Military Waiting Wives Club of Lincoln [RG3651.AM]

HISTORY NEBRASKA MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID

RG3651.AM:  Military Waiting Wives Club of Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska)

Records:  1967-1975

Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska

Size:  0.5 cu.ft.; 1 box + oversize

BACKGROUND NOTE

Families of military personnel frequently experience separation.   A common side-effect of this separation is the organization of social groups, dependents of individuals stationed outside of the United States.  The Military Waiting Wives Club of Lincoln, Nebraska, is an example of this kind of association.  The Lincoln club was established for the purpose of providing its members with companionship, social activities and when necessary, sympathy and understanding.  Although most of the members of this club were wives of men serving in Vietnam in the 1960’s and 1970’s, membership was open to relatives of personnel serving with the armed forces anywhere overseas.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of one box and two oversized volumes relating to the Military Waiting Wives Club of Lincoln.  The materials date from 1967-1975 and are arranged in four series:  1) Club Records, 1967-1974; 2) Scrapbooks; 3) Printed Matter, 1971-1972; and 4) Miscellany.

The contents of this collection reflect the common bond shared by wives and children of men assigned to overseas military duty during wartime.  The bulk of the collection consists of material relating to members of the Military Waiting Wives Club of Lincoln, Nebraska, although a general interest in the plight of all Prisoners of War (POW’S) and men missing in action (MIA’s) in Vietnam is also evident.

Series 1 includes scattered issues of the newsletters and membership rosters compiled by the local club.  A special file designed to aid wives planning reunions with their husbands during “R & R” leaves in the Far East is also enclosed.  This series is followed by an oversize package holding two scrapbooks of clippings and photos featuring members of clubs in Lincoln, Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Newsletters and bulletins published at irregular intervals by the United States Air Force Family Service Volunteers at Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska, constitute a separate series of printed matter.

This material was given to the Nebraska State Historical Society on March 5, 1974, by Mrs. Charles Smith, whose daughter was a member of the Military Wives Club of Lincoln, Nebraska.

INVENTORY

Series 1 – Club records, 1967-1974

Box 1

Folder/item

1. 1. Newsletters and rosters

1. 1. R & R material

Series 2 – Scrapbooks

1. 1. Scrapbook (see oversize)

1. 1. Scrapbook (see oversize)

Series 3 – Printed matter, 1971-1972

1. 1. APO Wives Handbook

1. 1. APO Wives Newsletter, 1971

1. 1. APO Wives Newsletter, December 1971-January 1972

1. 1. APO Wives Newsletter, February-March 1972

1. 1. APO Wives Newsletter, April-May 1972

1. 1. APO Wives Newsletter, August-September 1972

1. 1. APO Wives Chatterline, October 1972

1. 1. Waiting Wives Newsletter, September-October 1971

1. 1. “How You Can Help Our Prisoners of War”

Series 4 – Miscellany

1. 1. Miscellany (includes decal, pin-up and letter)

Subject headings:

Military history

Military Waiting Wives Club of Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska)

Military wives

Prisoners of war

Vietnam War

DHH/ht                 08-26-1974