Guide to the James L. Swauger Papers 1942-1994
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- James L. Swauger Papers
- Creator
- Swauger, James L.
- Collection Number
- MSS 935
- Extent
- 1 linear feet (1 box)
- Date
- 1942-1994
- Abstract
- James L. Swauger was a western Pennsylvania native who worked at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History before being drafted into the army during World War II. He served with the 796th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion and earned the rank of captain by war's end. After the war, Swauger returned to the Carnegie Museum until his retirement. The collection includes materials pertaining to the 796th AAA unit including newsletters, correspondence, pictures, and the personal memoirs of Swauger in his four-volume work, My Days as a Dog.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
James L. Swauger was a western Pennsylvania native who worked at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History before being drafted to the army during World War II. Swauger was born on November 1, 1913 in West Newton, Pennsylvania to parents Lt. Col. John Shaner Swauger and Katharine Weaver Swauger. He graduated from Turtle Creek Union High School in 1930 and then attended the University of Pittsburgh. He obtained his B.S. with a major in zoology and a minor in botany in 1941 after working as a laboratory assistant at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. In 1941 at the age of 29, Swauger was notified that he had been drafted into Class I but did not formally enter the army until June 1942. Swauger entered training with 46 other local Pittsburgh draftees and left for Fort Eustis, Virginia in December where he completed basic training in March 1943. After being promoted to corporal, Swauger was moved to Camp Davis where he entered the Officer Candidate School (OCS). He focused on machine guns and the 40 mm AA gun and in June 1943 was promoted to second lieutenant. Of the 62 members of Swauger's platoon that entered the OCS, only six graduated with commissions.
Swauger was then assigned to Camp Stewart in Savannah, Georgia, marrying Helen May Poole before his departure. At Stewart, Swauger was assigned to the 796th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion (796th AAA AW Bn). After completing training at Camp Stewart, the 796th was moved to Camp Gordon, Georgia, for advanced training where they stayed until August 1944 when they were deployed to the European Theatre. On August 11, the unit boarded the USS Hermitage and arrived in Liverpool, England on August 24. On September 23, the unit was transferred to Normandy, to the encampment near Sainte-Mère-Éqlise. In October they were attached to the 10th Armored Division and then convoyed across France to join the 3rd Army outside of Metz. The unit saw its first combat action in November. Swauger was wounded by a small piece of shrapnel under his left ear on November 17, 1944. However, the wound was minimal enough that Swauger was unaware of his injury until another soldier told him the next day that he had been bleeding. On December 17, the 796th moved to Belgium and Luxembourg to participate in the Battle of the Bulge. The unit was accredited with 44 airplanes destroyed and the capture of more than 2000 prisoners. After May 7, 1945, VE Day, the unit was assigned to occupation duty first in Bavaria and then in Germany. On March 10, 1946, the 796th AAA unit started their journey back to the United States. Swauger arrived on April 3 to New York harbor where he then traveled to Camp Kilmore, New Jersey. At Kilmore, Swauger went through demobilization and earned the rank of captain. On April 9, Swauger returned to Pittsburgh and was relieved of active duty on May 27, 1946.
After being discharged, Swauger entered the Army Reserves and returned to his position at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Under the G.I. Bill, Swauger returned to the University of Pittsburgh where he obtained his M. Litt. in History. In 1950, Swauger and his wife had their first child, a son, followed by two daughters in 1951 and 1956. Swauger acted as the Curator of the Section of Man and became the Assistant Director of the Carnegie Museum from 1955 to 1964. In 1957, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Waynesburg College and in 1975, Swauger was promoted to Senior Scientist, Anthropology. However, in 1981, Swauger formally stepped down from his paid position at Carnegie and devoted his time to attending conferences, fieldwork, and writing books, while working at the museum on a voluntary basis.
In 1993, Swauger's wife fell ill. In 2004, Swauger decided to move out of the area to Rhode Island where he died in 2005 on December 18 of pneumonia. He was 92 years old.
Scope and Content Notes
The James L. Swauger Papers contain materials related to his military career during World War II. Correspondence between Swauger and other members of the 796th AAA Association from 1992 to 1994 are included. Within the correspondence are several newsletter publications entitled Track Tracings Jr. that were published by and for ex-members of the 796th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion Self-propelled. Another newsletter publication, Tiger Tales, published by the 10th Armored Division Veterans Association is also included. A training manual for a caliber .50, M2 Browning machine gun is housed within the collection. A photograph from 1968 showing an excavation site in Israel and an oversized photograph of the 796th AAA Officer Candidate School at Camp Stewart, Georgia in 1944 are also included. Several foreign currency notes from France, Belgium, England, Luxembourg and Germany are housed in the collection. The bulk of the collection is Swauger's work My Life as a Dog, a memoir that recounts his war experiences from draft to discharge. The work is split into four volumes. The first is comprised of diary-like entries that tell Swauger's story of the war. Interspersed with these entries are hand-drawn maps, correspondence between Swauger and his wife, and miscellaneous documents detailing Swauger's military service such as unit rosters, battle notes, and memos from army headquarters. Volumes two through four contain photographs from June 1943 to December 1948. These photographs show Swauger's military movements from the United States to England and then through Europe. There are several photos that include other members of the 796th and Swauger has identified most of them. Volume four also includes some newspaper clippings from after the war. A draft copy of My Life as a Dog from 1981 is also included in the collection.
Conditions Governing Access
None
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 2000.
Archives accession # 2000.0081
Preferred Citation
James L. Swauger Papers, 1942-1994, MSS 935 , Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
Preliminary processing by Meghan Hall on 03/27/2013.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Related Materials
Guide to the Papers of James L. Swauger, Anthropology Department of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Museum of Natural History Archives – 2007-3
Separated Materials
One oversized photograph has been stored separately from the collection.
Subjects
- Carnegie Museum of Natural History
- United States. Army. 796th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion.
- United States. Army. Armored Division, 10th.
- Swauger, James L., 1913-2005
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.