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Louis Joseph Meyer Papers

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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center [Contact Us]3401 Market Street, Suite 210, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
UPT 50 M612
Repository:
University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center
Extent:
1 cubic feet
Language:
English
Date:
1939-1984 (inclusive) and 1942-1946 (bulk)
Creator:
Louis Joseph Meyer
Abstract:
Louis Joseph Meyer entered St. Charles Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania and was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church in 1923. With United States entry into World War II, Meyer joined the Army Reserve as a chaplain and was assigned to the 20th General Hospital. The Louis Joseph Meyer Papers document his services as military chaplain with the 20th General Hospital in India during Wolrd War II.

Louis Joseph Meyer was born in Philadelphia in 1897, the son of a gold and silversmith. In 1914 he entered St. Charles Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania and was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church in 1923. For the next nineteen years Fr. Meyer was a parish priest in the Diocese of Philadelphia, serving in the parishes of St. Mary in St. Clair, St. Francis in Norristown, St. Bartholomew in Northeast Philadelphia, Immaculate Conception in Fishtown, St. Cyril in East Lansdowne, St. Margaret in Narberth, and Visitation Blessed Virgin Mary in Kensington. During this period he also attended classes in 1934 at the University of Pennsylvania.

With United States entry into World War II, Meyer joined the Army Reserve as a chaplain and was assigned to the 20th General Hospital. The unit reported to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana for training in June 1942 and was sent to India in early 1943. Fr. Meyer would serve in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations for the duration of the war.

After his discharge from the services in 1946, Fr. Meyer returned to parish duties in the Philadelphia area, serving first as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Mercy church in North Philadelphia and then, from 1948 until 1972., as founding pastor of the Holy Cross Parish in Springfield In 1965 he was elevated to Monsignor, and retired in 1972. Fr. Meyer passed away in 1985.

The Louis Joseph Meyer Papers document his services as military chaplain with the 20th General Hospital in India during Wolrd War II. It contains copies of Meyer's diary (in both handwritten and typescript form), correspondence, photographs, and printed material. The collection was initially used by Meyer's nephew, Louis Keeler, to write THE CHALICE: LETTERS AND DIARY OF REV. LOUIS MEYER, West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing Co., 2009 (UPT 2 K29). Manuscript copies of the biography chapters are included.

Additional collections relating to the U. S. Army 20th General Hospital are the U.S. Army 20th General Hospital Records (UPC 15), the I. S. Ravdin Papers (UPT 50 R252), and the Harold G. Sheie Papers (UPT 50 S318).

The Louis J. Meyer Papers have been arranged alphabetically.

Donated by Louis Keeler, December 18, 2009 (Accession No. 2009:61).

Organization
Subject

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center
Finding Aid Author
Michael Ellerson
Finding Aid Date
January 2010
Access Restrictions

Access to collections is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Centers.

Collection Inventory

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Medical Ward, 1943-1945.
Box 1 Folder 1
To Mother and Father: June 2, 1942-November 4, 1942.
Box 1 Folder 2
To Mother and Father: April 11, 1943- August 10, 1943.
Box 1 Folder 3

Friday, April 2, 1943- Sunday, November 26, 1943.
Box 1 Folder 4
Oct - Nov. 1943 (The Bishops Visit).
Box 1 Folder 5
Saturday, January 1, 1944- Thursday, August 31, 1944.
Box 1 Folder 6
Building of the Ledo Road Chapel.
Box 1 Folder 7
Darjeeling, 1944.
Box 1 Folder 8
Chapter 1- Chapter 2.
Box 1 Folder 9
Chapter 3.
Box 1 Folder 10
You're in the Army Now (Summer 1942- The Ocean Waves (Feb. 17, 1943).
Box 1 Folder 11
The Ocean Waves (Feb. 20,1943)- New Life on the Ledo Road (March 28, 1943).
Box 1 Folder 12
Duplicates of Chapters.
Box 1 Folder 13
Burma, 1942.
Box 1 Folder 14
June 11, 1942- January 5, 1943.
Box 1 Folder 15
Saturday, Jan. 16, 1943- Wednesday, March 24, 1943.
Box 1 Folder 16
Thursday, March 25 1943- Wednesday, June 9, 1943.
Box 1 Folder 17
Tuesday, June 15, 1943- Sunday November 7, 1943.
Box 1 Folder 18
Report about the Evacuation from Burma, 1942.
Box 1 Folder 19

Handwritten and Typed Works, 1942-1947.
Box 1 Folder 20
Timeline of World War II, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 21

Notes of Sick Call Hospital in India, 1943-1945.
Box 1 Folder 22

Album, ca. 1942-1945 (1).
Box 1 Folder 23
Album, ca. 1942-1945 (2).
Box 1 Folder 24
Album, ca. 1942-1945 (3).
Box 1 Folder 25
Images and Notes, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 26
Panoramic Picture of the 20th General Hospital members at Camp Claiborne, 1942.
Box OS 1

Description of India's geographics, demographics, and culture.
Box 1 Folder 27
Harold G. Scheie, 1970-1972.
Box 1 Folder 28
History of Roman Catholic Choir: 20th General Hospital Military Chapel, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 29
The Ledo Road, n.d.
Box 1 Folder 30
Newspaper Clippings: India, 1943-1946 Folder 1.
Box 1 Folder 31
Newspaper Clippings: India, 1943-1946 Folder 2.
Box 1 Folder 32
Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1945.
Box 1 Folder 33
Pamphlets, 1942-1972.
Box 1 Folder 34
University of Penn Health Affairs Magazine, 1984.
Box 1 Folder 35

Print, Suggest