300th General Hospital Unit Collection

Collection

Identifier: EBL-0001

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Photographs, scrapbooks, unpublished reports, awards, and reunion material relating to the 300th General Hospital Unit, Vanderbilt's Medical Unit in World War II that served in Italy and North Africa. The collection also includes personal items such as scrapbooks from a few members of the unit. In addition, a few items found in the collection, primarily souvenirs, have no direct relation to the unit, but have some connection to Vanderbilt. Most of the information (correspondence, rosters, reports, newspaper clippings, and historical accounts) in this collection documents the 300th General Hospital Unit from 1940 until 1946. Some of the materials are original while others are photocopies of information obtained from the National Archives. There are also reunion materials from 1965, 1976, and 1984.

The photographs in this collection are primarily black and white from 1942-1945. Most of the photographs were taken at Vanderbilt, Italy, or North Africa. Pictures include personal photographs, official photographs, and a few pictures from reunions after the war. Also the collection has pictures of George W. Reyer from the Vanderbilt Commodore yearbooks 1915-16. Several wartime souvenirs (a German dog tag, an army fork, medals, and menus) are also included in the collection from time spent both abroad and in Tennessee. Scrapbooks include those donated by members of the unit and also a scrapbook created by the EBL Special Collections.

Additional materials related to this unit are described in the artifact collection.

Dates

1915 - 2008

Notes about Access to this Collection

All collections are subject to applicable Vanderbilt University privacy and confidentiality policies. Collection specific restrictions: No Restrictions.

Reproduction Rights

Copyright is retained by History of Medicine Collections, Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University or is retained by the authors of specific items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Historical or Biographical Note

The 300th General Hospital Unit, Vanderbilt's Medical Unit in World War II, formed in 1940 as a reserve unit under the leadership of Hugh J. Morgan. Commanded by Col. George Reyer (VUSM 1917) and Lt. Col. Alice Christensen, it consisted primarily of doctors and nurses from Vanderbilt University and the Nashville, Tennessee community. The unit was activated on July 15, 1942 at Camp Forrest, Tullahoma, TN. The 300th General Hospital Unit was stationed briefly in Tunisia and then assigned to Naples, Italy in mid-November 1943. It served troops involved in Italian campaign including the Anzio landing, the battle for Monte Casino, and the liberation of Rome. At its peak in the Winter and Spring of 1944, the hospital census was over 3000 patients. The 300th General Hospital Unit was re-designated as the 392nd Station Hospital in November 1945.