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Size | 3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2400 items) |
Abstract | Ben Lacy Rose was born in 1914 in Fayetteville, N.C., the son of attorney and state senator Charles Rose and Irene Lacy Rose. He attended Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary. He served as a chaplain during World War II with the 113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group), composed of the 113th Calvary Squadron and the 125th Calvary Squadron. A Presbyterian minister, he joined the faculty of Union Theological Seminary in 1956. His wife, Anne Claiborne Thompson Rose, is the daughter of Dr. W. T. Thompson of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. The collection includes letters, 1931-1936, to Ben Lacy Rose (1914- ) while he was a student at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., and correspondence, 1941-1945, between him and his family while he was a Presbyterian chaplain, first with the 31st Infantry Division and then with the 113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group) of the U.S. Army during World War II. The letters to Rose when he was a student are mainly from his parents, Charles Grandison Rose and Irene Lacy Rose of Fayetteville, N.C. In addition to giving family news, letters from his father report on the elder Rose's business as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., as an officer of the North Carolina Bar Association, and as attorney for the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company. The World War II correspondence includes mostly letters written to Ben Rose by his father and by his wife, Anne Thompson Rose (1918- ), while Ben was serving with the 31st Infantry Division in Camp Blanding, Fla., and with the 113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group) in Camp Bowie, Tex., and while he attended the Army Chaplain's School at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Also included are Ben's letters to his wife while he was at the Army Chaplain's School and his letters from Europe about the daily lives of soldiers and about his duties as chaplain. Letters from Anne Thompson Rose include reports on her daily life with her parents in Richmond, Va., and the growth of their new baby, Anne Claiborne Rose (1941- ). Correspondence dating from 1990 through 2001 concern Rose's activities with the Presbyterian Church, including teaching, writing, and lecturing, as well as personal and family affairs. |
Creator | Rose, Ben Lacy, 1914- |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Connie Cartledge, March 1986; Pamela Dean, August 1987; Meg Phillips, September 1996; John Foster, October 2000; Laura Knodel, April 2004
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Ben Lacy Rose was born in 1914 in Fayetteville, N.C., the son of attorney and state senator Charles Rose and Irene Lacy Rose. He attended Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. He served as a chaplain during World War II with the 31st Infantry Division and the 113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group), composed of the 113th Calvary Squadron and the 125th Calvary Squadron. A Presbyterian minister, he joined the faculty of Union Theological Seminary in 1956. His wife, Anne Thompson Rose, is the daughter of Dr. W. T. Thompson of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.
Back to TopThis collection consists primarily of correspondence between Ben Lacy Rose and his wife, Anne Thompson Rose, and father, Charles G. Rose, while Ben Lacy Rose was serving as a chaplain with the United States Army in Europe during World War II. Also included are letters to and from Rose while he was stationed at various army bases in the United States, letters from other family members and friends to his wife or parents that were then enclosed in their letters to Rose, and letters to Rose from friends. Rose wrote about the daily life of a soldier and about his duties as chaplain. His family's letters focus on the activities of his children, other family members, and friends of the family.
Photocopies of these letters were bound as Letters Home (1986) and Letters From Home (1987), and a limited number of copies were distributed to family members and libraries. Copies of both volumes are included in the collection.
The addition received in March 1999 consist of letters written by Ben Lacy Rose to Anne Thompson Rose, 1941-1943, during his period of domestic Army training. They are filed in folders 1a through 2b.
The addition of February 2004 contains correspondence, 1990-2001, which concerns the work and personal activities of Ben Lacy Rose. Most concerns activities in the Presbyterian Church, including teaching, writing, and lecturing.
