Lewis E. & Albertine M. Skilton Papers

Folder 1 consists of correspondence received by Albertine Mason prior to her marriage to Lewis Skilton. The first letter from 1940 indicates that Albertine opened an account with the First National Bank of Hattiesburg, and the subsequent correspondence is chiefly from male suitors, many of whom were employed in the military. One writer, Verner Doll, was stationed at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and had met Albertine through her Hattiesburg connections.

Folder 2 is comprised of invitations to weddings and dinner parties, including five copies of the marriage invitation for Albertine Mason and Lewis Skilton. The wedding occurred December 18, 1943 at Keesler Field. A card from Harold Skilton and Albertine’s 1938 graduation announcement from Brookhaven High School are also included.

Folder 3 contains letters written to the couple from family and friends, including Rev. Roger Cleveland, a relative in Connecticut who details Lewis’s family history.

Folder 4 consists of letters between Albertine and Lewis both before and during their marriage. All but one of these letters was written by Lewis, and they discuss Lewis’s life at the Air Transport Command in Palm Springs, whether or not he would be able to fly, and an illness for which he was admitted to the Veterans Administration Hospital in New Orleans in 1949. The majority of these letters are intimate conversations between a husband and wife, and researchers focusing on gender roles in the mid-twentieth century will find these of particular interest.

Folder 5 holds various military documents related to Lewis and Albertine Skilton, including immunization records, identification cards, and field manuals.

Folder 6 has newspaper clippings sent to and from Lewis and Albertine, some of which concern their relationship. Also included is a political cartoon drawn by a friend that satirizes Uncle Sam.

Folder 7 houses Albertine’s experiences as a dental assistant at Keesler Field. It includes information on her wages and housing, as well as Keesler Field’s song book from a program in 1943 and a copy of the Keesler Field Exchange from July 1942.

Folder 8 contains nine World War II-era postcards from the Tennessee Maneuvers, which depict operations around Murfreesboro. The cards are blank, but would prove valuable to researchers interested in depictions of training and images of the war.

Folder 9 has photographs of Lewis and Albertine Mason Skilton from the 1940s.