Francis H. Doane was born in New Jersey on October 26, 1896. He later worked as a newspaper-advertising agent in New York City. Doane served in the Twenty-seventh Infantry Division of the New York National Guard during World War I. He earned Purple Heart and Silver Star medals and the rank of sergeant by the end of the war. Doane remained in the New York National Guard after the war, earning the rank of first sergeant. He was recalled to active duty during World War II. Doane was assigned to the Mississippi Ordnance Plant in Flora, Madison County, Mississippi, in April of 1942. He also moved his wife, Eleanor K. Doane, and his son, Colin R. Doane, to the ordnance facility from their home in Sherman, Connecticut. Doane served as an intelligence and public relations officer at the ordnance facility. In March of 1944, Doane was reassigned to the Port of Embarkation in Seattle, Washington, where he served as chief information and education officer until his retirement at the rank of colonel in June of 1946. Doane and his family moved back to Sherman, where he worked as a wholesale hardware salesman until 1957. Francis H. Doane died in 1985 at the age of eighty-nine.

This collection contains incoming and outgoing correspondence, photographs, scrapbook pages, memorabilia, newspapers, and maps of Francis H. Doane dating from 1940 to 1957. The correspondence is a mixture official and personal letters and is arranged chronologically. Items of interest include a telegram recalling Doane to active duty; a copy of the activation order for the Unit Training Center of the Mississippi Ordnance Plant; and a memorandum from Doane to the commanding officer of the ordnance facility regarding security provisions for the arrival of new troops. The personal letters are from some of Doane’s former subordinates, and they offer news about mutual acquaintances. There are also letters of recommendation written by Doane for men formerly under his command. The photograph series contains black-and-white images, both formal and informal, of some of Doane’s commanding officers and contemporaries, as well as images of Doane’s son, Colin. Of particular interest are seven aerial photographs of the ordnance facility. The scrapbook pages contain newsclippings about the ordnance facility and its personnel from several 1942 Jackson-area newspapers. Several newsclippings about Doane and other ordnance personnel are also included. Among the memorabilia are Doane’s commissary, identification, and leave cards and two identification cards for Doane’s wife, Eleanor. There are two issues of the Ordnance Observer, the Mississippi Ordnance Plant newspaper, containing articles on some of the people represented in the photograph series. The collection includes a 1940 map of the city of Jackson. Of particular interest are two maps of the ordnance facility for 1941 and 1942.

1. Correspondence (Incoming and Outgoing). 1942-1957. 1 folder.

   Box 1, folder 1.

2. Photographs. 1942-1944. 3 folders.

   See Appendix 1: Photograph Inventory.

   Box 1, folders 2-4.

3. Scrapbook. 1942. 1 folder.

   Box 1, folder 5.

4. Memorabilia. 1942-1944. 3 folders.

   Box 1, folders 6-8.

5. Newspapers. 1943-1944. 1 folder.

   Box 2, folder 1.

6. Maps. 1940-1942. 1 folder.

   Box 2, folder 2.