Margaret Breed Marsh Papers , 1942-1946

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Noella Natalino (intern) and Burd Schlessinger.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

2003


Collection Overview
	Creator:	Marsh, Margaret Breed, 1919-
	Title:	Margaret Breed Marsh Papers
	Dates:	1942-1946
	Abstract:	Women's Army Corps, World War II. The Papers consist primarily of correspondence between Margaret Breed Marsh and her family, especially her parents, during her tour of duty as a WAC. She wrote almost daily letters home from posts in California, Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana, and they provide a vivid description of the professional duties and personal activities associated with wartime army life. Also included are photographs of army life, as well as miscellaneous pamphlets, brochures, and clippings pertaining to subjects of interest to Marsh.
	Extent:	2 boxes(.75 linear ft.)
	Language:	English.
	Identification:	MS 467

Biographical Note

2nd Lt. Margaret P. Breed (Marsh) at the Plattsburgh Barracks, 1945

Margaret Post Breed was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 21, 1920 to Laura Post and Stephen Alec Breed. She attended the May School in Boston, Class of1937, and graduated with honors from Smith College in 1941. She joined the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943 and remained on active duty until 1946. Her responsibilities included conducting interviews and foreign language tests, and she also took army administrative classes. She traveled a great deal to various army bases in the United States.

After the war, Margaret Breed married Paul Marsh and they had two sons, Alec and Alan. She held a variety of jobs, including teaching and serving as an admissions officer at Radcliffe and Wellesley Colleges; working at Polaroid Corporation as a security supervisor and as a buyer of raw material for battery manufacture; and acting as president of a small family company, North Atlantic Dragline and Shovel Service. She also served on the staff of the Lighthouse Preservation Society, and as Deputy Assistant Tax Collector in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The papers date from 1942 to 1946 and consist primarily of correspondence between Margaret Breed Marsh and the Breed family, especially her parents. She wrote letters home almost daily from various posts in California, Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana. They provide a vivid description of the living quarters, mess halls, and bureaucratic mishaps that she observed there, as well as the professional duties and personal activities associated with wartime army life. Photographs of Marsh and her fellow officers are included, highlighting WAC military dress. Marsh's keen sense of humor and occasional political insight offer a compelling and vivid picture of what life was like for one of the estimated 150,000 WACs who served during World War II.

SERIES I. CORRESPONDENCE (1943-46)comprises the bulk of the collection and contains Marsh's letters home.

SERIES II. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA (1942-46)consists of one folder of snapshots of Marsh, her army colleagues, and the various army bases she visited, as well as miscellaneous pamphlets, brochures, and clippings pertaining to subjects of interest to Marsh.

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