Guide to the Frederick Albert Lepant Papers 1938-1947
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Frederick Albert Lepant Papers
- Creator
- Lepant, Frederick Albert
- Collection Number
- MSS 785
- Extent
- 1.5 linear feet (2 boxes)
- Date
- 1938-1947
- Abstract
- Frederick Albert Lepant was from Bellevue, Pennsylvania and later lived in Pittsburgh, Pa. with his wife. He served in the United States Army and Air Force from 1941 to 1946 during World War II. The Frederick Albert Lepant Papers contain correspondence letters written from Lepant to his parents and between Lepant and Virginia Thorton, whom he married in 1944.
- 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
Frederick Albert Lepant was born in 1918 in Bellevue, Pa., attended Schenley High School, and was enrolled in mechanical drafting classes from 1937 to 1940 at Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). He was employed by the Allis-Chamlers Manufacturing Company from 1939 to 1941 as a mechanical draftsman, where he created detailed drawings of mechanical and electrical parts for transformers. Lepant served in the United States Army from 1941 to 1946 during World War II. He trained at Ft. Meade, MD in the 54th Field Artillery Brigade, and also served in the 64th Army Air Forces Training detachment at Camden, South Carolina in late 1942. In 1943, he was stationed at Selman Field in Monroe, Louisiana and trained in the Army Air Forces Instructors School. Lepant married Virginia Thorton at the end of 1944 while training in Louisiana; he met her in 1942 while stationed at Ft. Meade. Lepant was stationed in Naples, Italy in 1945 before he was honorably discharged in 1946.
Scope and Content Notes
The Frederick Albert Lepant Papers contain correspondence letters to his parents (1938-1945) and letters between Lepant and Virginia Thorton (1942-1945). Envelopes accompany most of the letters with the date and location of his writing. Interspersed among the letters are postcards and greeting cards as well as photocopies of photographs of Lepant while he was stationed in Monroe, Louisiana in 1943. The letters to his parents are contained in box one and discuss his training and jobs at various military bases, his fellow trainees, and his relationship with and engagement to Virginia Thorton.
Papers in box two include special orders, manuals and charts from the field artillery school and the Air Forces Navigation School, and a map of American Army installations in Rome (1945). Booklets included in the collection include army base service prayer books, field manuals published by the War Department, tourist books, and a soldier's guide to Rome. The letters in box two are between Lepant and Virginia Thorton, dated before and after their marriage and discuss their relationship, Lepant's activities on base, and time abroad in France and Italy. The last folder in the collection contains samples of Allied Military Currency from Italy, Germany, and France.
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift from Carolyn Grubb in 2008.
Archives accession # 2008.0308
Preferred Citation
Frederick Albert Lepant Papers, 1938-1947, MSS 785 , Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
Preliminary processing by Sarah Ecklund on 05/14/12.
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 Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Separated Materials
To the museum: Lepant's foot locker, canteen, collection of pins, metals, and badges, hangers, jacket with undershirt, tie, hat, and three canvas bags
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945