Diana Naylor Morgan papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 06.0098

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Diana Naylor Morgan who served as a junior USO hostess in New Jersey during World War II. The collection includes an oral interview with Morgan, news articles, photographs, and letters sent to her from American and British soldiers deployed overseas during World War II.

In the letters, servicemen describe their day to day activities while deployed overseas, their locations, views on the Japanese, and opinions about the Atomic Bomb. A letter dated June 2, 1944, written by an American sailor Ernest Feasy was not censored; Feasy describes how he is waiting for D-Day to arrive.

Dates

Created: 1937-1945
Other: Date acquired: 10/20/2006

Creator

Morgan, Diana Naylor, 1927- (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Diana Naylor Morgan born in New York City, on February 18, 1927, and raised by her single mother who married when Morgan was ten years old. Morgan recalls her step-father's dramatic reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In her interview, Morgan also expresses her views on the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, and the war.

While living in New Jersey, Morgan joined the USO as a junior hostess during World War II. During this period, she met her soldier and sailor correspondents. Many times Morgan would invite these servicemen, who were stationed near her home in New Jersey, back to her mother's house for dinner after a USO event. Morgan began her training as a nurse in 1945, continued her studies at Johns Hopkins University and graduated in 1950.