Letter from Melvin Bragdon Rideout to Darius A. Davis (December 17, 1916)
Description:
A copy of a December 1916 letter from Melvin B. Rideout to Darius A. Davis discussing Rideout's experience touring the Avezzano and Padula prison camps. The letter includes a number of subheadings: Camp Commanders, Prisoners, Conditions in the Camps, Recreation, Avezzano, Cost Barracks, Padula, Construction Barracks, Employment of Prisoners, Another Secretary for Italy, Office Secretary, Civil Prisoners, and Budget 1917. Rideout was born on May 15, 1871 in Illinois. Rideout is credited with introducing basketball to England while serving as a French delegate at the YMCA Jubilee Convention in June 1984. He spent five years as the physical director of the Association in Paris, France, and the following three years as a field secretary doing special organizing work in Europe. From 1899 until 1905, he served at a YMCA in Washington, D.C. as a physical director. Rideout died on November 26, 1957. Darius A. Davis directed the Y.M.C.A.’s aid for war prisoners during World War 1 and World War 2. He also worked for the Y.M.C.A.’s International Committee in Turkey and then as the associate general secretary for the World Alliance of Y.M.C.A.’s in Geneva. Avezzano Prison Camp was a prisoner of war camp in Abruzzo, Italy. It had a capacity of 15,000 prisoners. Padula refers to the Certosa di Padula, a 14th century Italian monastery that served as an internment camp for prisons during both the first and second World Wars. During World War 1, Padula held as many of 13,000 prisoners.
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