Carol (Nicholson) Lewis Collection

The Carol (Nicholson) Lewis Collection is one box and one oversized folder of materials related to the Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) career of Carol (Nicholson) Lewis. The collection includes official documents, photographs, correspondence, clippings, and WASP ephemera. A small amount of correspondence and ephemera concerning her marriage are also included in the collection.

The collection is divided by type of material. Folders 1 through 4 contain official documents related to Lewis' time as a WASP pilot, including her flight log, official pay stubs, and military personnel record. Folder 5 contains personal documents, including an immunization record, a medical certificate, and a program for a play that Lewis was part of in 1941 [during high school].

Folders 6 through 8 contain correspondence, both personal and professional, in the form of telegrams, letters, and postcards. Folder 9 contains newspaper clippings about Lewis and the WASP program. There are also some oversize clippings that have been glued to loose scrapbook pages, as well as a July 19, 1943 Life magazine cover that features an article about WASPs.

Folders 10 though 12 contain ninety-nine (99) photographs, eight (8) negatives, and two (2) slides, likely taken during WASP training, circa 1943-1944. The bulk of the photographs are in black-and-white but there are two (2) color prints made from slides. Some of the photographs have captions written by Lewis that identify people, usually only by either first or last name, and locations, including Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas and Moore Field near Mission, Texas. There are many snapshots depicting the WASPs in training, next to and in aircraft, and relaxing. Also included are several portraits of Lewis, some of which are proof prints.

Folders 13 through 16 contain assorted ephemera, such as a flight calculator, the WASP Songbook, an April 1946 WASP newsletter, and WASP patches, including one (1) patch for the 318th Army Air Force Flying Training Detachment. The patch features Fifinella, the cartoon character that the Disney Company allowed the WASPs to use as their mascot during World War II. There is also an illustrated book cover, "A Wharf in Venice," by M. Bradbury.

Digitized Materials: Folders 1-6, 8, and 10-14 have beeen digitized from this collection.

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