Letters to Ben Lacy Rose, mainly from his parents, Charles Grandison Rose and Irene Lacy Rose of Fayetteville, N.C., while Ben was a student at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., and then from his father when Ben was a student at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va. These letters cover the years 1931-1936. Another batch of letters covering the years 1942 and 1943 includes mostly letters written to Ben Rose by his father and by his wife, Anne Thompson Rose (1918- ), while Ben was serving as an Army Chaplain with the 113th Cavalry (Mechanized Group) in Camp Blanding, Fla. and Camp Bowie, Tex., and while he attended the Army Chaplain's School at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. The collection includes Ben's letters back to his wife while he was at the Army Chaplain's School, but few other letters written by Ben himself.
Letters from his father while he was in school deal mostly with money, trips home, family and Fayetteville news, and fatherly advice about finding a calling, joining a fraternity, and religion. Letters from his father also report on the elder Rose's business as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., as an officer of the North Carolina Bar Association, and on his law practice. He describes legal work he did for the Presbyterian Church and for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company.
Letters from his wife include reports on her daily life with her parents in Richmond, Va., and the growth of their new baby, Anne Claiborne Rose (1941- ).
Correspondence relating to the work and personal activities of Ben Lacy Rose, 1990-2001, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1999 through 2001. Most of the correspondence concerns Rose's work with the Presbyterian Church. Rose led and participated in worship services, lectured, taught classes, wrote on religious subjects, and conducted other types of ministry. Rose corresponded with members of the churches in which he was involved, including the Union Theological Seminary, concerning daily church activities. He also maintained correspondence with Presbyterian churches throughout the southeast, most notably in Virginia and North Carolina, concerning Presbyterian Church activities. Correspondence with family and friends concerns personal and family affairs.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Letters from Ben L. Rose to his wife and father. Rose was assigned as chaplain of the Special Troops of the 31st Infantry Division, which trained at Camp Blanding, Fla., went on maneuvers in Louisiana and North Carolina, and returned to Camp Blanding before being transferred to Camp Bowie, Tex., in February 1942. In Texas, Rose was assigned to the 113th Mechanized Cavalry Regiment, which was also at Camp Bowie, and went on maneuvers in Louisiana. The regiment was transferred to Camp Hood, Tex., then to Camp Livingston, La., later to Camp Polk, La., and then was shipped overseas in January 1944. Letters are about daily life in the Army and about Rose's duties as chaplain.
Folder 1a-1b |
1941 |
Folder 2a-2b |
1942-1943 |
Folder 3a-3b |
1944 |
Folder 4 |
1945 |
Arrangement: by correspondent, then chronological.
Folder 5a |
1942-1943 |
Folder 5b |
January-February 1944 |
Folder 6 |
March 1944 |
Folder 7 |
April 1944 |
Folder 8 |
May 1944-October 1945 |
Folder 12 |
Letters |
Folder 13 |
Other items |
Folder 14 |
Letters Home |
Folder 15 |
Letters from Home |
Folder 16-19
Folder 16Folder 17Folder 18Folder 19 |
1931 |
Folder 20-24
Folder 20Folder 21Folder 22Folder 23Folder 24 |
1932 |
Folder 25-30
Folder 25Folder 26Folder 27Folder 28Folder 29Folder 30 |
1933 |
Folder 31-35
Folder 31Folder 32Folder 33Folder 34Folder 35 |
1934 |
Folder 36-41
Folder 36Folder 37Folder 38Folder 39Folder 40Folder 41 |
1935 |
Folder 42-45
Folder 42Folder 43Folder 44Folder 45 |
1936 |
Folder 46-52
Folder 46Folder 47Folder 48Folder 49Folder 50Folder 51Folder 52 |
1942 |
Folder 53 |
January 1943 and undated |
Folder 54 |
1990-1998 |
Folder 55-66
Folder 55Folder 56Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59Folder 60Folder 61Folder 62Folder 63Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66 |
1999 |
Folder 67-73
Folder 67Folder 68Folder 69Folder 70Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73 |
2000 |
Folder 74-81
Folder 74Folder 75Folder 76Folder 77Folder 78Folder 79Folder 80Folder 81 |
2001 |