Women Veterans Historical Project, Legislation Related to Women Veterans & Pat Tillman Scholars

5th company, 3rd regiment

5th Company, 3rd Regiment, WAAC Training Center, Fort Des Moines, Iowa, December 19, 1942. Commanding Officer, Lt. M. Barnard; Tactical Officer, Lt. J.K. Snook. ©Collection: Rachel Summers McGee Papers, Jackson Library, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project (WVHP), established at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in 1998, documents the contributions of women in the military and related service organizations since World War I. The WVHP includes a wide range of source material including photographs, letters, diaries, scrapbooks, oral histories, military patches and insignia, uniforms, and posters, as well as published works. Through active acquisition and educational outreach, the WVHP continues to expand its research collection to explore the cultural, social, and military changes in American society that have been fueled by the gender integration of the armed forces.

The WVHP’s strengths are oral histories and materials from veterans of World War II, but it also includes the stories and materials of women who served in World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, The Cold War, Desert Storm, the Gulf Wars, and the War on Terror. The WVHP currently holds more than 550 collections which include 350 oral histories. The collections chiefly document women military veterans, but they also chronicle the contributions of workers in related service organizations such as the Red Cross, special services, and civilians in service. Our current focus is collecting oral histories of UNCG student veterans as well as women in the Greensboro area.

Mission Statement

The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project (WVHP) collects and preserves unique and rare historical materials documenting the female experience in the United States military and American Red Cross. The WVHP promotes the educational and research use of these materials by members of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the broader scholarly community, and the public.

History of the Project

Although World War II was the first time that women served in the Armed Forces in large numbers, there were some women who served in World War I. Dr. Anna Maria Gove, college physician and professor of hygiene at the State Normal and Industrial School (now UNCG) from 1893-1937, served in France in 1917-1918. Her collection includes maps, newspapers and mementos of her service in the Red Cross, as well as photographs taken in France during the war. Her WWI uniforms are included in the University Archives Textile Collection. The idea for beginning the Women Veterans Historical Collection grew out of talks with Woman's College (now UNCG) alumnae of the Class of 1950. The women veterans of World War II had a great impact on their classmates at the Woman's College, as well as on their military organizations, their families and friends.

A US Army Sgt. keeps her weapon at the ready as she provides security for her fellow soldiers during a raid in Iraq; Wikimedia Commons A US Army Sargent in Iraq

In 1992, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the US Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) several veterans sent uniforms and other memorabilia to the Alumni Association. Those items, which were used in an exhibit, were transferred to the University Archives in 1997, and form the nucleus of the Women Veterans Historical Collection. Since that time, items have been donated from other WAVES and United States Navy veterans; WAACs (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps), WACs (Women's Army Corps) and United States Army veterans; SPARS (Coast Guard Women's Reserve-from the motto Semper Paratus — Always Ready); WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), Women's Air Force and Army Air Force veterans; Women Marines; Army Nurses, Navy Nurses, and Army Dietitians and Physical Therapists; members of the American Red Cross; and even civilians in service. Additional items have been purchased by University Archives.

Editor's Note: Beth Ann Koelsch, Curator of the Women Veterans Historical Project, describes in her article about the Project some of the uses of the resources :

Genealogy & Family Research

"It is not unusual for people who are trying to find information about the military experiences of their relatives to seek their answers in the WVHP collection. If they can no longer ask their mothers and grandmothers for their stories, they try to piece the stories together by interpreting their relative's mementos. I have worked with these family members to decipher acronyms in official military documents, identify uniform patches and insignia, and decode signage visible in the background of photographs. Researchers have also been able to glean insights about their relatives' military experiences from collections of veterans who had served in similar situations.

"One man wrote that reading the digitized letters of Annie Pozyck, an army nurse stationed at the same Philippines hospital as his father, gave him a better understanding of his father’s WWII experiences.

"Another patron spotted her aunt in a digitized photograph of a WAC Officer's Candidate School Company group from the collection of Ethel Palma. She had been conducting research on her aunt but had been not been able to find out anything about her time in the military. I contacted Ms. Palma and put her in direct contact with the researcher.

"Another patron spotted her aunt in a digitized photograph of a WAC Officer’s Candidate School Company group from the collection of Ethel Palma. She had been conducting research on her aunt but had been not been able to find out anything about her time in the military. I contacted Ms. Palma and put her in direct contact with the researcher.

"In one particularly poignant interaction, a woman whose mother was on her deathbed contacted me. The dying woman had served in the Navy Nurse Corps in WWII and had been the model for a recruiting poster illustrated by John Whitcomb. The daughter had found the image of the poster on the Project's Web site. I immediately had a copy of the poster printed from our high-resolution scan of the original and sent it to the family so that the veteran could see it again before she passed away.

"In addition to images of posters and photographs, families are also interested in obtaining copies of the recordings of oral
histories so that they can hear the voice of a relative. Often these are the only recordings of these women's voices that exist."

Pages: 1 · 2

Health, Fitness and Style, News and Issues, History, Issues, Government, Women of Note, Senior Women Web, Articles, Sightings, What's New Add comments