Stephen Stetz photographs

This collection of photographs highlights Stephen Stetz’s service in the United States Navy during and after World War II, particularly his time in occupied Japan, and aboard the U.S.S. Florence Nightingale.

The first grouping in this collection contains portraits of Stephen Stetz and other family members dating from the mid-1930s to the mid-1970s. The earliest show Stetz with his parents and siblings, possibly at his confirmation ceremony. There are several photos of Stetz and his brother Nicholas in their military uniforms and photographs of Nicholas Stetz in Mexico and at McCook Air Force Base in Nebraska. This grouping also contains photos of Stetz and his wife, Estelle Simnowitz Stetz, and his daughter, Margaret Stetz.

The next grouping of photographs shows Stephen Stetz during his service in the U.S. Navy, including a photograph with his company at U.S. Naval Training Station Sampson in New York. Most of these photos were taken aboard the U.S.S. Florence Nightingale, which Stetz often referred to as “the Flossie.” Stetz noted that one of the photos was taken when the “gang” was “coming into Frisco,” probably referring to the Florence Nightingale’s stop in San Francisco in late May 1945. Two other photos show “divine services out at sea on the day Japan surrendered” and Stetz “behind a 2mm gun on VJ day on the Flossie.”

Another group of photos chronicle Stetz’s time stationed at the Yokosuka Naval Base just south of Tokyo, Japan. These photos depict the base’s shipyard, American ships and planes, and American sailors on leave in Yokosuka and Tokyo. Stetz captured images of the Great Buddha of Kamakura, the Emperor’s Gardens, and various Tokyo and Yokosuka street scenes. Several photos show Japanese civilians living in makeshift shelters or cleaning up building rubble. There are also photographs of Japanese laborers at the naval base bowing towards the Emperor’s Palace at sunset and handling Japanese artillery.

This collection also includes photographs of Stetz’s service in Hawaii and San Juan, Puerto Rico. One of the photos showing Stetz at the beach is labeled “Taken at: San Patricio Naval Hosp. Aug ’44 Puerto Rico.” There are several photographic postcards of surfing and pineapple harvesting in Hawaii and of the Normandie Hotel and Escambron Beach Club in San Juan.

Another grouping of photos captures a U.S. Navy line crossing ceremony, an initiation rite that commemorates a sailor’s first crossing of the equator. In this series of photographs, neophyte sailors are shown having their chests shaved, dressing as women, and being locked in the stocks by more experienced naval officers.

This collection also includes a photograph of Stetz as a New York City Transit Authority Police officer, certificates of his honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy, and certificates regarding his parents’ immigration through Ellis Island.