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[Irene Parsons and Lyndon Johnson, 1965]
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[Irene Parsons and Lyndon Johnson, 1965]
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Title
[Irene
Parsons
and
Lyndon
Johnson
,
1965]
Date
1965-08-05
Subject headings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975
United States. Coast Guard
Era
Vietnam Era (1964-1974)
Service branch
Coast Guard--SPARS
Item description
Irene
Parsons
sits
with
President
Lyndon
Johnson
at the
White
House
on
5
August
1965
.
Johnson
selected
her as the
assistant
administrator
for
personnel
of the
Veterans
Administration
, the
highest
government
personnel
post
held
by a
woman
at the
time
. An
inscription
on the
photo
reads
, "To
Irene
Parsons
, A
can-do
lady
with
high
esteem
.
Lyndon
B
.
Johnson.
"
Veteran's name
Parsons, Irene
Veteran's biography
Irene
Adelaide
Parsons
(1920-2011)
of
Wilkes
County
,
North
Carolina
,
spent
three
years
with the
Women’s
Reserve
of the
Coast
Guard
(SPARs)
from
1943
until
1946
.
Afterwards
, she had a
long
career
with the
Veteran’s
Administration
,
retiring
after
almost
thirty
years
of
service
.
Irene
Adelaide
Parsons
was
born
in
Wilkes
County
,
North
Carolina
and
graduated
from
high
school
in
nearby
Taylorsville
. She
attended
Brevard
College
for
two
years
and then
worked
in
Wilkes
County
until
she had
enough
money
to
enroll
at
Woman’s
College
in
Greensboro
,
North
Carolina
, in
1939
. She
graduated
two
years
later
with
majors
in
business
administration
and
education
. She
later
received
her
master’s
degree
from
George
Washington
University
.
Parsons
spent
one
year
teaching
high
school
in
Roanoke
Rapids
,
North
Carolina
. Then in
summer
1942
she
began
working
with the
Civilian
Service
Commission
as a
recruiter
in
Washington
,
D.C
. She was
later
sent
down
to
serve
as
administrative
assistant
in the
employment
office
at the
Norfolk
Navy
Yard
headquarters
in
Portsmouth
,
Virginia
.
Parsons
joined
the
Women’s
Reserve
of the
Coast
Guard
(SPARs)
in
June
1943
and was
selected
to
go
to the
Coast
Guard
Academy
in
New
London
,
Connecticut
, as
part
of the
first
class
to
train
there.
After
eight
weeks
of
training
, she was
sent
to
work
in
Washington
,
D.C.
, at the
Coast
Guards
headquarters
,
working
in
personnel
. She
remained
there
until
her
discharge
in
August
1946
. She
immediately
went
to
work
for the
Veteran’s
Administration
(VA)
in
recruiting
. She
worked
her
way
up
in the
organization
, and in
1960
she was
appointed
assistant
administrator
and
director
of
personnel
for the
VA
by
President
Lyndon
B
.
Johnson
.
Parsons
retired
in
1975
after
almost
thirty
years
of
service
, then
worked
occasionally
for
several
years
as a
management
consultant
.
Parson
is
a
recipient
of the
Federal
Woman’s
Award
,
given
to
outstanding
women
in
government
; the
Civil
Service
League
Award
, for
exceptional
service
in
government
by
men
or
women
; a
commendation
for
distinguished
service
from
President
Richard
M
.
Nixon
; a
George
Washington
University
Distinguished
Alumnae
Award
; and an
honorary
Doctor
of
Laws
degree
from
UNCG
.
Place
Washington
(D.C.)
Type
image
Original format
photographs
Original publisher
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]
Contributing institution
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries
Source collection
WV0311 Irene Parsons Papers
Collection summary
2005
oral
history
interview
;
photographs
;
Copy
of the
text
for the
1970
AMVETS
Civil
Servant
of the
Year
Award
Presentation
;
copy
of the
1972
commendation
from
President
Richard
Nixon
, in
conjunction
with the
National
Civil
Service
League
to
10
public
servants
(including
Irene
Parsons)
;
copy
of
letter
to
Parsons
from
former
president
Lyndon
B
.
Johnson
congratulating
her for
Civil
Service
League
award
;
copy
of
1967
honorary
Law
Degree
from
UNCG
;
copy
of
Parsons
1967
article
"A
Government
Agency
and a
University
" for the
George
Washington
University
Magazine
;
1973
recruiting
booklet
"
Careers
for
Women...In
the
Veterans
Administration.
"
Rights statement
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Additional rights information
IN
COPYRIGHT
. This
item
is
subject
to
copyright
.
Contact
the
rights
holder
noted
above
for
permission
to
reuse
.
Associated
Press
Photo
-
Caution
:
Use
Credit
.
Object ID
WV0311.6.002
Digital publisher
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304 --
http://library.uncg.edu/
OCLC number
900813744
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