Wills Collection • UVA School of Nursing

Descriptive Summary

Repository: University of Virginia School of Nursing, Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry

Title: Camilla Louise Wills Collection

Physical Characteristics: 1.75 linear feet; 4 boxes

Language: English

Collector: Camilla Louise Wills. Donated by Lucy Byrd Pegau, niece of Camilla Louise Wills, on Aug. 30, 2001.

Biographical Information

Camilla Louise "Katie" Wills (1894-1994) was an Albemarle County, Virginia native and 1917 graduate of the University of Virginia Hospital School for Nurses. She passed her Virginia State Board of Nursing examinations in January, 1918, and joined the Red Cross hospital unit then being organized by University of Virginia Hospital physician William H. Goodwin and nursing superintendent Margaret B. Cowling. The Red Cross unit soon became Base Hospital Number 41 for the American Expeditionary Forces in France; in July 1918 the hospital was established in the École de la Légion d'Honneur, Saint Denis, France, just beyond the northern city limits of Paris. After training with other members of the nursing staff at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and New York City, Wills deployed in July -- sailing on board the U.S.S. Cartago, per her report, rather than the Lancashire, as given in other histories of the hospital. She arrived at Saint Denis on August 10, 1918, and the hospital soon entered service. The compound accommodated as many as 2,800 patients in the eighteenth-century buildings of the school and in a large array of tents in the enclosed garden. In January 1919, the French facility was disbanded, with final demobilization of most personnel occurring back in the United States in the spring. Wills continued in service as a military nurse for the regrouped Base Hospital 41 on Staten Island, New York, through the summer of 1919.

Remaining in New York for the subsequent academic year, Wills attended the Columbia University Teacher's College, where she began a bachelor's of science in nursing, a degree she would ultimately complete in 1931. In the interim, Wills taught adult home nursing courses from 1920-22 in Clovis and Las Vegas, New Mexico for that state's Bureau of Public Health. She was briefly on staff at Cragmore Tuberculosis Sanitarium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before accepting a position as a high school biology teacher in Martinsburg, West Virginia, for the 1924 and 1925 academic years, returning to Columbia for more coursework in the summer of 1924. She joined the nursing staff of Virginia State Board of Health in 1925, where she became, first, the assistant state director for tuberculosis education, then, after the spring semester 1926 at the University of Virginia, the superintendent for public welfare for Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1929, Wills returned full-time to Columbia for the BS in Nursing, then continued at Columbia for a master's degree in health education, teaching concurrently at the State Teachers' College in Newark, New Jersey. She continued to teach health education, physiology, and biology at various colleges and high schools for the remainder of her career. Wills retired to Charlottesville in the early 1960s, the place she had always considered home.

Wills' wartime experiences marked her in a significant way. She realized that with greater knowledge of biology, she could have alleviated much needless suffering for her soldier patients. Her career in teaching and public health led new generations of students to that goal.

Scope and Content

The Camilla Louise Wills Collection documents Wills’ experiences as a Red Cross nurse serving overseas during World War I and her subsequent career in public health and health education in the southwestern United States. The bulk of the collection concerns Wills' experiences in the nineteens-teens and twenties, particularly during the World War One years. These are highlighted by post cards, letters, photographs, a diary, and artifacts. The collection is notable for the immediacy of Wills' observations, with insights into the relationships she developed with her peers during this exceptional period. Personal correspondence of Wills herself, and members of her extended family comprise the bulk of the succeeding period – to the early 1950s -- with additional administrative items relative to employment searches and health insurance – and small collections of notes and publications.

Series Description

Arrangement

The Wills Collection items have been given a rough chronological arrangement through the corpus of her correspondence, with student documents and World War One materials incorporated into the sequence. Following this, items are arranged by alphabetical subject categories.

The initial folder contains a variety of biographical materials. Sequential folders contain early correspondence (1907-1913) and items relative to Wills' education. World-War-One-era correspondence (1917-1919) and related materials follow, including Wills' diary, a period guidebook to Paris, and various post card collections. The balance of her correspondence (1920-1975) precedes the subject categories "Columbia Teacher's College" through "Publications." The arrangement terminates with photographs and artifacts: first are World War One photographs and others by type or subject, then the reconstituted pages from a disbounded photograph album (1917-1923). Reference is given for additional artifacts and oversized items stored elsewhere.

