Carole Anne Allen collection

This collection is arranged into four series: Scrapbooks, Correspondence, Greeting Cards, and Miscellaneous.

Series I, Scrapbooks, contains six scrapbooks assembled by the donor, 1942-1952. The scrapbooks primarily contain greeting cards pasted onto the pages, with the occassional piece of correspondence glued in among the cards.

Scrapbook 1 contains several pages of cards of congratulations on the birth of Carole Anne Allen, December 1942. Most of the cards only contain the signatures of the well-wishers, though there is an occasional note included. A card from Flo and Fred contained an extra note from Flo to Irene. "Hope you're feeling fine. I know you are tickled pink. I called the hospital and was informed that you had left. Kind of quick wasn't it?" The scrapbook also contains birthhday cards for Carole Anne for her first birthday through her fourth birthday, as well as cards for Easter, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. The binding on this scrapbook is not secure and the pages, most of which are very brittle, are loose.

Scrapbook 2 contains pages of get well cards Carole Anne received in the hospital in October 1950. There are not any additional letters or pieces of ephemera in this scrapbook.

Scrapbook 3 contains some additional loose pages of cards of congratulations on the new baby, perhaps once contained in Scrapbook 1. There is also a handcrafted book of poetry, "Halloween Pranks," by Betty, illustrated by Lois. The book is dedicated, "Happy Halloween, to Carole Ann[e]." The remainder of the pages are secured in the scrapbook, and contain get well cards send to Carole Anne while she was in the hospital, circa October-November 1950. There are occassional notes pasted in from her friends and parents. A note from a classmate reads, "Dear Carole Ann, we are having a Halloween party at school and I am going to read a story to the class. Karen was just making decorations for Halloween. I hear you are having a Halloween party at the hospital, too. Hope you feel better soon. Love, Susan." Occassionally, Carole Anne wrote on the scrapbook pages when she received the cards. At the bottom of the page with the Halloween cards, she writes, "Received above pages of cards at Kernans from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4."

Scrapbook 4 continues with get well cards, beginning with cards Carole Anne received from November 25, 1950 and continuing into December. This scrapbook also contains a few Thanksgiving cards she received around the holiday.

Scrapbookk 5 begins with several pages of cards Carole Anne received for her eighth birthday while she was in Kernans Hospital. About half of the scrapbook pages contain Christmas cards, followed by more get well cards. On one page there is a letter from Carole Anne's father glued to the page. Dated January 3 [1951], he writes that he was "so glad when you showed us how you can walk...we told everybody at church that you started to walk and all of them are all so glad."

Scrapbook 6 contains get well cards Carole Anne received in the hospital in January 1951, Easter cards received in 1951, and various pieces of correspondence from her parents glued into the scrapbook. In January 1951, Carole Anne appeared on television in the hospital, and shortly after both her parents wrote her notes. Her father noted, "I saw you on television and you sure were cute. I saw you wave your hand. I heard the nurse say you will be coming home soon. We have a nice dog for you. Don't forget to write soon. You are our television star now." Carole Anne's mother conveyed similar sentiments. "I called everyone I could think of to look at you on television...I saw you wave; were you waving at me. You certainly did look nice." The scrapbook also contains get well cards Carole Anne received when she re-entered the hospital for muscle transplant surgery in 1952.

Series II, Correspondence, contains letters that Carole Anne received and sent while she was in Kernans Hospital, circa 1950-1952. The first letter she received is dated December 3, 1950 from her mother, who is thrilled at the progress she has made in her recovery. "Gee, you sure made me happy to see you get up on your knees. Please be careful when you do it so you don't fall out of bed. I think you are doing fine in your progress; keep up the good work." A number of her friends and classmates also sent her their regards. Phyllis wrote, "Here is just a friendly letter to let you know I miss you. I was sorry when I was told you went to the hospital. But I remember you in my prayers every night, so I know you will come around all right." There are also letters from her parents and friends when Carole Anne returned to the hospital for an operation on her thumb. A number of the letters to Carole Anne are undated and are filed together in a separate folder. Two letters sent to Carole Anne are outside the period of her hospitalization, but are included in the folder of dated correspondence. The first is from "U.R. Loving Uncle Little Walt" dated October 18, 1943, before Carole Anne's first birthday. The second letter is dated October 20, 1986, from Lena E. Van Horn, a former polio nurse. She writes to Carole Anne Evitt shortly after Bill Evitt gave a speech at Ms. Van Horn's alumni event in which he gave "a picture of nursing as seen by you some 35+ years ago." She names a few doctors who worked with polio patients, and describes their work ethic. "Those doctors did a tremendous job. I don't know when they ever slept. I know i was often there 20 hours a day." She concludes by thanking Mrs. Evitts. "It is rewarding to know that after all these years someone remembers that nurses did care."

The series also includes a small number of letters that Carole Anne sent to her friends and parents while she was in the hospital for reconstructive surgery. After getting an operation on her hand, she writes to her sister Sharon. "I hope you are feeling fine. I got your letter today, and was glad to hear from you. We have a pretty bush of flowers in our room. I am feeling better since the operation. Tell mom and daddy I said hello! I will write again. And you write too."

There is one additional letter in this series, from the governor of California (and later the Chief Justice of the United States), Earl Warren, to Carole Anne's mother, Irene Allen. Dated December 17, 1951, Governor Warren writes that he and his daughter Nina (who has also been recovering from polio), were glad to learn "that Carole has made such a wonderful recovery and pray that in time it will be complete."

Series III, Greeting Cards, contains six folders of cards (get well, Christmas, Easter, happy birthday) sent to Carole Anne while she was hospitalized. These cards are loose and not attached to scrapbook pages, but are similar to the cards secured in the scrapbooks. Many cards have only the names of the signers written inside and have little to no additional correspondence.

Series IV, Miscellaneous, contains two folders of ephemera and newspaper articles. The file of ephemera holds an invitation to the wedding of Irene Hoffman and Walter Allen in April 1939; certificates of Carole Anne Allen's perfect attendance at vacation bible school, 1948-1949; Irene Allen's certificate card for completion of the Red Cross Home Nursing course, May 1953; a brochure for the Woodloch Pines Lodge in the Poconos; and a June 16, 1947 program for "Alice L. Bradford prsents her Star Studded Revue: 'Calling All Stars', in 3 All-Star Acts." Carole Anne Allen is listed as performing in Act I's "Midget Procession Chorus" and Act II's "Song of the South, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah."

The final file in the series contains two copies of a March 4, 1981 article from the Wednesday Extra, Roanoke Times & World News, "Polio Battle Remembered: the children remind Carole Evitts of fight with crippling disease." The article, written by Trudy Willis, details Carole Evitts' childhood battle with polio and the effects the disease has had on her life.The article is accompanied by a large photograph of Carole with her husband and children, and another photograph of Carole with her daughter, Elizabeth.