us-005578-irn604642-irn607419
has or had some members with language: fra
is or was included in: us-005578-irn604642
record resource extent: overall: Height: 4.750 inches (12.065 cm) | Width: 4.875 inches (12.383 cm)
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had some members with language: eng
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
date: 1941 August-1942 May, after 1941 August
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn604642-irn607419/alternateIDs/1
identifier: irn607419
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn604642-irn607419/acquisitions/1
archival history: The card was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014 by Kirk McClelland, the son of Roswell and Marjorie McClelland.
has record set type: Item
type: RecordSet
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
title: Card made by two young internees to thank a US aid worker
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular card with an image of two smiling boys, one of whom is eating chocolate while the other is eating cheese. A blue flap on the left side opens and closes, making the forearms of both boys move simultaneously to bring the food held in their hands to their mouths. Adhered to the top of the flap is a handmade stamp with perforated edges and a drawing of buildings in an internment camp, with a caption along the bottom. The boys are staggered, one in front of the other. The boy in the foreground is wearing a red vest over a white shirt, and the boy in the background is wearing a white, V-neck shirt. The image has a yellow background, and along the bottom are several lines of white cursive English text. One of the lines ends in blue instead of white. The image is painted on a piece of construction paper that is adhered to a slightly larger, green, square piece of paper. A thin, blue strand of barbed wire is drawn on the edge of the paper, around the image. The back is green with the artist’s signature in blue and centered inside a small, white rectangle. In the bottom left are two handwritten lines of French text. front, top left on stamp, handwritten, black paint : CAMP DES MILLES
scope and content: Thank you card made for Roswell McClelland, a US aid worker, by prisoners in Les Milles internment camp in France between 1941 and 1942. Roswell and his wife, Marjorie, went to Europe in August 1940 to work for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization that promotes development, service and peace programs throughout the world. Roswell directed an AFSC refugee relief office in Rome until August 1941, when the office officially closed. Roswell and Marjorie were then sent to another AFSC office in Marseille, a port city in the southern part of France. Marseille was located in Vichy France, the unoccupied, southern half of France that was ruled by the collaborationist Vichy Government. Roswell worked to provide relief for prisoners in Les Milles internment camp and Marjorie worked to select children for the USCOM children’s transport to the US in summer 1942. Late that summer, the couple moved to Geneva to establish a special office of the AFSC’s Relief & Refugee Section in Switzerland. Roswell and his office developed several programs to provide refugees with financial assistance, clothing, and preparation for emigration. On January 22, 1944, President Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board (WRB) to carry out an official American policy of rescue and relief for victims of the war and Nazi persecution. In March, Roswell was selected as the Board’s representative in Switzerland, a post he held until the end of the war in May 1945.
biographical history: Roswell Dunlop McClelland (1914-1995) was born in Palo Alto, California, to Ross St. John McClelland and Alice (Alys) M. Mitchell. He studied French, German, Italian and American literature, graduating with a BA from Duke University in 1936 and an MA from Columbia University in 1940. During his studies, Roswell learned to speak German and Italian. On November 19, 1938, he married Marjorie Helen Miles (1913-1978). Marjorie graduated from Stanford, and completed graduate work in child psychology at the University of Cincinnati and Yale University. Marjorie was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers), a Christian religious group devoted to peaceful principals. After Roswell's graduation from Columbia, he was awarded a fellowship to study an archival collection related to Voltaire in Geneva, Switzerland. The fellowship was awarded by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker organization that promotes development, service and peace programs throughout the world. However, by June 1940, Nazi Germany and their allies had occupied most of Europe, and Roswell was not able to use the scholarship. With the expanding war in Europe, the AFSC was looking for aid workers to send overseas. Due to Roswell’s foreign language skills, he was recruited to go to Europe and direct an AFSC refugee relief office in Rome, Italy. In August 1940, Roswell and Marjorie went to Europe, spending a month in Lisbon, Portugal, before traveling to Rome. In August 1941, the office closed and the couple moved to Marseille, in Vichy France, where they joined another AFSC office. From their base in Marseille, Roswell worked to provide relief for prisoners in Les Milles internment camp. Marjorie worked to select children for the USCOM children’s transport to the United States in the summer of 1942. In the late summer of 1942, the couple moved to Geneva to establish a special office of the AFSC’s Relief & Refugee Section in Switzerland. Roswell and his colleagues d…