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The White Scrapbook
(Grace's Scrapbook)
The "White Scrapbook" was the first wartime scrapbook that Grace Coolidge kept. She kept it from the time he left for basic training (June 1942) up until he left Italy to invade France (August 1944). It contains his correspondence home, detailing his training, landings in North Africa and Italy, as well as a few photos from basic training and Italy and all of his requests for cookies and candy on the front line! After August of 1944, she kept his letters and keepsakes in a box. You can find that correspondence in the Letters section of this site.
I am currently working to make the White Scrapbook interactive, meaning you'll be able to flip through it virtually and click on any of the letters, photos, and cards to read them and look at them up close. Until that is complete, feel free to look at a non-interactive PDF version found here or by clicking the scrapbook image below. I have also listed each individual letter and postcard below that can viewed by clicking on each link.
Note: The digital files (PDF or any other electronic format) and all content contained here are the intellectualand physical property of Charles H. Coolidge, Jr., Bradford B. Coolidge, and The Charles H. Coolidge Archive(charlescoolidgemoh.com). No part of these files may be copied, reproduced, shared, uploaded, stored, or made available for download on any other website, server, cloud service, file-sharing platform, or digital repository without prior written permission from the rights holders. Unauthorized distribution of this file, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited.
© 2026 Charles H. Coolidge, Jr., Bradford B. Coolidge, and The Charles H. Coolidge Archive. All rights reserved.
The Letters
1942
List of Letters in PDF File:
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9 July 1942 - Arrival Card - Boot Camp, Fort McClellan, AL
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27-30 July 1942 - Discusses his bayonet mishap and injury
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11 August 1942 - Letter from infirmary/hospital
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12 August 1942 - Letter from infirmary/hospital
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16 August 1942 - Letter from infirmary/hospital
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19 August 1942 - Letter from infirmary/hospital
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25 August 1942 - Back in training
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26 August 1942
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2 September 1942
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6 September 1942
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15 September 1942
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22 September 1942 - Expecting to be sent to another camp soon
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29 September 1942 - Leaving for Camp Butner, NC soon
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8 November 1942 - Letter from Camp Butner, NC
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13 November 1942 - Letter from Camp Butner, NC
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15 November 1942 - Last letter from Camp Butner, NC. Leaving for Camp Edwards, MA very soon.
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29 November 1942 - Now stationed at Camp Edwards, MA. Will be home on furlough 1 December for a few days. Had an early Christmas for Charles!
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15 December 1942 - Now back at Camp Edwards, MA
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16 December 1942 - Not much training on account of heavy snow and bitterly cold weather.
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17 December 1942 - Experiencing genuine New England weather... 4 degrees below zero!
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20 December 1042 - Eagerly awaiting Christmas day with remembrances from family and friends
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25 December 1942 - Christmas Day
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26 December 1942 - Still cold to close out 1942
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31 December 1942 - New Year's Eve
1943
List of Letters in PDF File:
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3 January 1943 - Holidays are over so it's back to work
- 10 January 1943
- 13 January 1943
- 20 January 1943 - Cold weather continues but training continues
- 21 January 1943
- 26 January 1943
- 28 January 1943 - Charles' remarks that he enjoys all of the packages and letters from home
- 31 January 1943
- 4 February 1943
- 8 February 1943 - Training continues and becoming mundane
- 14 February 1943
- 16 February 1943
- 27 Febrary 1943 - Rumors persist about when and where the unit is going
- 2 March 1943
- 7 March 1943
- 9 March 1943 - Deployment overseas could come any day now​
- 13 March 1943 - Warmer weather, enclosed some T-Patches and busy getting ready for eventual deployment. Qualified on the pistol and will carry that instead of M1 Garand now.
- 15 March 1943
- 26 March 1943 - Son in Service Card - blue star placed on service flag at Second Presbyterian Church
- 13 April 1943 - Arrival Card - Card sent home to announce the safe arrival of Charles "overseas"
- 25 April 1943 - Easter Sunday - First letter home from overseas. In North Africa now
- 9 May 1943 - Charles is a Private First Class (PFC) now. Hard to get V-Mail
- 16 May 1943 - Still in North Africa but not allowed to say where exactly
- 17 May 1943
- 26 May 1943
- 3 June 1943 - Still in North Africa and has traveled but not allowed to say where
- 6 June 1943
- 13 June 1943
- 14 June 1943 - A year ago was Charles' last day as a civilian
- 17 June 1943
- 20 June 1943
- 30 June 1943
- 7 July 1943
- 11 July 1943
- 24 July 1943 - Will be unable to write for awhile
- 10 August 1943
- 15 August 1943
- 21 August 1943
- 22 August 1943
- 31 August 1943
- 11 September 1943 - In combat - safe and well - thank you for your prayers
- 28 September 1943
- 10 October 1943
- 11 October 1943
- 15 October 1943
- 19 October 1943 - Western Union Telegram - All well and safe
- 20 October 1943
- 24-26 October 1943
- 30 October 1943
- 1 November 1943
- 3 November 1943
- 10 November 1943
- 14 November 1943
- 28 November 1943 - Spent Thanksgiving in a wet and muddy foxhole
- 29 November 1943
- 30 November 1943
- 14 December 1943
- 25 December 1943 - Christmas Card - FRONT/BACK - INSIDE
1944
List of Letters in PDF File:
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4 January 1944 - Thank God tonight, alive and well without a scratch
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7 January 1944 - Constant combat for last 60 days
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11 January 1944 - Western Union Telegram - All well and safe
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17 January 1944 - Off the line. At rest camp for short while
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29 January 1944
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4 February 1944 - Back in combat
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8 Febrary 1944
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9 Febrary 1944 - Poverty and destruction reign over all of Italy
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3 March 1944
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4 March 1944
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8 March 1944 - Western Union Telegram - All well and safe
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12 March 1944 - Promoted to Sergeant
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14 March 1944
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19 March 1944
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1 April 1944 - Newspaper clipping - News of promotion to Sergeant
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1 April 1944 - Western Union Telegram - Birthday wishes for father, Walter P. Coolidge (b. 1 Apr 1875)
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2 April 1944 - News of Presidential Citation for 3rd Battalion for actions in Salerno
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9 April 1944
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11 April 1944 - Western Union Telegram - Birthday wishes for Mother, Grace M. Coolidge (b. 7 Apr 1880)
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Undated - Birthday Card for Mother, Grace M. Coolidge
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16 April 1944
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18 April 1944
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23 April 1944
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30 April 1944
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11 May 1944 - Back in combat
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14 May 1944 - Card that accompanied flowers for Mother's Day
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16 May 1944
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17 May 1944
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29 May 1944
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9 June 1944 - Father's Day greetings
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21 June 1944
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1 July 1944 - Western Union Telegram - All well and safe
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7 July 1944 - Visited Rome
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9 July 1944 - Fought very little in Rome - visited many places
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13 July 1944
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3 August 1944 - Silver Star Citation
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4 August 1944 - Training for another assault landing
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8 August 1944 - Last letter of the scrapbook. All further letters were kept in a keepsake box and can be found here