2015 Annual Women Veterans Luncheon

The Annual Women Veterans Luncheon was featured in the January 2016 issue of the O. Henry magazine!  You can view it here:

http://issuu.com/ohenrymag/docs/o.henry_january_2016/109

For more images, you can check out the Flickr photo album here: 

2014 Women Veterans Historical Project Annual Luncheon

The 17th Annual Women Veterans Historical Project Luncheon will be held on Saturday, November 8th from 11:30-2 at UNCG's Elliott University Center.

The program will feature a panel discussion about veterans writing workshops. Recent North Carolina Poet Laureate Joseph Bathanti will facilitate a discussion with women veterans Mary Hennessy, an Army Nurse who served during the Vietnam War, and Pamela L. Adams, an Army Reserve Officer who deployed to Iraq. Both Hennesy and Adams have participated in Bathanti's writing workshops.

Mary Hennessy

Pamela Adams

The program is open to everyone. Tickets are FREE for UNCG military affiliated students (veterans, reservists, active military), $14 for all other military veterans and $18 for non-veterans. Table sponsorship opportunities to support student attendance will be available for $300.

For details and to make reservations please contact Beth Ann Koelsch at (336) 334-5838 or bakoelsc@uncg.edu.

WASPs are awarded Congressional Gold Medals

The surviving World War II era WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) were presented with Congressional Gold Medals on March 10, 2010. These women test flew and ferried planes, towed targets for target practice, and instructed male pilots. Over 1,000 women served from the creation of the WASPS in 1943 to the abrupt dismantling of the program in 1944. These women performed a great service to our country, but they never received military status or benefits.


Here are some links to stories about the awards:

US Air Force: WASPs awarded Congressional Gold Medal

Associated Press/NPR: Female WWII Aviators Honored With Gold Medal

C-SPAN: Video and transcript of entire Gold Medal Ceremony


Bonus links:

NPR: Radio Diaries Oral Histories of the WASPS

Greensboro News & Record story about former Greensboro-ite Susie Winston Bain

The Women Veterans Historical Project houses the collections oral histories and materials of 16 WASP veterans (including Susie Winston Bain):

• Dorothy Avery


• Susie Winston Bain


• Meredith Rolfe Campbell


• Violet Thurn Cowden


• Mildred Davidson Dalrymple


• Mildred Jane Baessley Doyle


• Elaine Danforth Harmon


• Dorothy Post Hoover


• Joan Whelan Lyle


• Nancy Mayes


• Ruth Mary Petry


• Dolores Muerer Reed


• Nancy Featherhoff Sendelbach


• Margaret L. Chamberlain Smith


• Marjorie S.Sanford Thompson


• Ann K. Watters

2009 Annual Women Veterans Luncheon

The 11^th annual 2009 Annual Women Veterans Luncheon was a great success! On Saturday, November 14 over 125 people gathered in the EUC ballroom at UNC-G to celebrate women veterans and the Women Veterans Historical Project.

The keynote speaker was Brigadier General Clara Adams-Ender, U.S. Army, Retired. Adams-Ender is a graduate of North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro and served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1961-1993. In 1991 she was appointed commander of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, which made her the first nurse in army history to become the commanding general of a major military base. General Adams-Ender was both very inspiring and funny as she spoke about "The 3 C's: Telling the Stories of Women Veterans."

The program also included a number of other events:

• A tour of the collection stacks by Betty Carter

• Presentation of Colors: Army ROTC, NC A&T State University

• Greetings sent from U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan

• Remarks from U. S. Representative Howard Coble

• Musical Entertainment by the UNCG male a cappella group, the Spartones

• Exhibits of uniforms, hats and recruiting materials

The only note of sadness was that Betty Carter announced that she was retiring in May 2010. Carter founded the Project in 1998 and transformed it into the world renowned repository it has grown into. The WVHP has been a labor of love for Carter and she will be greatly missed by both the veterans and her colleagues.

You can see all of the photos of the luncheon here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncgspecial/sets/72157622829925411/

** All photographs taken by Dean Rhoades**

Women Veterans Historical Project Travels to Fort Bragg

On March 19, 2009 Beth Ann Koelsch, the Curator of the Women Veterans Historical Project, and Jennifer Motszko, Manuscripts Curator, drove down to Fayetteville, NC to exhibit a selection of our materials at the Women's History Month Celebration sponsored by the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg.



