Henry A. Turner Second World War correspondence

Collection — Box: WWII 24, Folder: 6, Folder: 1

Identifier: 2017-384-w-r

Staff Only

Content Description

This collection contains one letter from S1/C Henry A. Turner, USN to his sister Leona M. Andrews in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the Second World War. The letter was written on Christmas Eve 1945 from Guam and discusses sending home money and hoping to leave soon. Also included are two photocopies of black and white photographs of S1/C Turner with written descriptions on the backsides. One photograph is of Turner in uniform at Great Lakes Naval Base, Illinois originally sent as a postcard to his sister Leona, and the other is overseas with another serviceman, apparently play-sparring with rifles, originally sent on a postcard to his niece, the donor, Normajean Sims.

Dates

Creation: 1945 December 24

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.

Biographical / Historical

Seaman First Class Henry Arthur Turner, United States Navy (10/28/1922 - 1/8/1996) is an African American sailor born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Rufus Monroe and Estella Cordilah Turner née Butler, with his siblings Ernest Costello Turner and Leona M. Andrews née Turner. His mother passed away in 1935 and the family moved to Topeka, Kansas. After the war he was a member of the American Legion Jordan Patterson Post #319 and retired from the Department of Menninger Foundation (according to donor).

According to sources on Ancestry.com, he at one time married a woman named Lottie and a woman named Margaret E. Belcher (5/5/1921 - 3/1982), with whom he had a daughter in 1941 named Birzena Holliday (4/11/1941 - 2004). Turner passed away in 1996 in Topeka, KS.

The donor, Normajean Sims, is the daughter of S1/c Turner's sister, Leona M. Andrews.