{"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Gertha+Sykes+Collins+Papers%2C+1942%2F1951\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1944","last":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog.json?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=Gertha+Sykes+Collins+Papers%2C+1942%2F1951\u0026f%5Bdate_range%5D%5B%5D=1944\u0026page=1"},"meta":{"pages":{"current_page":1,"next_page":null,"prev_page":null,"total_pages":1,"limit_value":10,"offset_value":0,"total_count":2,"first_page?":true,"last_page?":true}},"data":[{"id":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","type":"collection","attributes":{"title":"Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951","creator":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_1730#creator","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"Dansby, James","label":"Creator"}},"abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_1730#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003ePrimarily this is a collection of love letters written between 1942-1944 to Gertha Barbara Jean Sykes residing in St. Louis, Missouri and James NMI Dansby, an African-American soldier in the United States Army. 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Collins, an aircompany soldier, whom Sykes married in 1949.","The letters begin when Dansby joined the Army and started basic training in Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Initially he was a member of Company C, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion (Service), one of the many all-black units activated during the Second World War. In April of 1944, he became a member of 4060th Quartermaster Battalion. Towards the end of 1944, he was stationed to the South West Pacific Theatre and most likely spent the war in the Philippines. He was there until after World War II in Asia had ended and then spent approximately three and a half months in Japan. After his arrival to the United States in January 1946, Dansby travelled to St. Louis and then moved to Detroit, Michigan. He never met Sykes again after he had left St. Louis for basic training and their relationship ended in January of 1947.","There are no letters written during Dansby's time in the Philippines and those mailed from Japan do not contain information about the war. Nevertheless, the collection provides a good insight into a soldier's life, contains numerous examples of military censorship of correspondence, and some reactions to the Jim Crow laws in place at the time.","In addition to letters to Sykes and few letters addressed to Collins, the collection contains a certificate of marriage between Sykes and Collins, postcards issued by the War Department notifying Sykes of Dansby's assignments to new installations, and stamped envelopes accompanying almost every letter."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBefore reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.\u003c/p\u003e  "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use:"],"userestrict_tesim":["Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library."],"corpname_ssim":["Special Collections Research Center","United Service Organizations (U.S.)"],"names_coll_ssim":["United Service Organizations (U.S.)"],"persname_ssim":["Dansby, James","Collins, Benjamin D.","Collins, Gertha Sykes"],"names_ssim":["Special Collections Research Center","United Service Organizations (U.S.)","Dansby, James","Collins, Benjamin D.","Collins, Gertha Sykes"],"language_ssim":["English"],"total_component_count_is":7,"online_item_count_is":0,"component_level_isim":[0],"sort_isi":0,"timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:00:49.313Z"}]}},"label":"Breadcrumbs"}}},"links":{"self":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_1730"}},{"id":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01_c05","type":"File","attributes":{"title":"Letters, 1944","abstract_or_scope":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01_c05#abstract_or_scope","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":"\u003cp\u003eThe initial letters from 1944 were written from the same classified location in the South Pacific as the letters in the previous folder. Starting in late January, however, they were written from a new location. Dansby wrote, \"I feel better too, now that we're all back together again\" (27 January 1944) and mentioned he had been very busy since moving (29 February 1944). In addition to having been relocated, Dansby's military unit changed in April, from Co. C 262nd to 4060th. Then, in June, Dansby was awarded a \"good conduct\" medal and his letter from 26 July seems to suggest that there was a write-up about it in The Argus sometime before 15 July. The Argus (http://www.stlargus.com/) is the oldest continuous black business in the state of Missouri and one of the oldest black newspapers in America. While Dansby's letters had always been regular, period between 8 August and 12 October represents an unusually long gap. This gap was not elaborated on in the last letter of this folder from 12 October, but one learns from it that Sykes moved to Los Angeles, California; that Dansby was moved to yet another, new location; and that he was promoted to Private First Class. After 12 October, there is yet another gap in correspondence (see folder 6). In addition to letters from Dansby, the folder contains the first letter of this collection written to Sykes from a different correspondent. The correspondent's name is Jack Smith, who, like Dansby, was also a soldier in the US Army stationed in the Pacific. Smith was in an antiaircraft artillery gun battalion, Battery B 77th AAA Gun Bn (Sm). His letter is dated 30 May 1944.