Title: Max M. and Katherine Ehrhart Smith Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1942-1952

Creator:

• Max M. and Katherine Ehrhart Smith,

Call Number: WVM Mss 525

Quantity: 0.4 linear ft. (1 archives box and 1 oversize folder) of papers and 0.6 linear ft. (2 archives boxes) of photographs.

Repository:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Have questions? Contact the Reference Archivist

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)

See the catalog entry for current shelf locations and additions.

Abstract:

Papers and photographs of Max M. and Katherine Ehrhart Smith, who both served in World War II, met while in service, and married after the war. Max Smith was a doctor in the 6th Constabulary Regiment and Katherine Ehrhart was a physical therapist with the Women's Medical Specialist Corps (WMSC) at various stateside military hospitals. Almost entirely composed of service records, this collection documents the details of their military service such as pay rates, promotions, transfers to different locations, and their dates of enlistment and separation from the military. Also included are letters written to Katherine by her brother Vincent, who served in the Navy during the war. Stationed in Hawaii one month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Vincent described recreational activities available to the servicemen and his pursuit of a promotion. The photographs, which are almost entirely unidentified, were taken before their marriage and thus are clearly separated into his and hers. His include shots of the constabulary headquarters in Europe. Hers include nurses and patients at Schick General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa. There are three photographs, undated, of the two together.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00525

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Max Marion Smith was born June 27, 1919 in Wichita, Kansas. His family moved to Madison, Wisconsin in time for Smith to graduate from Madison East High School. He was attending medical school when he decided to enlist into the Army in May 1943. He served for a little over a year as a private first class before receiving an honorable discharge in order to accept a commission. In July 1945 he re-entered the service as a medical officer with the 6th Constabulary Regiment, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. His service included a one-year stint with the occupation forces in the European Theater, from April 1946 to May 1947. One month after returning to the US, Smith was relieved from active duty.

Katherine Cecilia Ehrhart was born January 10, 1920 in Delia, Kansas. She remained in the state during her youth, graduating from high school, and becoming a teacher. After World War II began, she changed careers and became a physical therapist. She enlisted into the Women's Medical Specialist Corps, a branch of the Army, in January 1945 and achieved the rank of 1st Lieutenant. She served at stateside hospitals for the next three years, including Brook General Hospital (Ft. Sam Houston, Texas), Winter General Hospital (Topeka, Kansas), and Schick General Hospital (Clinton, Iowa). She received an honorable discharge from the military in April 1948.

Max and Katherine met at during their service in Topeka, Kansas and married in 1948. They later settled in Madison where Max served as chief of staff at St. Mary's Hospital for eight years. Max M. Smith passed away in February 2000 at the age of 80.

The papers of Edward T. Lauer are divided into three series: Max M. Smith, Katherine Ehrhart Smith, and Photographs.

Max M. Smith (1944-1950) contains records relating to the World War II service of Smith. The financial records include clearance forms, which had to be signed as he left various bases to confirm that he was not taking government property with him. The pay and allowance records give an idea of how much a doctor in the Army made during World War II. The separation documents and personal service records give details about his service, such as dates of enlistment and separation and medals won. The records jacket is a large cardboard envelope, apparently issued by the Army, in which officers could carry their paperwork around. The ephemera includes ticket stubs from establishments in Europe.

Katherine Ehrhart Smith (1942-1952) contains papers and records from World War II. Smith's brother, Vincent Ehrhart, served in the Navy and wrote to his sister during the early part of the war. Writing from a base in Hawaii in the months immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Vincent showed a constant awareness of military censors and thus described recreational activities that he participated in as well as his pursuit of a promotion. He also gives support to Katherine's decision to leave the teaching field and pursue physical therapy. Smith's service records include orders that help researchers see which stateside hospitals she was stationed at throughout the war. The financial records show the pay a physical therapist in the WMSC received during the war. Her personal service records fill in some of the specifics about her military service, and the exam materials reveal issues important to physical therapy at mid-century.

