In this page from the 1943 Clemson University yearbook Taps, several photographs of dances on campus can be seen. While it's unclear from the letter whether the dance John is referring to is an official event at Clemson University, these images give a good sense of what these events looked like.
Citation: University, Clemson, "Taps (1943)" (1943). Yearbooks. 44. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/yearbooks/44
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
Notes – Handwritten letter dated June 22, 1943, single page. Includes envelope, postmarked June 25, 1943, 11AM, from Dale Mabry Field, Tallahassee, Fla.
In this letter, John asks Margaret if she still has any interest in "that nursing school." On June 15, 1943 the Bolton Act created the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, which, over the next five years, produced 124,065 graduates out of 169,443 enrollees. The Corps united American nurses from diverse backgrounds to work for a common purpose. By 1945, 85 percent of all nursing students in the country were Cadet Nurses, and the Corps’ funding represented more than half of the entire U.S. Public Health Service budget. The Bolton Act appropriated $160 million in federal funds ($65 million in the first year alone) to 1,125 nursing schools all over the country, including those that educated African Americans.
Citation: "The Bolton Act." Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved April 6, 2023. https://tinyurl.com/the-Bolton-Act
In this copy of the Tiger Newspaper from Clemson, they announce the dates for the following year's dances; possibly the dance that John and Margaret discuss in their letter. Besides this cartoon about dating and buying war stamps, there is a lot of information about the war, soldiers, and dating.
Citation: University, Clemson, "The Tiger Vol. XXXVIII No.1 - 1942-08-22" (1942). Tiger Newspapers. 1609. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/tiger_newspaper/1609