Biographical/historical information

Minnie Bell Parker was born October 10, 1881, in Wilson Co., N.C., lived most of her adult life in Norfolk, Va., and died in Raleigh, N.C., on July 5, 1976. She earned her living as a nurse and during World War I she served as a nurse with the American Expeditionary Force in France.

Scope and arrangement

The collection contains a scrapbook tracing the activities of Miss Minnie B. Parker as a nurse for the American Expeditionary Force in France, during World War I (1918-1920). It contains baggage tickets from the ADRIATIC, which was being used as a troopship; a letter from King George V thanking the American troops for their support; army forms of embarkation; permits to work in France; poems; military orders; list of patients; passes for travel in France and discharge; and many tokens from entertainment, such as parties and dances, given in the area for troop morale.

There is also a folder containing correspondence, receipts, and legal papers from 1839-1934. Antebellum papers include correspondence (1845) from George R. Bell in Alabama concerning settling of accounts in Nash County; a militia refreshment account and court martial records (1849) of the N.C. militia in Nash County; and miscellaneous deeds, promissory notes, and receipts for residents of Nash and Franklin counties. For the Civil War period there is a receipt for "tax-in-kind" (1863) and a letter (1865) from Confederate soldier Presley Griffin of Nash County to his wife, written from near Petersburg, Virginia. Griffin warns his wife of legislation aimed at taking enslaved men into the Confederate Army. Also of interest is a certificate of release of a prisoner of war and the oath of allegiance (1865) signed by Mr. Griffin.

Administrative information

Custodial History

April 15, 1969, 34 items; Papers (1839-1934), including correspondence, a scrapbook, receipts, legal papers, and miscellaneous. Deposited by Miss Janice Winstead, Greenville, N.C.

March 19, 2014, (unprocessed addition 1), .25 cu. ft.; This addition (1901-1976) includes photographs of Minnie Parker in her Red Cross uniform, her certificate for passing the Nurses' Board of Examiners for Virginia (1904), records related to her service in the Army Nurse Corps during WWI, documents related to her care late in life and her estate, items related to her membership in the American Legion, genealogy reports on the Griffin and Parker families prepared by The Media Research Bureau of Washington, D.C., and a celluloid necklace. These items are donated in loving memory of "Cousin Minnie," the donor's parents Everett "Jay" and Gladys Winstead, and her sister Janice Winstead McBurney. Gift of Joye Winstead Voshell.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Miss Janice Winstead and Mrs. Joye Winstead Voshell

Processing information

Processed by H. Huneycutt, May 1970

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Descriptions updated by Ashlyn Racine, May 2023

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Key terms

Personal Names

George V, King of Great Britain, 1865-1936--Correspondence
Parker, Minnie B.

Corporate Names

Confederate States of America. Army--African American troops
United States. Army--Military life
United States. Army--Nurses
United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces

Topical

Deeds--North Carolina--Franklin County
Deeds--North Carolina--Nash County
World War, 1914-1918--Medical care
World War, 1914-1918--Social aspects

Places

North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Militia
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives

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