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[Elizabeth Williams hands out doughnuts, 1943]

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[Elizabeth Williams hands out doughnuts, 1943]

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Title	[Elizabeth Williams hands out doughnuts, 1943]
Date	1943
Subject headings	World War, 1939-1945 American Red Cross
Era	World War II era (1940-1946)
Service branch	Red Cross
Item description	Elizabeth Williams holds a doughnut out to the hands of flyers returning from bombing runs at an American Red Cross clubmobile in southern Italy in 1943. The photo is a classic depiction of a Red Cross "Doughnut Dolly."
Veteran's name	Williams, Elizabeth
Veteran's biography	Elizabeth Williams (1916-1999) of New Bern, North Carolina, served primarily overseas as a Red Cross club director from 1943 to 1952, then had a long career as a teacher in New Bern . Elizabeth Williams was born on 18 June 1916 in New Bern, North Carolina. She was raised in New Bern and attended high school there. In 1933 she enrolled in the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) and graduated in 1937 with a major in social studies and a minor in English. After graduation she returned to New Bern. From 1937 to 1939, Williams worked as an English and social studies teacher in Madison, North Carolina. In 1939 she took up a teaching position in Sumner, North Carolina . Williams joined the Red Cross in 1943 after difficulties in joining the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She took training courses in Washington, D.C., and was assigned clubmobile duty. In 1943 she was sent to Bayview, Maryland, followed by Midston House, New York, and Camp Patrick Henry in Portsmouth, Virginia. That same year she was sent on the SS Mariposa to North Africa. Williams was stationed in Morocco at a club for the First Armored Division. She was then sent to the Red Cross headquarters for the Twelfth Air Force in Algiers, Algeria, followed by Hamamet, Tunisia. From Christmas 1943 to April 1945 she was stationed in Manduria, Italy, in a combat area. She spent the summer of 1945 at home in New Bern and in Washington, D.C. When she returned to the Red Cross, Williams was sent to Calcutta, India, and flown out to Kunming, China. She was also stationed in Yangkai and Tientsin, China. In 1946 she was transferred to Yokohama, Japan. Williams returned to the States in 1948 and worked with the Junior Red Cross until 1952 . After retiring from the Red Cross in 1952, Williams taught school in Atlantic, North Carolina. She later taught at New Bern High School for twenty years. Elizabeth Williams died on 5 September 1999.
Place	Italy
Type	image
Original format	photographs
Image type	Work 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	WV0058 Elizabeth Williams Papers
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.
Object ID	WV0058.6.001
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	900810883

[Elizabeth Williams hands out doughnuts, 1943]

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