By Ashley Levine
Title: Lawrence B. Cummings Collection, 1916-1917
ID: RG1/034
Creator: Cummings, Lawrence B. (Lawrence Belding) (b. 1881)
Extent: 0.87 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Lawrence B. Cummings Collection is partially processed. Boxes 1 and 2 contain the two bound photographic albums. The diaries, memorabilia, loose album pages, and personal effects in Box 2 are arranged by size. One folder of loose album pages is arranged numerically, according to a partial inventory created by former AFS Archives staff, and is a continuation of the photographs housed in Boxes 1 and 2.
Lawrence B. Cummings was an ambulance driver with Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) 3 and 4 of the American Field Service (AFS) during World War I. The Lawrence B. Cummings Collection consists of photographic albums, diaries, and personal effects that document his time with AFS from August 6, 1916 to February 6, 1917.
The Lawrence B. Cummings Collection consists of two bound photographic albums, two folders of loose album pages, two diaries, and personal effects that document Cummings’s service with the American Field Service (AFS.) The bound albums and loose album pages date from September 1916 to February 1917, and depict AFS drivers in Section Sanitaire [Etats-] Unis (SSU) 3 and 4 posed in front of their ambulances, as well as images of camp life, landscapes, field hospitals, and battlefield fortifications and destruction on the Verdun and Argonne fronts. The majority of the photographs in the collection were taken by Lawrence Cummings and fellow SSU 4 ambulance driver Eric Fowler. The loose album pages also include official French Army photographs that portray camp life, soldiers, and battlefield scenes on the Verdun front.
The collection also contains two diaries. The first diary, dated September 15-December 2, 1916, begins with Cummings’s motivations for joining AFS. The second diary, dated December 23, 1916-August 13, 1917, ends with his motivations for entering the U.S. Army after the U.S. joined the war in 1917. Both diaries are written to his two sons and consequently he gives a vivid picture of his work, his environment, living conditions, responsibilities, and detailed descriptions of his fellow drivers. He includes descriptions of trenches, troop movements, AFS unit movements, care given the wounded, aspects of wartime society and civilian behavior, and his response to his work and things he saw during his service. The diaries contain indexes of names and subjects, as well as page numbers that are a later addition. Cummings’s diaries compliment the collection’s photographic material through his descriptions of the battlefields and destruction along the Argonne and Verdun fronts.
The collection also contains personal effects, including the Daily Mail (a British newspaper dated May 23, 1917), wrapping paperthat formerly covered an Indianapolis Ambulance Plaque (undated), and a postcard detailing the discovery of the plaque (dated August 1, 1917.)
Alternate Extent Statement: 3 boxes
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.Digital copies of the diaries and inserts can be accessed through the online finding aid. Researchers must consult the digital copies first; permission to access original items is required in advance. Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material. The loose album pages are particularly fragile, and permission to access them is required by the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs 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 of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: This collection 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.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; Lawrence B. Cummings 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 photographs were partially inventoried by Eleanora Golobic in 1990. Preliminary finding aid written by Ashley Levine and encoded in EAD by Nicole Milano in July 2011. Digitized items added and finding aid updated by Shirra Rockwood in September 2016.
