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Donald Harries letters to May Dearing Nicholson

Donald Harries letters to May Dearing Nicholson

Descriptive Summary

Title: Donald Harries letters to May Dearing Nicholson
Creator: Harries, Donald Dunbar, Jr.
Inclusive Dates: 1944-1947
Language(s): English
Extent: 1.5 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Collection Number: ms3919
Repository: Hargrett Library

Collection Description

Historical Note

Donald Dunbar Harries, Jr. (b. 1921?) was the son of Charlotte and Donald Dunbar Harries, Sr. of Duluth, Minnesota. In 1944 Donald was a student in the U. S. Navy Pre-Flight School in Athens (GA) when he met May Dearing Nicholson (1926-2005), daughter of Homer K. and Josephine Nicholson of Athens (GA). He was stationed at Naval Air Stations in Memphis (TN) and Pensacola (FL) before returning to Duluth in 1946 to attend law school. A fall during his first semester left him paralyzed, although he later obtained his law degree

Scope and Content

The collection consists of correspondence, photographs and portraits, writings, and artifacts. In his letters to May Nicholson (nicknamed Midget), Donald Harries (nicknamed Rabbit) describes his pilot training as he progessses from learning to start a plane, take off, land, and finally fly cross country. The only letter from May is in 1946 when Donald writes that he is engaged to Sally in Duluth. There are photographs of May, portraits of May and her brother Homer as children, and one photograph presumably of Donald. The writings are notes on index cards about a thwarted love story between a girl and a pre-flight student. The story is apparently written hy May, but the author is listed as Dearing Mays. Artifacts are a Navy pin and bracelet inside a wooden box from Kamp Kahlert in Maryland, where May was a summer counselor.

Organization and Arrangement

Organized by format and arranged chronologically.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Donald Harries letters to May Dearing Nicholson, ms3919, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.


Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

Correspondence.
Naval aviation -- Training.
Nicholson, May Dearing, 1926-2005
United States. Navy. Pre-flight School, Athens, Ga.

Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 
boxfolder
11-12Correspondence, 1944-1947
 
113Writings- "Down But Not Out" by Dearing Mays, notes for a story about a girl and a pre-flight student
 
114Photographs- May Dearing Nicholson, Donald Harries [?]
 
box
2Framed portrait of May Dearing Nicholson as a child
 
2Framed portrait of Homer Nicholson as a child
 
2Wooden box labeled Kamp Kahlert, decorated with designs of girls doing camp activities, contains a Navy pin and bracelet, 1944
 
2Kamp Kahlert photograph album, 1944
 
2Homer Kittrell Nicholson's University of Georgia diploma, 1909 June 16