs own the coypright to the diary. Researchers are responsible for determining any other copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: The Norman C. Kunkel Collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by Norman C. Kunkel in three accessions: the first on May 3, 1988, the second in 1993, and the third on July 17, 2006.
Appraisal Information: A copy of Norman and Georgie Kunkel’s book, entitled WWII Liberator’s Life: AFS Ambulance Driver Chooses Peace (Bright Kunkel Books, 2006) was removed from this collection and added to the AFS Library. For questions about accessing the book, please contact the AFS Archives.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; Norman C. Kunkel 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 Johnamarie Macias in April 2011. Preliminary finding aid written by Johnamarie Macias and Nicole Milano in 2011 and encoded in EAD by Nicole Milano in April 2011 under the scope of the 2010-2011 Basic Processing grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
