Mahlon W. Davis's Diary | Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

Mahlon W. Davis's Diary

1915 March 6- July 16

Mahlon W. Davis's diary contains daily entries documenting his AFS service from March 6 to July 16, 1915. The handwritten diary entries begin on page 42; Davis apparently sent the earlier entries home (dating from January 12, 1915), and these pages are not part of the collection. The diary gives a very detailed accounting of his activities with AFS unit SSU 2, including  information about the health of his fellow drivers, ambulance repairs and upkeep, bombardments, the weather, and unit inspections. The diary includes several newspaper clippings showing trenches, and prisoners of war held by Germans, a conversation with a German prisoner, and the activities (including sounds) and aftermath of battles. In addition to the handwritten diary is a typewritten transcription of the March 16 to May 16 entries. The typed pages are not exact transcriptions; in some cases the wording is different and in other places content details from the original diary are missing. The typed and handwritten pages are collected together in a leather looseleaf binder, with the typed transcriptions appearing first. The final two pages in the diary contain notes made at a later date by an unknown person logging the names individuals mentioned in the diary. The two newspaper clippings found between the last page and back cover of the diary were scanned separately (Digital ID: 1_010_1).

Bound loose leaf notebook with 107 6" x 9.5" pages. The notebook contains a typed transcription of part of diary in front followed by the complete handwritten diary. There is an inscription on the inside cover of the notebook with the date "Jan 12-1915", Davis's name, and his address in Massachusetts. Digital description: Also available as high resolution JPEG and TIFF files.

1_010_1

Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs

Mahlon W. Davis Collection, 1915 Box 1

Photographed by staff at The Center for Jewish History, 2016

The diary and inserted clippings cannot be reproduced outside the guidelines of United States Fair Use (17 U.S.C., Section 107) without the advance permission of the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs.  In the event that these items become a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required.