Lucy Phillips Pugh Collection

Details

Who's responsible?: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries (Repository)
How much has been digitized?: Only a part of this collection has been digitized.
Where can I find more information?: https://uncg.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/963
What's in the full collection?: 6 May 1999 oral history transcript; Booklet "The Coast Guard & The Women's Reserve In World War II" , 1992; Women's Military Memorial edition of the "The Coast Guard Reservist", November 1997; photographs of Lucy at SPAR reunions 1985, 1988, 1990; photographs of Lucy at WWII memorial in Washington D.C. 2004; SPAR training center postcards in Palm Beach Florida circa 1944; photographs of Lucy and friends in St. Louis 1944; photograph of Lucy in Chicago with friends, 1944.
Full biography: Lucy Pugh (1922-2014) of Bennett, North Carolina, performed sentry and switchboard duties as a member of the Coast Guard SPARS (Semper Paratus-Always Ready) from 1943 to 1945. Lucy Pugh was born in Bennett, North Carolina on 14 September, 1922.She graduated from a local high school in 1940 and then went to work at cotton mills in nearby towns of Coleridge and Robbins. Pugh enlisted in the Coast Guard SPARS in Fall 1943 at a recruiting station in Lexington. She attended basic training in West Palm Beach, Florida, and then in January 1944 was sent to St. Louis, Missouri, where she initially did maintenance work in a machine shop. Pugh was transferred shortly thereafter to sentry duty at the barracks and also performed switchboard and elevator operating duties. In fall 1944 she began work in the 9th District Headquarters, where she performed the same duties until her discharge in the summer of 1945. Pugh married in 1949. She worked at a mill in Siler City, North Carolina, and then in 1947 went to work for Sears-Roebuck in Greensboro, North Carolina, from which she retired in 1960. She remained active in SPARS reunions. Pugh died in her hometown of Bennett in 2014.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Branch of service: Coast Guard -- SPARS
Conflict: World War II era (1940-1946)
Subject headings: World War, 1939-1945
United States. Coast Guard
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

: Lucy Phillips Pugh; Formal portrait of Lucy Phillips Pugh in SPAR uniform, circa 1944.

: Lucy Phillips Pugh and friend in St. Louis; Lucy Phillips Pugh (right) and fellow SPAR stand outside a Medical Department in St. Louis in dress blue uniforms, including hats and gloves, circa 1944.

: Lucy Phillips Pugh and friend in photo booth; Lucy Phillips Pugh (right) and a fellow SPAR in a photo booth in St. Louis, circa 1944.

: Oral history interview with Lucy Phillips Pugh; Primarily documents Lucy Pugh's early life and her service with the Coast Guard SPARS (from Semper Paratus-Always Ready) during World War II. Pugh discusses her life before the war, including her father's general store; playing basketball in high school; working in a cotton mill; and four of the eight children in her family joining the military during World War II. " Pugh remembers her decision to join the Coast Guard; her time in basic training, including the daily routine, obstacle courses, and drills; getting her uniform; and women not being allowed to work on the ships. She discusses working in a machine shop in St. Louis; being transferred to sentry and switchboard operating duties; living in a converted woman's club with little privacy; free entertainment; and saving leave time for a trip home at Christmas. Pugh also recalls not becoming a radio operator; playing on the SPARS basketball team; rushing back to the base on D-Day; and her discharge. " Other topics include the Roosevelt family; the emotional impact of combat on her brothers; her perspective of the German and Japanese troops; the definition of a hero; and the benefits she gained from her service.

: St. Louis SPAR basketball team; St. Louis 9nd SPAR Basketball Team, circa 1944. Players include (front, left to right) Mary J. Malone, Lucy Phillips Pugh, Marianne Cohan, Anne Galagher, (back) Lt. Auleen Kirkhart, Madeline Fagan, Doris Hinks, Carol Dusterwinkle, Mary Levorchick, and Alma Hickey.

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Women Veterans Historical Project

Lucy Phillips Pugh Collection

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