Scope and Contents note

The majority of the photographs were made by Thomas B. Card during World War II and the postwar years in Japan, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Middle East. He documented people, architecture, and scenery, as well as military bases and personnel in Okinawa, Japan. Additionally, there are images of Mexican archeological sites, Camp Claiborne in Louisiana (made in 1944), the 1932 Amur River flood, and Benito Mussolini's execution.

The collection also includes photographs taken by Paul W. Card in China before World War II, including images of the Yangtze River, historical architecture and art, people, shrines, and cities.

Biographical/Historical note

Thomas B. Card was an engineer and Army officer during World War II. After completing his freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (September 1916-October 1917), he joined the signal corps in World War I, later transferrimg to become a pilot in the air service. Returning to school, he graduated from the Masssachusetts Institute of Technology in 1921 and received a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Graduate School in 1930. During World War II, he supervised the construction of bases in the Caribbean and Japan, and served as commanding officer of the 601st Engineers Base Depot on Okinawa. He was promoted to Colonel, CE, in 1945. In 1947, he led a group of engineers working on the Bechtel International Modernization Project in Saudi Arabia, as well as other post-war work in Argentina and Trinidad.

Paul W. Card, Thomas B. Card's brother, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1927 and was assigned to work in China's Yangtze River region until 1938. He spent most of his time protecting the United States Legation in Nanjing and gathered intelligence as a "Naval observer."

Location of Other Archival Materials

Photographs made by Thomas B. Card, previously filed in Photo Lot 97-43, have been relocated and merged with Photo Lot 2000-02.