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Conditions Governing Access

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Preferred Citation

William James Davidson letters, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from PBA Auction Galleries with the assistance of the John M. Presson Estate fund.

Content Description

Two letters addressed by William James Davidson to Margaret "Maggie" May Mericle. One written from Camp Columbia in Havana, the other from Savannah, Georgia. Davidson served as an Iowa Volunteers Sargent, and his letters cover some of the things he experienced during that time. The Georgia letter contains a description of a violent "blanket-tossing" that resulted in the death of Black woman at the hands of several Virginia soldiers.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• African American women--History--Sources
• Cuba--History--19th Century
• Iowa--History--19th century
• Soldiers
• Soldiers -- United States -- Correspondence
• Spanish-American War, 1898 -- Campaigns -- Cuba
• Violence