Maxine Newlander was born in Fort Collins, Colorado on December 22, 1921. She graduated from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Fort Worth, Texas in 1942. Newlander joined the Navy Nurse Corps in November 1942, and was stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois, Norfolk, Virginia, and Oakland, California before being transferred to Guam in 1944. There, Newlander worked as a ward nurse at Fleet Hospital 115, serving until her discharge in 1946.
View the Finding Aid for the Maxine Newlander collection here.
Maxine Newlander Collection
9.25” x 7.75”
Photograph of Maxine Newlander sent home to her grandparents. Newlander, a Texas native, enlisted in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps in 1942 and served until 1946. In 1944, Newlander was stationed at Fleet Hospital 115 on Guam, where she remained until her discharge from the navy.
Maxine Newlander Collection
4.5” x 7.5”
Photograph of navy nurses before boarding the USS Kershaw en route to Fleet Hospital 115 on Guam. Newlander stands front and center. Prior to serving on Guam, Newlander was stationed stateside in Great Lakes, Illinois; Norfolk, Virginia; and Oakland, California.
Maxine Newlander Collection
Letter to parents, February 24, 1945
This letter from Maxine Newlander to her parents was written while Newlander was traveling from the United States to Guam. Newlander remarks on the turning tide of the war in the Pacific, as well as her expectations for the casualties awaiting her on Guam.
Click here to read the full transcription.
Maxine Newlander Collection
Photograph of servicemen and women of Fleet Hospital 115 on Guam, taken circa 1945.
Maxine Newlander Collection
10.5” x 7.5”
Photograph of Maxine Newlander and other nurses, approximately 1944 – 1946. Newlander is second from left.
Maxine Newlander Collection
This letter, written from Maxine Newlander to her brother’s girlfriend, Annette, contains candid, frank reflection on Newlander’s experience as a navy nurse. Her letters express a desire to remain connected with family and friends at home while also revealing the ways that the war has affected her.
Click here to read the full transcription of this letter.
Maxine Newlander Collection
3.75” x 4.5”
Photograph of Maxine Newlander on duty as a navy nurse. While stationed on Guam, Newlander provided medical care to servicemen wounded at Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
Maxine Newlander Collection
7” x 5”
Photograph of Newlander (far right) and other nurses posing with “pin-up parade” poster.
Maxine Newlander Collection
10.5” x 7.5”
Letter from Maxine Newlander to her parents, dated August 16, 1945. In this letter, Newlander reflects on the end of the war and what her life will look like after leaving the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, expressing both joy at the war’s end and a sense of uncertainty about her next steps.
Click here to read the full transcription of this letter.