This was our second year attending the commemorative event. The WVHP was joined by approximately 20 other organizations and institutions including the American Red Cross, the Women’s Center of Fayetteville and the U.S. Army Women’s Museum. It was great meeting the archivist and education curator of the U.S. Army Women’s Museum (http://www.awm.lee.army.mil/) and we look forward to collaborating with them in the future.

Our exhibit was: “Army Recruiting Materials for Women”, and included uniforms, digitized reproductions of posters and recruiting materials for the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), original recruiting pamphlets from the 1940s-1970, and Gretchen Davis’ (http://library.uncg.edu/dp/wv/collection.aspx?col=80) circa 1970s mint green polyester summer uniform dress (Unbelievably, the U.S. Army Women’s Museum also brought the same uniform!)



A couple of the images from recruiting materials we used:

1952


1964


Over 200 military personnel, their families and members of the local community attended and it was really wonderful to have the chance to meet women veterans and talk about their experiences as well as having the opportunity to teach people about women’s contributions to the U.S. Army and to promote The Women Veterans Historical Project.


Beth Ann and Sergeant First Class Craig B. Tuttle, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade Equal Opportunity advisor, who organized and managed the event. We are BIG fans of Sgt. Tuttle. He does an AMAZING job:



Jennifer receiving a 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade “Certificate of Appreciation” from Command Sergeant Major Richard S. Clem:



A link to more information about the event (since it is still listed as “upcoming”, I’m not sure how long this link will be accurate.): http://www.bragg.army.mil/eo/Upcoming_Events.htm

Life Magazine Images of Women in the Military

LIFE Magazine has added many of their photographs to the Google Images database. You can enjoy (and copy for your own personal non-commercial use.) There are some REALLY great high-resolution images and hours of time-wasting fun.


LIFE Photo Archive Hosted By Google


If you do a search for "WACS", "WAVES", "SPARS", "Female Marine", "American Red Cross", "Women Air Force", "Army Nurse", etc. you can see some really great images from the 1940s-now. (Plus, if you search for "WAVES", you can also see an image of Frank Sinatra waving.)

New WWI American Red Cross/Army Nurse Uniform

This World War I American Red Cross/U.S. Army Nurse’s Outdoor Uniform is a new addition to the Women Veterans Historical Collection. We are pretty excited about it because these uniforms are very rare.

During World War I, The American Red Cross supplied military service branches like the U.S. Army and Navy with extra nurses during World War I. It was prescribed that military, as well as auxiliary, medical units (such as the American Red Cross), wear some sort of standard wear outside of medical facilities and this uniform was worn by a nurse serving in France. It is constructed of olive green whipcord fabric.




The uniform was made by Abercrombie and Fitch in 1917 or 1918!




The fleur-de-lis patch on the left shoulder indicates that the nurse served overseas in the District of Paris as part of the U.S. Liaison Services to the French Army. The trim on the collar of this nurse’s coat is tan, telling us that as well as being a nurse, she also worked in the capacity of a clerk.



The chevron patch bordered in golden thread at the cuff on the left sleeve indicates that this nurse also served overseas for a period of six months.




And here is the accompanying wide-brimmed felt hat:



Here is a photograph from our Dr. Mary Emily Lapham Letters (WV# 0418) of Miss Correz, American Red Cross, Prague, 1919 wearing a similar uniform:

2008 Women Veterans Luncheon

The 10th Anniversary Women Veterans Luncheon of the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project was held on Saturday November 15, 2008.




Approximately 160 people including 74 veterans attended the luncheon, including World War II veterans! Branches represented were the Army/WAC, Navy/WAVES, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, Army Nurse Corps, Navy Nurse Corps, Army Medical Specialist Corps, Cadet Nurse Corps and the Red Cross.

The keynote speaker was UNC-G alumna Lieutenant Colonel Kathryn T. Wirkus, U.S. Air Force, Retired. She spoke about her long and varied career, including about her service in Panama and Bogota, Columbia.

Chancellor Linda P. Brady also attended and spoke about the history of military service in her own family.

There was also an exhibit of uniforms, hats, boots and artifacts from all of the branches from WWII to the present day.

The final part of the program was musical entertainment by the swing trio Martha and the Moodswingers and a swing dance demonstration by The Piedmont Swing Dance Society.

To see more photos of the luncheon. Please click here: Irma Minerva on Flicker