Asset

Date of ingest: 26 June 2026

Description: This wedding dress, constructed from a silk parachute, was worn by First Lieutenant Hilda “Frankie” Franklin of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps when she married Captain Richard P. Bell Jr. on May 26, 1945. The ceremony took place during the final weeks of World War II in Europe, while both were serving overseas with the University of Virginia–affiliated Eighth Evacuation Hospital. Parachute silk, valued for its strength and light weight, was sometimes repurposed during the war when conventional textiles were scarce or unavailable. The material’s transparency suggests that the dress would have been worn over additional garments. The maker of the dress is unknown, though it is presumed by her family that Franklin likely created it herself. Similar wedding gowns made from parachute silk during World War II are held in other collections, including the Smithsonian. The Eighth Evacuation Hospital was a mobile medical unit organized in 1942 under the direction of Dr. Staige Davis Blackford. Comprised of University of Virginia faculty, staff, alumni, and affiliated medical personnel, the unit was designed to operate near active combat zones with a capacity of approximately 750 beds and a staff numbering 417, including physicians, nurses, and enlisted personnel. After training in the United States, the unit was deployed overseas in late 1942 and subsequently operated in North Africa and Italy. There, its members worked in demanding and often hazardous environments, establishing hospitals in existing structures or tented facilities and adapting to rapidly changing military conditions. Over the course of its service, the Eighth Evacuation Hospital treated more than 48,000 patients, addressing both battle injuries and widespread disease among troops. Following the conflict, Franklin and Bell returned to Virginia, where they raised their family. The dress was gifted to the University of Virginia by an anonymous donor.