Scope and Contents: The Los Baños Internment Camp collection is an artificial collection that brings together the Sister’s records about life in the internment camp, the rescue, and anniversaries that would be celebrated over time. The collection is divided into 6 series and is housed in 3 boxes.
Series 1, Accounts, is comprised on first-hand accounts from life in the camp and the ensuing rescue. The series has 3 subseries, Maryknollers, Military, and Others. Series 2, Anniversaries, contains the records of the various anniversaries hosted by the Sisters celebrating the liberation of Los Baños. Types of records include programs, texts of speeches, correspondence, and ephemera from the events.
Series 3, Background Information, contains materials relating to the events of the interment, the rescue, and the war in the Philippines in a general way, not specific to the Sisters’ experiences. Types of records include lists of other religious affected by the war, reports, and speeches. The series has one subseries, 11th Airborne Division. The 11th Airborne Division was the arm of the US military that liberated the camp in 1945. Types of records includes information about the Division- booklets, newsletters, and written histories.
Series 4, Camp Life, is comprised of records from the time of the Sisters’ internment. Records include conferences, camp songs (including recordings), drawings, ephemera, maps, and a receipt of goods. It also includes information about the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Ribbon that was awarded to some of the Sisters. The actual ribbon has been removed and added to the Artifacts collection.
Series 5, Correspondence, contains correspondence with the Commonwealth of the Philippines, with Sisters after they were liberated, and with people who wanted to do research about the Sisters’ time in the camp.
Series 6, Writings About, contains newspaper clippings and other publications divided between those that feature the Sisters and those about the camp and war in general. There are also lists of books about the camp.