Finding Aid for James W. Snively Papers, 1916-1975 | University of Illinois Archives

Title: James W. Snively Papers, 1916-1975

ID: 26/20/198

Primary Creator: Snively, James Watson (1924-1996)

Other Creators: Holland, Mabel Ruth (1901-1984), Snively, John Rowe (1916-1960)

Extent: 4.3 cubic feet. More info below.

Date Acquired: 10/30/2014

Subjects: Alumni, Armory, European Travel, Family Life, Military Training, Prisoners of War, Reserve Officers Training Corps, Rockford, Illinois, Travel, University of Illinois, Veterans, Veterans Administration, World War II

Papers of James Watson Snively (1924-1996), student of Liberal Arts and Sciences (matriculated 1942), and his family, particularly his parents, John Rowe Snively (Pre-Law 1921, Law 1923) and Mabel Ruth (nee Holland) Snively (LAS 1924), including correspondence, medical records, student records and notices, business information, photographs, postcards, books, pamphlets, maps, financial records, personal artifacts, and ephemera relating to time spent as a private in the military and Prisoner of War during World War II (1942-1945); military training at West Point (1916), Fort Benning, Georgia (1943), Camp Wolters, Texas (1943), and the Armory at the University of Illinois (1943); Veterans Administration and military paperwork; student life, events, and university construction at the University of Illinois (1916-1924, 1942-1943); University of Michigan (1916); travels through Canada, Europe, and the American Midwest and West, including Illinois and the Chicago area; the Milwaukee Sanitarium; business ventures; continuing education (1945-1950); employment; and personal affairs. The series also includes a biographical piece, a series inventory, and World War II military maps.

James Watson Snively (1924-1996) was born in Cottonwood, IIllinois, to John Rowe Snively (B.A., Liberal Arts and Sciences, 1921; J.D., College of Law, 1923) and Mabel Ruth (Holland) Snively (B.A., Liberal Arts and Sciences, 1924).  He attended the University of Illinois from 1942-1943, but did not graduate.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943, went through training in Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas, and was sent to Italy in mid-1944.  On October 11th of that year, he was captured by the Germans, and spent the next seven months in German POW camps.  After being freed in May 1945, he returned home to his family in Rockford, IL, where he saw for the first time the Silver Star that had been given to his family while he was imprisoned. 

After the war, he fulfilled a wartime vow, and traveled around the United States, before re-enrolling at the University of Illinois for the 1949-1950 academic year.  However, he did not graduate, and returned to Rockford, where he pursued business ventures (including a drive-in theater) and was a popular bus driver.  He also continued traveling, which a relative describes as "his great pleasure," visiting Europe, retracing his steps from World War II, and other places in the United States. 

However, though he was never formally diagnosed with it, it seems as if he suffered from what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.  He remained in psychiatric institutions for the last two decades of his life.  He died in 1996.

His story, told so thoroughly through the James W. Snively papers, is an extraordinary glimpse into the life of a member of the Greatest Generation, one who never really came home from the war.

Alumni
Armory
European Travel
Family Life
Military Training
Prisoners of War
Reserve Officers Training Corps
Rockford, Illinois
Travel
University of Illinois
Veterans
Veterans Administration
World War II

Repository: University of Illinois Archives

Alternate Extent Statement: ~388 megabytes

Access Restrictions: This series has some folders with access restrictions. Please contact an archivist for more information.

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/2620198.pdf

PDF finding aid for James W. Snively Papers (26/20/198)