Donald Norton Pitts papers
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Overview
- Description
- The collection documents the experiences of Donald Norton Pitts, who served as a foreign service officer with the State Department in Warsaw, Poland in 1950. Included are notes, reports, and writings, primarily about the political climate in Poland; diary; correspondence; identification card; clipping; and negatives taken while Donald was stationed there. These negatives include depictions of Denmark; Poland, Berlin, Stuttgart, Zurich; May Day celebrations in Poland; Biaystok, Warsaw; and SS Batory.
Additionally, there are copy negatives, a glass negative, and copy prints depicting atrocities committed in Poland against Jews during the Holocaust. Accompanying documentation indicates the photos were likely taken circa 1939-circa 1939, and include roundups and forced-marches of Jews, German firing squads, executions, and corpses. The copy negatives were possibly received by a person named Halina, per a signed note by Halina, or the journalist Larry Allen, whom Donald mentions in his diary (May 17), and specifically describes receiving some negatives from. - Date
-
inclusive:
circa 1939-1950
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Julie Pitts
- Collection Creator
- Donald N. Pitts
- Biography
-
Donald Norton Pitts was born on 22 January 1927 in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from high school in 1944, and after two semesters at UCLA, he served in the United States Navy from 1945-1946. received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Pomona College in 1949 and then entered the State Department internship program. He joined the Foreign Service in February 1950, and his first post was at the embassy in Warsaw, Poland where he managed business operations related to the embassy.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Genre/Form
- Negatives. Photographs.
- Extent
-
6 folders
2 oversize folders
1 oversize box
- System of Arrangement
- OS 2. Clipping, 1950
1 of 6. Diary, 1950
2 of 6. Foreign Service paperwork, 1950
3 of 6. Notes, reports, and writings, 1950
4 of 6. Photograph documentation, circa 1950
5 of 6. Photographs: Donald Pitts and unidentified, 1950
6 of 6. Photographs: Polish atrocity copy prints, circa 1939-circa 1940
Box 1. Negatives, Donald Pitts photographs, 1950
Box 1. Glass negative, circa 1940
OS. 1. Negatives, Polish atrocities, circa 1939-circa 1940
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
- Copyright Holder
- Ms. Julie Pitts
Keywords & Subjects
- Geographic Name
- Warsaw (Poland) Bialystok (Poland)
- Personal Name
- Pitts, Donald Norton.
- Corporate Name
- United States. Department of State
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019 by Julie Pitts, daughter of Donald Norton Pitts.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-28 07:30:39
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn716063
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-
Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
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Also in Donald Norton Pitts collection
The collection documents the experiences of Donald Norton Pitts, who served as a foreign service officer with the State Department in Warsaw, Poland in 1950. Included are notes, reports, and writings, primarily about the political climate in Poland; diary; correspondence; identification card; clipping; metal dish; and negatives taken while Donald was stationed there. Also included are copy negatives and prints documenting atrocities against Jews in Poland during the Holocaust.
Date: circa 1939-1950
Metal bowl
Object
Metal bowl incorporating a Polish coin. The coin is dated 1930 and is for 5 Polish Zlotych. The other side of the coin has the dates 1830-1930. The bowl is part of a collection documenting the experiences of Donald Norton Pitts while he was working for the State Department, c. 1950.