\u003c/p\u003e","label":"Abstract Or Scope"}},"breadcrumbs":{"id":"https://arvasarchive.org/catalog/viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01_c05#breadcrumbs","type":"document_value","attributes":{"value":{"ref_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01_c05","ref_ssm":["viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01_c05"],"id":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01_c05","ead_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","_root_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","_nest_parent_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01","parent_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01","parent_ssim":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951","Box 1"],"parent_ids_ssim":["viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","viw_repositories_2_resources_1730_c01"],"title_filing_ssi":"Letters","title_ssm":["Letters"],"title_tesim":["Letters"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Letters, 1944"],"text":["Letters, 1944","Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951","Box 1","Box 1","folder 5","The initial letters from 1944 were written from the same classified location in the South Pacific as the letters in the previous folder. Starting in late January, however, they were written from a new location. Dansby wrote, \"I feel better too, now that we're all back together again\" (27 January 1944) and mentioned he had been very busy since moving (29 February 1944). In addition to having been relocated, Dansby's military unit changed in April, from Co. C 262nd to 4060th. Then, in June, Dansby was awarded a \"good conduct\" medal and his letter from 26 July seems to suggest that there was a write-up about it in The Argus sometime before 15 July. The Argus (http://www.stlargus.com/) is the oldest continuous black business in the state of Missouri and one of the oldest black newspapers in America. While Dansby's letters had always been regular, period between 8 August and 12 October represents an unusually long gap. This gap was not elaborated on in the last letter of this folder from 12 October, but one learns from it that Sykes moved to Los Angeles, California; that Dansby was moved to yet another, new location; and that he was promoted to Private First Class. After 12 October, there is yet another gap in correspondence (see folder 6). In addition to letters from Dansby, the folder contains the first letter of this collection written to Sykes from a different correspondent. The correspondent's name is Jack Smith, who, like Dansby, was also a soldier in the US Army stationed in the Pacific. Smith was in an antiaircraft artillery gun battalion, Battery B 77th AAA Gun Bn (Sm). His letter is dated 30 May 1944."],"parent_unittitles_ssm":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951","Box 1"],"parent_unittitles_tesim":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951","Box 1"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1944"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["January - October, 1944"],"level_ssm":["File"],"level_ssim":["File"],"component_level_isim":[2],"sort_isi":6,"repository_ssim":["College of William and Mary"],"collection_ssim":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951"],"containers_ssim":["Box 1","folder 5"],"has_online_content_ssim":["false"],"child_component_count_isi":0,"parent_access_restrict_tesm":["Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility."],"parent_access_terms_tesm":["Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library."],"date_range_isim":[1944],"scopecontent_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eThe initial letters from 1944 were written from the same classified location in the South Pacific as the letters in the previous folder. Starting in late January, however, they were written from a new location. Dansby wrote, \"I feel better too, now that we're all back together again\" (27 January 1944) and mentioned he had been very busy since moving (29 February 1944). In addition to having been relocated, Dansby's military unit changed in April, from Co. C 262nd to 4060th. Then, in June, Dansby was awarded a \"good conduct\" medal and his letter from 26 July seems to suggest that there was a write-up about it in The Argus sometime before 15 July. The Argus (http://www.stlargus.com/) is the oldest continuous black business in the state of Missouri and one of the oldest black newspapers in America. While Dansby's letters had always been regular, period between 8 August and 12 October represents an unusually long gap. This gap was not elaborated on in the last letter of this folder from 12 October, but one learns from it that Sykes moved to Los Angeles, California; that Dansby was moved to yet another, new location; and that he was promoted to Private First Class. After 12 October, there is yet another gap in correspondence (see folder 6). In addition to letters from Dansby, the folder contains the first letter of this collection written to Sykes from a different correspondent. The correspondent's name is Jack Smith, who, like Dansby, was also a soldier in the US Army stationed in the Pacific. Smith was in an antiaircraft artillery gun battalion, Battery B 77th AAA Gun Bn (Sm). His letter is dated 30 May 1944.\u003c/p\u003e"],"scopecontent_heading_ssm":["Scope and Contents"],"scopecontent_tesim":["The initial letters from 1944 were written from the same classified location in the South Pacific as the letters in the previous folder. Starting in late January, however, they were written from a new location. Dansby wrote, \"I feel better too, now that we're all back together again\" (27 January 1944) and mentioned he had been very busy since moving (29 February 1944). In addition to having been relocated, Dansby's military unit changed in April, from Co. C 262nd to 4060th. Then, in June, Dansby was awarded a \"good conduct\" medal and his letter from 26 July seems to suggest that there was a write-up about it in The Argus sometime before 15 July. The Argus (http://www.stlargus.com/) is the oldest continuous black business in the state of Missouri and one of the oldest black newspapers in America. While Dansby's letters had always been regular, period between 8 August and 12 October represents an unusually long gap. This gap was not elaborated on in the last letter of this folder from 12 October, but one learns from it that Sykes moved to Los