This collection consists of letters from Jeanne Severance, a Red Cross volunteer, to Martha and Constance Greene from 1945 to 1946. Severance wrote from and reported on events in the many places she served, which included France, India, China, Myanmar, and Mexico. Several letters were censored by the United States Army. Also included are photographs of the Greenes in 1962 and some newspaper clippings. At the time, the Greenes had opened the office of Martha Greene real estate company on Long Island in Montauk, New York; there are several pictures of Martha in front of the original offices. The transcription of the letters is attached.

Jeanne Mallory Severance was born in September 2, 1918 in New York. She was the youngest child of Milton Balcomb Severance and Kate Anna Bingham Mallory (1895 – 1981). Jeanne had two brothers, Commander Radford Henry Severance (1916 – 1998) and Donald Severance (1918 – 1974). Jeanne was a public-school teacher. She died on April 8, 1985 at the age of 66.

This collection consists of letters from Jeanne Severance, a Red Cross volunteer, to Martha and Constance Greene from 1945 to 1946. Severance wrote from and reported on events in the many places she served, which included France, India, China, Myanmar, and Mexico. Several letters were censored by the United States Army. Also included are photographs of the Greenes in 1962 and some newspaper clippings. At the time, the Greenes had opened the office of Martha Greene real estate company on Long Island in Montauk, New York; there are several pictures of Martha in front of the original offices.

Many of Severance’s letters deal with race, gender, and culture. She defends her own prejudice while also being critical of the racism of others. Severance describes the assaults on Indian women, interactions with Chinese soldiers, the effect war is having on the people around her.