Walter L. Hopkins Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-220

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Walter Leland Hopkins papers document his service with the United States Army Ambulance Service during World War I. This period of service from 1917 to 1919 is the only period documented in the records. Little is known about his life prior to or after joining the ambulance service. Hopkins served with the Princeton University Ambulance Section, 523. The papers consist of correspondence, photographs and ephemera collected by Hopkins.

The richest source material is found in the correspondence series, which consists of seventeen letters written to family and friends in Columbus and Marysville, Ohio. The letters were written while en route to Europe by ship and while serving in England and France. His correspondence describes the monotony of the ocean crossing, and frequently complains about the censors who read his letters. Correspondence from France chronicles some of the sights he has seen and activity his unit has been engaged in. Among the activities he describes are the around-the-clock shuttling of ambulances to the front during battle, and the durability of the ambulances. Eighteen photographs sent home by Hopkins depict ambulances, hospital tents, litter drills, inspections and formations. The pictures were most likely taken during training at Allentown, Pennsylvania. Hopkins appears in a number of the pictures with unidentified comrades.

Ephemera collected by Hopkins includes a French identification card, a copy of his medal citation, a menu from the farewell dinner of Section 523, and volume 1, number 3 of The Exhaust, a newspaper composed on the Western Front by members of the ambulance section. Hopkins served as cartoonist and artist for the newspaper. Many examples of his work are contained in this issue along with a chronology of events in the unit's life, and brief biographical sketches of the unit members.

Dates

Creation: 1917-1919
Other: Date acquired: 1971 January 1

Creator

Hopkins, Walter L. (Hopkins, Walter Leland) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographica Sketch

Walter Leland Hopkins was born in 1898 at Marysville, Ohio. He attended the Oberlin Academy in 1912-13 and 1915-16. In June 1917, he enlisted in the United States Army Ambulance Service, joining the Princeton University Unit. A similar unit was organized at Oberlin College, Section 587, the Oberlin College Ambulance Unit. The Princeton unit, Section 523, trained in Allentown, Pennsylvania and set sail from New York on August 23, 1917. On September 15 the unit reached Liverpool, England. It arrived in Le Havre, France, on September 17. The unit was assigned to the French Armed Forces as Section Sanitaire Etats-Unis 523, and served in the 35th Division. The unit saw extensive action in the Marne and Argonne regions, including the Marne campaigns, Argonne-Meuse, and Chateau-Thierry. Hopkins was awarded the Croix de Guerre from the French government for his service. The unit disbanded in February 1919.

Following the war Hopkins returned to the United States and worked as an artist with Tiffany Studios in New York. He died in 1930, the cause of death being attributed to the effects of a gassing during World War I. Walter L. Hopkins was the nephew of Bertha Hopkins (1879-1944), a physical education instructor at Oberlin College, and the wife of Oberlin College physical education director Frederick Eugene Leonard (1866-1922).

Note written by Brian Williams.

Extent

0.20 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The Walter L. Hopkins papers were given to the Oberlin College Archives in 1971 by Margaret Leonard, daughter of Frederick E. Leonard and a relative of Walter Hopkins. The papers were not accessioned. They were placed within the Frederick Leonard Papers (RG 30/47). In 1991 they were separated from the Leonard collection, and designated as a separate personal papers collection (RG 30/220).

Accruals and Additions

Accession No: 1991/84*. *Collection was received in 1971, but not accessioned until 1991.

Related Materials

For materials in the Oberlin College Archives regarding ambulance service during World War I, the researcher is advised to consult the records in the historical file of the Office of the Secretary (RG 5); Oberlin File (RG 21/1); and the papers of Logan O. Osborn (RG 30/191). Additional material on ambulance service can be extracted from the individual files in Alumni Records (RG 28). Some photographs are also housed in the photographic record group (RG 32).