Contents List

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: COLLECTION/BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, DIGITAL MEDIA. INCLUDES LISTS OF BASE HOSPITAL 41 (?) INDIVIDUALS.
1991, 1994, 2001, n.d. Box-Folder: 01-001

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: POST CARD CORRESPONDENCE.
1907/07/04-1913/12/24, n.d. Box-Folder: 01-002

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA HOSPITAL NURSING SCHOOL CATALOGUE; CHARLOTTESVILLE PUBLIC HEALTH AND DISTRICT NURSE ASSOCIATION CARD.
1912-13, 1914 Box-Folder: 01-003

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: STUDENT NOTEBOOKS/NOTES – LABORATORY, CHEMISTRY, SPELLING.
1913, 1914, n.d. Box-Folder: 01-004

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: STUDENT NOTES – FRENCH.
1914 Box-Folder: 01-005

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE – LETTERS BY WILLS.
1917/04/17 – 1918/07/14 Box-Folder: 01-006

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE – LETTERS BY WILLS.
1918/08/12 – 1919/08/16, n.d. Box-Folder: 01-007

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE – LETTERS TO WILLS.
1919/03/17 – 1919/05/25 Box-Folder: 01-008

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE – LETTERS TO WILLS.
1919/06/06 – 1919/08/29 Box-Folder: 01-009

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE – LETTERS TO WILLS.
n.d. (ca. 1918-19) Box-Folder: 01-010

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: WORLD WAR ONE DIARY.
1918 Box-Folder: 01-011

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: WORLD WAR ONE MATERIALS – NURSING REGISTRATION, ID CARD, WORK PERMIT.
1918/03, 10 Box-Folder: 02-001

WORLD WAR ONE MATERIALS – MISCELLANEOUS.
1917-1918, n.d. Box-Folder: 02-002

"GUIDE ET PLAN DE PARIS MONUMENTAL [GUIDE AND MAP TO MONUMENTAL PARIS]," (PARIS: GUILMIN, [s.d.]).
ca. 1917 Box-Folder: 02-003

FRENCH POST CARD COLLECTION: 1) SAINT-DENIS, VILLE [CITY]; 2) SAINT-DENIS, BASILIQUE [BASILICA], INTERIORS; 3) PARIS; 4) REIMS, SOISSONS.
[1918] Box-Folder: 02-004

FRENCH POST CARD COLLECTION (ANNOTATED BY CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS): 1) BATZ; 2) GUÈRANDE; 3) LE CROISIC; 4) PHARE DU PILIER; 5) PORNICHET; 6) SAINT-NAZAIRE; 7) GENRE SCENE; 8) MISCELLANEOUS; 9) VERSAILLES ET TRIANONS.
[1918] Box-Folder: 02-005

POST CARD COLLECTION: CAMP DIX, WRIGHTSTOWN, NEW JERSEY.
[1918] Box-Folder: 02-006

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1920/01/01 – 1929, n.d. Box-Folder: 02-007

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1930s, n.d. Box-Folder: 02-008

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1940-41 Box-Folder: 02-009

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1942/01-06 Box-Folder: 02-010

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1942/07-12 Box-Folder: 02-011

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1943-44 Box-Folder: 03-001

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1945-47 Box-Folder: 03-002

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1951-52 Box-Folder: 03-003

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: CORRESPONDENCE.
1975, n.d. Box-Folder: 03-004

COLUMBIA TEACHER'S COLLEGE: GRADE REPORT FOR CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS.
1926-33 Box-Folder: 03-005

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: EMPLOYMENT SEARCH.
1943-1952 Box-Folder: 03-006

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: EMPLOYMENT SEARCH – NATIONAL TEACHERS' SERVICE DIRECTORY.
1951 Box-Folder: 03-007

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: HEALTH INSURANCE DOCUMENTATION.
1942-43 Box-Folder: 03-008

MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS: INCLUDES PLAY NOTES, INCOMPLETE, BY CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS(?).
1940, 1942, 1965, 1968, n.d. Box-Folder: 03-009

CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: PROFESSIONAL DOCUMENTS – CERTIFICATES, ID CARDS.
1920-1942 Box-Folder: 03-010

PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING MATERIALS AND NOTES, INCLUDING ESSAY BY CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS: "THE FEEBLE MINDED PROBLEM AND HOW IT IS MET IN ALBEMARLE COUNTY."
1922-1933, n.d. Box-Folder: 03-011

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA MATERIALS.
1929-1980, n.d. Box-Folder: 03-012

PUBLICATIONS: HEALTH EDUCATION.
1925, 1938-1941 Box-Folder: 03-013

PUBLICATIONS: INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF NURSES, HISTORY 1922-25.
1930 Box-Folder: 03-014

PUBLICATIONS: PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING.
1926-28, 1941 Box-Folder: 03-015

PUBLICATIONS: RED CROSS.
1922, 1945 Box-Folder: 03-016

PUBLICATIONS: TOURISM – SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR SITES.
1899 Box-Folder: 03-017

