Dorothy R. Collins Sullivan 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.
What's in the full collection?: 9 February 2004 oral history transcript; Textile box contains 2 WAC overseas garrison caps; photographs of Dorothy during her service with her peers and photographs of women in a mail room sorting packages; also a photograph of a room with bags of mail, circa 1944.
Full biography: Dorothy Collins Sullivan (1916-2009,) of New York City, was a postal clerk in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1943 to 1945. Dorothy Collins Sullivan was born on November 16, 1916 in New York City. She was raised in the Bronx and attended high school there. After graduation, she worked at a five-and-dime store. In March 1943, Sullivan enlisted in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). She completed basic training at Fort Oglethorpe before being assigned to Camp Gordon, Georgia, where she sorted mail. After receiving overseas training back at Fort Oglethorpe, her company traveled to England on the HMS Queen Elizabeth. Sullivan was stationed for a year at Sutton Coldfield, England, and later at Vitry-sur-Seine, France, for six months before returning to the United States in 1945. She was discharged in September of 1945 with a final rank of private first class. After her service, Sullivan worked at the American Bank Note Company. She and her husband remained in the Bronx until the late 1970s, when they moved to Florida. She later moved to Nanuet, New York.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Branch of service: Army -- WAAC
Army -- WAC
Conflict: World War II era (1940-1946)
Subject headings: World War, 1939-1945
United States. Army--Women
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

: Dorothy Collins Sullivan and two WACs; Dorothy R. Collins Sullivan (center) poses with two fellow WACs, circa 1944. The women on the left and right wear the WAC khaki shirtwaist, tie, and skirt. Sullivan probably wears the WAC beige summer off-duty dress.

: Dorothy Collins Sullivan at gate; Dorothy R. Collins Sullivan, in WAC olive drab uniform and garrison cap, poses at the gate of a lattice fence, circa 1944.

: Oral history interview with Dorothy Sullivan; Interview primarily documents Dorothy Collins Sullivan's service in the WAAC (Women's Auxiliary Army Corps) and the WAC (Women's Army Corps). Sullivan details her reasons for joining the WAC, including the slogan "Free a Man to Fight." She recalls a visit from Franklin D. Roosevelt during her basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Discussion focuses on her time overseas, including: overseas training; traveling on the HMS Queen Elizabeth; uniforms; overseas army food; social activities; soldiers' responses to WAACs; segregation in the army; V-Mail; trips to Scotland, London, and Paris; and entertainers Jane Froman and Bob Hope. She also discusses receiving emergency furlough to visit her sick mother, the war ending before she could return to Europe, and VE and V-J Day in new York City. " Other topics include her courtship with her husband; adjustment back to civilian life; what she gained from her service; patriotism during WWII; and her brothers' service.

: WACs in fatigues; Eight WACs, including Dorothy R. Collins Sullivan (back row, second from left), sit for a group photo in 1944, probably while stationed in Europe. The women wear the WAC work uniforms and summer fatigue hats; one is smoking a cigarette.