Chester William Nimitz (1885-1966) was a U.S. Navy Admiral, who served in World War I and World War II. Nimitz graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, seventh in his class, in 1905. He soon became an expert at undersea operations and commanded the Pearl Harbor Submarine Division. In 1926, he went to the University of California at Berkeley to design a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. Afterwards he progressed through the ranks of the Navy, becoming chief of the Bureau of Navigation in 1939. When Adm. Husband E. Kimmel was relieved from command of the Pacific Fleet, Nimitz replaced him as commander-in-chief on December 25, 1941. The next year he was appointed to command the Pacific Oceans Areas in the Pacific Theater. In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the temporary rank of Fleet Admiral of the U.S. Navy and appointed Nimitz to the rank. Finally he coordinated the offensive that brought on Japan's surrender and represented the U.S. in the peace treaty signed on the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Two years later, he unofficially retired to life as a roving ambassador for the United Nations and chairman of the Presidential Commission on Internal Security and Individual Rights by President Harry S. Truman’s appointment.
A native of Fredericksburg, Texas, Chester W. Nimitz was the grandson of Charles H. Nimitz, who served as father figure after his father's death before his birth. He married Catherine Vance Freeman in 1913, and the couple had four children. He was the cousin of Herman W. Toepperwein and Mrs. Bertha Riley. Toepperwein was the brother of Mrs. W. H. Morrow.
Source:
The Chester W. Nimitz Papers, 1902-1972 (bulk 1962-1968), contains correspondence from Admiral Chester Nimitz and his wife to cousins, photocopies relating to the Nimitz family, and photographs of Nimitz and the Japanese Surrender.
This collection is open for research use.
Chester W. Nimitz Papers, 1902-1972 (bulk 1962-1968), Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Some material has been separated to the Artifacts Collection.
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Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.