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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

[Irene Parsons and Lyndon Johnson, 1965]

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