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A Guide to his Papers at the Indiana University Archives

Electronic finding aid encoded by Donald C. Force

Summary Information

Repository
Indiana University Archives
1320 East Tenth Street
Herman B Wells Library E460
Bloomington, IN 47405-7000
Phone: 812-855-1127
Email: archives@indiana.edu
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/archives

Creator
Greene, Myron E.

Title
Myron E. Greene World War II papers, 1933-1991,  bulk 1941-1944

Collection No.
C247

Extent
1.8 cubic feet (3 boxes)

Language
Materials are in English.

Abstract
Indiana University alumnus; enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1940, where he served as a dentist through the end of the war. Greene returned to Indiana and established a successful dental practice in Indianapolis. Collection chiefly consists of the near daily correspondence between Greene and his wife, Lovilla Horne Greene, during his service as a dentist in World War II. In the letters, Greene describes life as a military dentist such as how many patients he saw on a given day or the places he visited while on leave. Also included in the papers is the 1991 film entitled A World War II odyssey of an Indiana dentist, which was narrated by Greene and includes his personal movie footage and photographs from World War II. Twenty-six photographs and numerous negatives were removed and transferred to the Archives Photograph Collection.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Advance notice is required.

Biographical Note

Myron Eugene Greene was born on January 20, 1915, in Buffalo, New York. Following his birth, his parents, Edward Greene and Florence Volmar, moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where Myron would grow up, attend college, and establish a dental practice. Following high school, Myron attended school at Indiana University, Bloomington, from 1933-1934. In 1935 he enrolled in IU’s dental program located at Indianapolis from which he graduated in 1940.

Prior to earning his dentistry license, on January 26, 1940, Myron married Lovilla Horne whom he met while at IU (though she would graduate from Butler University). Unfortunately for the newlyweds, Myron enlisted in the U.S. Army later that year and quickly found himself traveling between training camps in the United States and military camps in Ireland, Africa, Italy, and France. Myron served in the U.S. Army from 1940-1945 as part of the 209th CA (AA) regiment and later the 72nd AAA Gun Battalion, obtaining the rank of captain by the war’s end.

Following the war, Myron established a successful dental practice in Indianapolis which he sold in 1982 to two fellow IU graduates.

Arrangement

Collection is organized into two series: Correspondence and Memorabilia.

Scope and Content Note

This collection is organized into two series: Correspondence and Memorabilia. The Correspondence series is further organized into three sub-series: Myron E. Greene to Lovilla Greene, Lovilla Greene to Myron E. Greene, and Family & friends. The Myron E. Greene to Lovilla Greene sub-series spans the years 1933-1944 and comprises the majority of the letters in the collection. Nearly all the letters are handwritten though a portion of them were transferred to V-Mail format by the military (V-Mail was the government’s answer to bulky mail – rather than send 18,000 letters overseas, they would microfilm the soldier’s letters and send one 16 mm reel. When they arrived in the United States, they were printed and sent on to the addressee.) While Myron served in the military as a dentist, he wrote to his wife almost daily, sometimes even finding time to write two or three letters in one day. In the letters, Myron discusses his military life as a dentist – the number of patients he saw on a given day, the number of teeth he extracted, the places he visited while on leave, the people he encountered, the weather, and the food he consumed. Nearly all letters express some amount of homesickness, and he continually reassures Lovilla of his love for her. The letters vary in length, anywhere from one page to fifteen pages; the letters are arranged chronologically.

The next sub-series, Lovilla Greene to Myron E. Greene, 1942-1943, consists of the daily letters that Lovilla wrote to her husband in his absence. Her letters describe family matters, local gossip, and situations she encountered while working in a munitions factory and coping with Myron’s absence at home. In nearly every letter, she expresses her loneliness and love for Myron, optimistically counting down the days when the war will end and they will be back together again. Like Myron’s letters to her, Lovilla’s letters vary in length from a single page to ten pages; the letters are arranged chronologically.

The Family and friends sub-series, 1942-1944, includes letters from a variety of individuals who wrote to Myron or Lovilla. The letters primarily discuss family or local matters. Additionally, a couple of Myron’s friends from the Army also wrote to Lovilla. A small set of greeting cards and sympathy cards (for an unidentified person) complete this sub-series. The sub-series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Abbreviations used: LG - Louvilla Greene; MEG - Myron Eugene Greene.

The Memorabilia series, 1942-1991, consists of a small sample of materials that Myron collected during his military service. These items include a small Italian Royal flag, a couple of newspaper clippings, a dinner invitation, a booklet on military insignias and decorations, and a horse racing brochure. Also found in this series is a 1991 VHS tape entitled “A World War II Odyssey of an Indiana Dentist,” narrated by Greene and includes his personal movie footage and photographs from World War II.

Within the folder list, oversized materials have been listed where they would fall intellectually within the collection; physically all oversize items have been placed in Box 1.

• Indexing Terms

• The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in IUCAT, the IU Libraries' online catalog. Materials about related topics, persons or places can be found by searching the catalog using these terms.

• • Names
  • United States. Army --Military life.
  • Greene, Myron E. --Archives.
  • Greene, Myron E. --Correspondence.
  • Greene, Lovilla Horne --Archives.
  • Greene, Lovilla Horne --Correspondence.
• • Topics
  • Dentists --Indiana --Archives.
  • Dentists --Indiana --Correspondence.
  • World War, 1939-1945 --Personal narratives, American.
  • World War, 1939-1945 --Photographs.
  • Soldiers --United States --History --World War, 1939-1945 --Correspondence.

Separated Material

Nearly all of the original envelopes have been discarded. Only a small sampling of envelopes and any envelope providing additional information about the origins of a letter and have been retained.

Photographs Pulled: Twenty-six photographs and numerous negatives of either Myron, family members, or places he visited while in the Army have been transferred to the Archives Photograph Collection.

Administrative Information

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