Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation:

Blizzard Family Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Both accessions are purchases.

Processing Information:

Processed by Zach Jones in 2007. Further processing of the collection was completed by Matt Niendork, SCRC staff, in May 2015.

Administrative History:

Arlie Raymond Blizzard (17 Sept. 1909 - 20 Oct. 1966) of Franklin, West Virginia and son of Granville Harris (1874-1934) and Sarah Jane Dahmer Blizzard, enlisted in the United States Army in 1940. In mid 1942, as First Sergeant, he was assigned to Camp Forrest, Tennessee. In the fall of 1942 he moved to army bases in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. In 1943 he was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant and was assigned to various bases in the western United States; including bases in Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Throughout 1944 and early 1945 he was stationed in Hawaii. He spent July and August 1945 in the Pacific, part of it at Okinawa, Japan, and later at a base in Korea. As a Captain, in late December 1945 Blizzard was honorably discharged and returned home to West Virginia. Blizzard died at Rockingham, Virginia in 1966.

Arthur Roy Blizzard (18 Sept. 1918 - 21 Sept. 1992) of Franklin, West Virginia and son of Granville Harris (1874-1934) and Sarah Jane Dahmer Blizzard. During the late 1930s Blizzard attended the Shepherd State Teachers College. In 1941 he enlisted in the United States Army. From 1941-1944 he was stationed in Alaska (Somewhere in the Aleutian Area). In mid-1944 he was reassigned to Camp Wheeler, Georgia. As a First Sergeant, Blizzard was honorably discharged on August 16, 1945. Blizzard died at Martinsburg, West Virginia in 1992.

William Russell Blizzard (18 Jan. 1912 - 8 Sept. 2000) of Franklin, West Virginia enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1942. He was first sent to the Air Corps Technical School, Keesler Field, Mississippi for testing and training and thereafter worked as a technical specialist, repairing equipment, supervising, inspecting, and other duties throughout World War II. In late 1942 he was transferred to airbases in Florida, then to Utah in 1944, and finally to Hawaii in 1944-1945. As T/Sergeant Blizzard was honorably discharged in 1945 and subsequently returned home to West Virginia. Blizzard died at Franklin, West Virginia in 2000.

Scope and Contents

The collection contains correspondence, photographs and other material related to three Franklin, West Virginia brothers who served in the United States military during World War II. The bulk of the collection consists of nearly 200 letters of outgoing correspondence penned by three brothers, Arlie, Arthur, and W. Russell Blizzard to their mother and sisters in Franklin, West Virginia. Some of the topics discussed in the correspondence include army training, work, Arlie's visit to Japan and Korea in late 1945, and soldier life on military bases in the United States during World War II. The collection also contains photographs, school notebooks, and an arm-patch from a United States Army uniform.

Arrangement of Materials:

The collection is arranged by family member and then chronologically within each family member.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Blizzard, Arlie Raymond (1909-1966)
• Blizzard, Arthur Roy (1918-1992)
• Blizzard, William Russell (1912-2000)
• Certificates
• Correspondence
• Lecture notes
• Notebooks
• Photographs
• World War, 1939-1945
• World War, 1939-1945--Pacific Area
• World War, 1939-1945--United States--Personal narratives