By Ashley Levine
Title: Powel Fenton Collection, 1914-1975
Predominant Dates:1914-1959
ID: RG1/013
Creator: Fenton, Powel (1890-1986)
Extent: 0.73 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Powel Fenton Collection is partially processed. The papers, ephemera, memorabilia, and oversized photographs in Box 1 are arranged alphabetically by folder title. The photographic material in Box 2 is arranged numerically according to a partial inventory created by former AFS Archives staff, and includes a few folders of unnumbered, loose photographs and negatives. The crayon drawing is stored in one oversize folder.
Powel Fenton was an ambulance driver with Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) 3 of the American Field Service (AFS) during World War I, and an American Red Cross volunteer and prisoner of war during World War II. The Powel Fenton Collection consists of correspondence, memorabilia, ephemera, a crayon drawing, notebooks, a scrapbook, photographic material, and other papers documenting his service in both World Wars and his affairs after the war.
The Powel Fenton Collection consists of correspondence, memorabilia, ephemera, a scrapbook, a crayon drawing, notebooks, photographic material, and other papers spanning the years 1914-1975. His service with the American Ambulance Hospital of Paris as a Mechanical Officer in the Alsace region of France, his time as a driver with the American Field Service (AFS) independent ambulance organization, and his tenure as a First Lieutenant of the Aviation Section of the U. S. Army during the First World War is well represented in the collection. There are a large number of photographs (approximately 230) and a small number of negatives that document Fenton’s time serving in Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) 3 during World War I, and an allegorical crayon drawing of the section. Also, the scrapbook contains a series of newspaper clippings that constitute Arthur N. Davis’ The Kaiser as I Know Him (1918). This work provides a narrative of Davis’s personal relationship with Wilhelm II as his dentist of fifteen years, as well as Davis’s need to help the Allied cause. The identification cards, diary notebooks from his internment at Frontstalag 122 (written in French), American Red Cross publications, and personal correspondence documents Fenton’s time as a volunteer for the American Red Cross and prisoner of war in France during the Second World War (1939-1945.) The collection also contains personal correspondence covering Fenton’s life after the war, including one letter (dated January 19, 1975) from a fellow SSU 3 ambulance driver regarding the larger photographs in the collection.
Alternate Extent Statement: 2 boxes, 1 oversize folder
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material. The two notebooks are particularly fragile, and permission to access them is required by the AFS Archives in advance.
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. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: The Powel Fenton Collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by Mrs. A. A. Simpson, stepdaughter of Powel Fenton, in June 1987.
Appraisal Information: No items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; Powel Fenton 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 Ashley Levine in 2011. The numbered photographs were inventoried by Nancy Cricco in July 1988. Preliminary finding aid written by Ashley Levine in June 2011 and encoded in EAD by Nicole Milano in June 2011 under under the scope of the 2010-2011 Basic Processing grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
