Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Fletcher L. Raiford. Papers, 1939-2005 (bulk 1939-1945). Accession 41863, Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Katherine Raiford Smith, 30 March 2005.

Biographical/Historical Information

Fletcher L. Raiford (1915-1995) was the son of Rufus and Lora (Dorie) Raiford of Sedley, Southampton County, Virginia. His parents converted their family home into a rural hospital, the first in Southampton County. Fletcher attended the University of Richmond, received his degree in medicine from the Medical College of Virginia, and interned at Norfolk General Hospital. He joined the Army Medical Corps 80th General Hospital and was stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines from March 1944 to August 1945. Upon completing his residency in pediatrics at Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, he moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina, and opened a practice in 1951. He married Joyce Frankfort daughter of Elise and Harry Frankfort of Franklin, Virginia, in 1939.

Wynans Ellis Frankfort (1923-1944) of Franklin, Virginia, was the brother of Joyce Frankfort Raiford. He served as a fighter pilot with the 342nd Fighter Squadron but disappeared 27 May 1944 over New Guinea. His remains and wreckage of the plane were discovered in 1991 and were returned to the family in 1995.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1939-2005, of Fletcher L. Raiford including correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and a scrapbook. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, 1939-1945, between Fletcher Raiford and his wife, Joyce Raiford, and his parents, Rufus and Dorie Raiford.

The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by author, then chronologically by year. The letters from Joyce Raiford to Fletcher, 1939-1940, were written while he attended R.O.T.C. camp in Pennsylvania and medical school in Richmond, Virginia. Most of her letters were written from Franklin, Virginia. Topics relate to daily and social life in Franklin; vacations to Georgia and South Carolina; working at Raiford Hospital; and the birth of their daughter, Katherine. Letters, 1943-1945, from Fletcher to Joyce were written while at training camp in California and serving in New Guinea and the Philippines. Topics include travels and sightseeing at the training camp in California; his job as a doctor with the Medical Corps; friendships with fellow officers; camp life in New Guinea; health; censorship of mail; descriptions of the islands and its inhabitants; and the surrender of Japan. Some of his letters include drawings, especially the letters to his daughter, Katherine Raiford, of the people and sights from New Guinea and the Philippines and life in camp. Included are v-mail letters.

The scrapbook, c. 1944-1945, is a piece of artwork made while Fletcher Raiford was stationed in New Guinea or the Philippines. It was sent by Raiford to his daughters Katherine and Lindsay in Franklin, Virginia. The scrapbook was made of bamboo, military cloth material, and held together by welded Australian coins. The scrapbook was a teaching book containing cut out pictures from magazines. Each page contains some type of theme such as animals, babies, clothing, farms, food, holidays, music, parents, and planes.

Also included are a eulogy, newspaper clippings, photographs, and an Individual Deceased Personnel File for Wynans Ellis Frankfort (1923-1944) of Franklin, Virginia. Frankfort went missing in action during World War II in the Pacific and his remains were found in 1995 in New Guinea. The report includes correspondence and documentation regarding the identification and burial of his remains in Virginia.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.