Photographs (circa 1944-1946) contains pictures taken of, and by, both Max M. and Katherine Ehrhart Smith. This series has been divided into two sub-series in order to separate the two distinct provenances. Max's photographs are more numerous, but are almost entirely unidentified. Visual evidence from the photographs themselves was used whenever possible to describe the pictures, with resulting generalizations such as “Swiss city” and “Shipyard.” This sub-series does include more than twenty pictures taken in and around the headquarters of Smith's Constabulary unit, most likely while in Europe. The buildings and vehicles are pictured, as well as Smith and some of his fellow medical staff. Other photographs show scenery and skiing in an unidentified Swiss city and numerous shots of Smith, both alone and with unidentified comrades. Three photos show Smith with his future wife, Katherine Ehrhart.

Katherine's photographs are less numerous but slightly better identified. There are more than thirty shots of patients and the nursing staff at Schick General Hospital in Clinton, Iowa, where Katherine was stationed circa 1946. Other photographs show Katherine and other women out in the country with a car that several nurses apparently bought together. Finally, there are photographs of Katherine both by herself and with unidentified friends.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Gregory V. Smith, McFarland, WI, 2003. Accession Number: Mss 2003.12. This collection was organized as a result of the National Historic Publications and Records Commission project grant (2003-075).

Processing Information

Processed by Russell Horton in 2003.

	Series: Max M. Smith
Box   1 Folder   1	Service records, 1945-1950
Box   1 Folder   2	Communications, 1946, 1949
Box   1 Folder   3	Ephemera, 1946-1947
Box   1 Folder   4	Financial records, 1944-1947
Box   1 Folder   5	Clearance forms, 1945-1947
Box   1 Folder   6	Pay and allowance records, 1945-1947
Box   1 Folder   7	Medical records, 1943-1947
Box   1 Folder   8	Orders, 1944-1949
Box   1 Folder   9	Personal service records, 1944-1950
Ov   6 Folder   11	Records jacket, undated
Box   1 Folder   10	Reserves recruitment materials, 1945
Box   1 Folder   11	Separation documents, 1947
	Series: Katherine Ehrhart Smith	⇧
Box   1 Folder   12	American Physiotherapy Association, 1946
Box   1 Folder   13	Correspondence, 1943-1952
Box   1 Folder   14-16	From Vincent R. Ehrhart (brother), 1942-1943
Box   1 Folder   17	Service records, 1944-1948
Box   1 Folder   18	Certificates, 1945, 1948
Box   1 Folder   19	Exam materials, undated
Box   1 Folder   20	Financial records, 1944-1948
Box   1 Folder   21	Medical records, 1945-1948
Box   1 Folder   22	Orders, 1944-1947
Box   1 Folder   23	Personal service records, 1944-1950
	Series: Photographs	⇧
	Subseries: Max M. Smith
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Camp Kilmer (NJ) [9] , undated
Box   2 Folder   3-7	Constabulary Headquarters [23] , undated
	France
Box   2 Folder   8	Chaulnes [6] , undated
Box   2 Folder   9-11	Le Havre [10] , undated
Box   2 Folder   12-14	Shipyard [18] , undated
Box   2 Folder   15-16	Max Marion Smith
Box   2 Folder   17-20	With others (unidentified) [20] , undated
Box   2 Folder   21	With Katherine Ehrhart Smith [3]
Box   2 Folder   22	Swiss city [5] , undated
Box   2 Folder   23	Buildings [5] , undated
Box   2 Folder   24-25	Skiing [10] , undated
	Unidentified
Box   2 Folder   26-29	Home [19] , undated
Box   2 Folder   30-31	Hospital [11] , undated
Box   2 Folder   32-33	People [9] , undated
Box   2 Folder   34-36	U.S.S.R. Victory [10] , undated
Box   2 Folder   37-38	Vanport City [7] , undated
	Subseries: Katherine Ehrhart Smith	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1-4	Nurses' car [18] , undated
Box   3 Folder   5	Schick General Hospital (IA) [3] , circa 1946
Box   3 Folder   6-7	Nurses [8] , circa 1946
Box   3 Folder   8-12	Patients [22] , circa 1946
Box   3 Folder   13	Katherine Ehrhart Smith [4] , circa 1944
Box   3 Folder   14-16	With others (unidentified) [12] , undated