By Nathasha Alvarez and Nicole Milano
Title: Charles J. Farley Collection, 1900-1921
Predominant Dates:1916-1918
ID: RG1/056
Creator: Farley, Charles J. (Charles Judd) (1891-1965)
Extent: 3.52 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The folders are arranged alphabetically by genre.
Charles Judd Farley served as an ambulance and camion driver with the American Field Service (AFS) and United States Motor Transport Corps (U.S.M.T.C.) during World War I. The Charles Judd Farley Collection includes papers and photographs related to his time with the AFS and U.S.M.T.C., including photographs, material transport orders, memoranda, correspondence, maps, newspapers, ephemera, promotional material, memorabilia, and wartime literature.
The Charles J. Farley Collection includes papers, photographs, and memorabilia related to his time as an ambulance and camion driver with the American Field Service (AFS) and United States Motor Transport Corps (U.S.M.T.C.) during World War I. The collection contains wartime material, including official material transport orders and memoranda for the U.S.M.T.C. camion units, Farley’s identification card for the American Ambulance Service issued by the French Ministry of War (which includes a passport-sized photograph), clippings and full editions of American and French newspapers, French city maps (including Verdun, Meaux, and a wartime map of Paris with handwritten notations), wartime literature (including a Red Cross magazine, church sermon, pamphlet of poems, a graphic novel documenting the war titled Fragments from France: Part Five), and a bilingual booklet titled "Inter-Allied Rulings on Mechanical Transport Service" from 1918), and AFS promotional material.
In addition to the papers, the collection includes a photographic postcard (5.25” x 3.5”) captioned and sent to Farley by a female friend during the war , as well as five black and white photographic prints (2” x 3”), including two prints of Farley with his camion, and three unidentified images from the war.
The collection also includes several items of memorabilia related to his wartime service, including: two bracelets, each inscribed with his AFS unit number and “Ambulance Américaine”, one of which has charms attached; a cotton armband with a red cross, stamped "Ministère de la Guerre"; a cotton stocking, possibly a wound stocking or a cast protector for a leg; and one trunk with C.J. Farley’s name, “Ambulance Américaine”, and SSU 9 written on it.
While the bulk of the collection was created during World War I, the collection also includes a map showing the United States exhibition sections at the Paris World’s Fair in 1900, as well as post-war correspondence related to medals awarded by the American Field Service and the French Ministry of War.
Alternate Extent Statement: 3 boxes
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Cotton gloves are required for the handling of all photographic material. Newspaper clippings are fragile and should be handled with care, and permission to access the oversize maps should be acquired 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 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 an unknown donor at an unknown date. Two collection accruals were donated in 2016 and 2017 by members of the Farley family.
Appraisal Information: No items were deaccessioned, separated, or removed from the collection.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; Charles J. Farley 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 and Nicole Milano in 2017. Finding aid written and encoded in EAD by Nathasha Alvarez in February 2012 and updated by Nicole Milano in November 2017.