Angeles, California; that Dansby was moved to yet another, new location; and that he was promoted to Private First Class. After 12 October, there is yet another gap in correspondence (see folder 6). In addition to letters from Dansby, the folder contains the first letter of this collection written to Sykes from a different correspondent. The correspondent's name is Jack Smith, who, like Dansby, was also a soldier in the US Army stationed in the Pacific. Smith was in an antiaircraft artillery gun battalion, Battery B 77th AAA Gun Bn (Sm). His letter is dated 30 May 1944."],"_nest_path_":"/components#0/components#4","timestamp":"2026-08-14T23:00:49.313Z","collection":{"numFound":1,"start":0,"numFoundExact":true,"docs":[{"id":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","ead_ssi":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","_root_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","_nest_parent_":"viw_repositories_2_resources_1730","ead_source_url_ssi":"data/oai/WM/repositories_2_resources_1730.xml","title_filing_ssi":"Collins, Gertha Sykes, Papers","title_ssm":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers"],"title_tesim":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers"],"unitdate_ssm":["1942-1951"],"unitdate_inclusive_ssm":["1942-1951"],"normalized_date_ssm":["1942/1951"],"normalized_title_ssm":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951"],"text":["Gertha Sykes Collins Papers, 1942/1951","Mss. 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Further processed and described by Ania Leska in 2012/2013.","A Guide to World War II Resources in the Special Collections Research Center","Information about related materials is available at http://guides.swem.wm.edu/WorldWarII","Primarily this is a collection of love letters written between 1942-1944 to Gertha Barbara Jean Sykes residing in St. Louis, Missouri and James NMI Dansby, an African-American soldier in the United States Army. There are also letters from two other Army soldiers, Jack Smith, stationed in the Pacific and Benjamin D. Collins, an aircompany soldier, whom Sykes married in 1949.","The letters begin when Dansby joined the Army and started basic training in Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Initially he was a member of Company C, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion (Service), one of the many all-black units activated during the Second World War. In April of 1944, he became a member of 4060th Quartermaster Battalion. Towards the end of 1944, he was stationed to the South West Pacific Theatre and most likely spent the war in the Philippines. He was there until after World War II in Asia had ended and then spent approximately three and a half months in Japan. After his arrival to the United States in January 1946, Dansby travelled to St. Louis and then moved to Detroit, Michigan. He never met Sykes again after he had left St. Louis for basic training and their relationship ended in January of 1947.","There are no letters written during Dansby's time in the Philippines and those mailed from Japan do not contain information about the war. 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Collins, an aircompany soldier, whom Sykes married in 1949.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e The letters begin when Dansby joined the Army and started basic training in Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Initially he was a member of Company C, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion (Service), one of the many all-black units activated during the Second World War. In April of 1944, he became a member of 4060th Quartermaster Battalion. Towards the end of 1944, he was stationed to the South West Pacific Theatre and most likely spent the war in the Philippines. He was there until after World War II in Asia had ended and then spent approximately three and a half months in Japan. After his arrival to the United States in January 1946, Dansby travelled to St. Louis and then moved to Detroit, Michigan. He never met Sykes again after he had left St. Louis for basic training and their relationship ended in January of 1947.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003e There are no letters written during Dansby's time in the Philippines and those mailed from Japan do not contain information about the war. 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Collins, an aircompany soldier, whom Sykes married in 1949.","The letters begin when Dansby joined the Army and started basic training in Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Initially he was a member of Company C, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion (Service), one of the many all-black units activated during the Second World War. In April of 1944, he became a member of 4060th Quartermaster Battalion. Towards the end of 1944, he was stationed to the South West Pacific Theatre and most likely spent the war in the Philippines. He was there until after World War II in Asia had ended and then spent approximately three and a half months in Japan. After his arrival to the United States in January 1946, Dansby travelled to St. Louis and then moved to Detroit, Michigan. 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Nevertheless, the collection provides a good insight into a soldier's life, contains numerous examples of military censorship of correspondence, and some reactions to the Jim Crow laws in place at the time.","In addition to letters to Sykes and few letters addressed to Collins, the collection contains a certificate of marriage between Sykes and Collins, postcards issued by the War Department notifying Sykes of Dansby's assignments to new installations, and stamped envelopes accompanying almost every letter."],"userestrict_html_tesm":["\u003cp\u003eBefore reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.\u003c/p\u003e  "],"userestrict_heading_ssm":["Conditions Governing Use:"],"userestrict_tesim":["Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and 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