PUBLICATIONS: TOURISM – PARIS, NEW YORK CITY, VIRGINIA.
1925-29 Box-Folder: 04-001

PUBLICATIONS: VIRGINIA ROSTER OF REGISTERED NURSES.
1924-25, 1928 Box-Folder: 04-002

PHOTOGRAPHS: 1) BASE HOSPITAL 41, SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE; 2) SOLDIERS.
1918 Box-Folder: 04-003

PHOTOGRAPHS: 1) PORTRAITS OF WILLS; 2) WILLS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA; 3) WILLS CANDIDS; 4) WILLS CANDIDS WITH OTHERS.
n.d. Box-Folder: 04-004

PHOTOGRAPHS: MISCELLANEOUS INDIVIDUALS.
n.d. Box-Folder: 04-005

PHOTOGRAPHS: NURSING SCHOOL, LOCATION UNIDENTIFIED.
[1920s] Box-Folder: 04-006

PHOTOGRAPHS: CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS ALBUM, PART ONE – EUROPE, NEW YORK.
1917-1920 Box-Folder: 04-007

PHOTOGRAPHS: CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS ALBUM, PART TWO – NEW YORK, NEW MEXICO.
1920-22 Box-Folder: 04-008

PHOTOGRAPHS: CAMILLA LOUISE WILLS ALBUM, PART THREE – COLORADO, TEXAS, VIRGINIA.
1920-23 Box-Folder: 04-009

ARTIFACT: BANDAGE "SANETTE."
n.d. Box-Folder: 04-010

ARTIFACTS: 1) MILITARY CAP; 2) MILITARY SCARF.
[1918] Box-Folder: 04-011

OVERSIZED ITEMS:

1) LIFE MAGAZINE, RED CROSS NUMBER, 70 (2 AUGUST 1917) 1814;
2) CHARLOTTESVILLE DAILY PROGRESS, PAGE, [ca. AUG 1918];
3) CHARLOTTESVILLE DAILY PROGRESS, CLIPPING, [ca. AUG 1918];
4) CHARLOTTESVILLE DAILY PROGRESS, CLIPPING, [19 NOV 1918];
5) CHARLOTTESVILLE DAILY PROGRESS, PAGES, 28 DEC 1918;
6) CHARLOTTESVILLE DAILY PROGRESS, PAGES, 19 FEB 1919;
7) THE NEW YORK HERALD, PAGE, 20 APRIL 1919;
8) THE WASHINGTON POST, PAGES, [FALL 1919];
9) BETWEEN CONVOYS, BASE HOSP 41 NEWSPAPER, DEC 1918;
10) LETTER AND CERTIFICATE SIGNED BY HARRY FLOOD BYRD, 1928;
11) AM PUBLIC HEALTH ASSN CERTIFICATE, 1941;
12) THE RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH, CLIPPING, 20 DEC 194(?);
13) UDC APPLICATION WORKSHEET, ca. 1952;
14) NEWSPAPER CLIPPING, 11 MAY 1970;
15) UVA ALUMNI ASSN CERTIFICATE, 9 APR 1976.
1917-1976 Series-Folder-Item: 07-05-001

ADDITIONAL ARTIFACTS, CONTAINED IN ARTIFACT BOX 015:

ARTIFACT: WORLD WAR ONE, US VICTORY MEDAL WITH BATTLE CLASP-FRANCE, IN ORIGINAL BOX, MADE IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.
ca. 1920 Artifact Box: 015

ARTIFACT: WORLD WAR ONE, US VICTORY MEDAL AWARDED FOR MILITARY SERVICE TO CITY OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT RESIDENTS.
ca. 1920 Artifact Box: 015

ARTIFACT: WORLD WAR ONE, SWEETHEART PIN WITH BLUE STAR.
ca. 1920 Artifact Box: 015

ARTIFACT: WORLD WAR ONE, MILITARY I.D. BRACELET, AMERICAN BASE HOSPITAL NO. 41, AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES. ENGRAVED LOUISE WILLS, #18669. STERLING SILVER.
ca. 1918 Artifact Box: 015

ARTIFACT: WORLD WAR ONE, US MILITARY LAPEL PINS.
ca. 1918 Artifact Box: 015

ARTIFACT: WORLD WAR ONE, MEDICAL CORPS SERVICE RING WITH INSIGNIA. TEN K GOLD.
n.d. Artifact Box: 015

ARTIFACT: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA HOSPITAL PIN. INSCRIBED: "KATHERINE LOUISE WILLS, JUNE 1, 1917."
1917/06/01 Artifact Box: 015

Notes

Administrative Information

Access

No Restrictions

Use Restrictions

No Restrictions

Preferred Citation

University of Virginia School of Nursing, Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry, Camilla Louise Wills Collection

Processing Information

Re-processed by Henry K. Sharp in 2014-15.