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. Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Manuscripts and Rare Books Librarian, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library. 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.

Administrative History:

Jack Normand Butts was born on April 12, 1923 to Lena Alma and Andrew Jackson Butts. Butts served as a bomber pilot in World War Two (WWII), and served in the Air War College during the Vietnam War. He spent a year posted in Thailand in 1966. After his time in Thailand, Butts was promoted to full Colonel, and retired in 1969. He died on December 15, 2013.

Scope and Contents

Contains letters and postcards written by Jack Normand Butts to his mother, Alma, from U.S. Air Force bases across the United States from 1961 to 1967. Most of the letters deal with daily life on the base, the U.S. stock market, and wanting to know more about life back home in McPherson, Kansas. There is one letter in 1966 where Jack mentions he had finally arrived in Thailand, where most of the U.S. Air Force was stationed during the Vietnam War.

The collection also contains letters from Alma to Jack from 1966 to her death in 1967. Most of the letters are descriptions of Alma's home life and questions to Jack about the trading of stocks.  Also included are letters to Jack from his sister, Maxine McFarland, from the death of their mother in 1967 to 1970. These letters are mostly updates about Jack's extended family in Kansas.