Letter, Rose Marie Mozelack to William H. Alexander, December 6, 1947
Title
Letter, Rose Marie Mozelack to William H. Alexander, December 6, 1947
Subject
Roller Skating, Dancing, William Harrison Alexander (1927-2004), Rose Marie Mozelack (1929-2001), Nursing, Michael Mozelack (1933-1989), Boone
Description
Handwritten letter from Rose Marie Mozelack (Kingston, PA) to William Alexander (Shulls Mill, NC), December 5, 1947, including envelope with postmark. The letter includes a detailed physical and ethnic description of Mozelack, her employment, her interests, and time spent with a friend common to the correspondents identified only as Joanne. Rose Marie Mozelack did become a nurse, as she intended. She also talks about her younger brother, indicated to be Michael Mozelack, Jr. The letter includes mention that Mozelack and Joanne are listening to a Joe Louis fight while writing letters.
According to Terry Harmon, "at the time of William Harrison “Bill” Alexander’s 1945 World War II draft registration his address was Shulls Mill. “Alexander was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College in 1951. He was a retired teacher from Newland High School and was the assistant manager of Mountain Top Gift Shop at Grandfather Mountain in Linville. In 1953 in Watauga County, he married Eva Nell Banner from the Cove Creek Community."
According to Terry Harmon, "at the time of William Harrison “Bill” Alexander’s 1945 World War II draft registration his address was Shulls Mill. “Alexander was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College in 1951. He was a retired teacher from Newland High School and was the assistant manager of Mountain Top Gift Shop at Grandfather Mountain in Linville. In 1953 in Watauga County, he married Eva Nell Banner from the Cove Creek Community."
Creator
Rose Marie Mozelack
Date
December 6, 1947
Contributor
Adrian Tait
Format
Letter with envelope
Language
English
Type
Manuscript
Identifier
Car-Ave-01-006
Spatial Coverage
Kingston, PA; Shulls Mill, NC
Original Format
Letter
Scanning Technician
Andrew D. Byrd
Collection Name
Carolina Avenue Collection
Files
Collection
Citation
Rose Marie Mozelack, “Letter, Rose Marie Mozelack to William H. Alexander, December 6, 1947,” Digital Watauga, accessed September 26, 2023, http://digitalwatauga.org/items/show/1204.
Comments
Digital Watauga
"I believe the recipient of this letter (and the subsequent one) to be William Harrison "Bill" Alexander (b. 1927 in Charlotte, NC; d. 2004 in Miami, FL; bur. Mountlawn Memorial Park & Gardens in Boone, NC). At the time of his 1945 World War II draft registration, his address was Shulls Mills. Alexander was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II and graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College in 1951. He was a retired teacher from Newland High School and was the assistant manager of Mountain Top Gift Shop at Grandfather Mountain in Linville. In 1953 in Watauga County, he married Eva Nell Banner from the Cove Creek Community. (Eva Nell is a cousin of mine and a sister to Susie Banner who married my great uncle, Don Henson.)
The writer of the letter is Rose Marie Mozelack (b. 1929 in PA; d. 2001 in NJ) of Kingston, PA. As she mentions in the letter, she had recently graduated from high school (Kingston High Class of 1947) and has just turned 18 the previous month (her birthday was November 14). She also mentions her intention to attend nursing school, and she did. When her father died in 1956, his obituary stated that she was a nurse at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Hospital. She states in the letter that she had a younger brother, and that was Michael Mozelack, Jr. (1933-1989). Rose Marie married Frank Whitecavage.
I am not sure who "Joanne" was, but obviously a mutual friend of Bill and Rose Marie. Perhaps she introduced the two and they were exploring a friendship or a possible romantic relationship.
I have included below a photo of Rose Marie from 1947, the same year this letter was written."
This comment was originally made by Terry Harmon and appeared on digitalwatauga.omeka.net.