United States. Agency for International Development.

The collection consists of the letters Janet Erickson wrote to her family during World War II. Janet Erickson trained as a nurse at the University of Minnesota and served in the Army’s 26th General Hospital.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, journal and newspaper articles and other records of YMCA work in the continent of Africa, featuring various countries in Africa as well as general Africa YMCA, Africa Alliance, and Africa-based non-YMCA files. Primary countries featured in this collection include Angola, Cameroon, Gabon, Gambia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Zaire (the Congo), Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, and other records of the YMCA movement in Ghana, especially in the area around Accra, and mainly describing various projects that the United States YMCA and other United States assistance groups were helping to fund.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, building plans, financial documents, pamphlets, journal and newspaper articles and other records of the YMCA movement in Kenya, especially Nairobi and the surrounding area, including Shauri Moyo, Mombasa, Kisii, Limuru, Ngecha, Naivasha and Nakuru, though other locations are also mentioned.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, pamphlets, maps, journal and newspaper articles and other records of the YMCA movement in Lebanon, especially concerning relief and rehabilitation work with Palestinian refugees.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, pamphlets, building plans, journal and newspaper articles and other records of the YMCA movement in Albania, Armenia, South Asia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Cambodia, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, Gaza, Guam, Iran, Ireland, Laos, Lithuania, Mariana Islands, Micronesia, Middle East, Moluccas, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Saipan, Samoa, Western Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Scandinavia, Slovakia, Sweden, Syria, Tahiti, and Truk.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, pamphlets, maps, building development plans, journal and newspaper articles, and other records of YMCA international work in Nigeria, primarily from the 1960s to the 1980s and focusing around the YMCA in Lagos and the Eruwa Camp site.

Correspondence, reports, building records, and other material documenting YMCA international work in Pakistan, especially in Karachi and Lahore, as well as Dacca, Sialkot, and Islamabad.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, pamphlets, building plans, journal and newspaper articles and other records of the YMCA movement in Portugal, especially Coimbra, Lisbon and Porto.

Correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, images, pamphlets, journal and newspaper articles and other records of the YMCA movement in New Zealand, much of it related to the New Zealand Y’s involvement in World War I, as well as its work with the North American YMCA movement in Samoa.