Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis Collection

Details

Who's responsible?: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries (Repository)
How much has been digitized?: Most of this collection has been digitized. Some items have not beed digitized due to copyright or other logistical issues.
What's in the full collection?: 29 February 2008 oral history transcript; Official Navy paperwork.
Full biography: Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis (b. 1938) of Greensboro, North Carolina, served in the United States Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) from 1961 to 1965, followed by a career as a school counselor. S. Ann Thacker Lewis was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, on 15 October 1938. She graduated from high school at Curry School in 1957 and then attended Women's College of the University of North Carolina (now UNCG), earning a degree in physical education. Lewis joined a WAVES recruit program while in college. After graduating, she completed Officer Candidate School at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island. She was chosen to be a legal officer and attended Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island, and was then assigned to Long Beach, California. In addition to defense counsel and prosecutorial duties there, she also worked as a separations officer, public information officer, communications watch officer, and in registered publications. In 1963, Lewis received orders to Wahiawa, Hawaii, where she served as a legal officer and trainer. She met her husband, Chuck Lewis, on a beach in Hawaii, and resigned her commission in January 1965 due to pregnancy. Lewis later earned a masters' degree in counseling and worked for thirty years as a school counselor.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Schools and Colleges
Branch of service: Navy -- WAVES
Conflict: Vietnam Era (1964-1974)
Subject headings: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
United States. Navy--Women
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

Pages

: Bachelor Officers' Quarters, Long Beach; Bachelor Officers' Quarters at U.S. Naval Station Long Beach, California, in 1962. WAVE Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis lives on the third floor halfway behind that structure in the center of the building. She notes "The building is two rooms wide and has no hall in between. All rooms open to the outside."

: Calling cards for Shirley Thacker; Two styles of calling cards for US Navy Ensign Shirley Ann Thacker, circa 1962.

: Dancing at Foreign Officer party; Two couples, including Shirley Thacker Lewis (left) and her naval officer partner from Oklahoma City, dance while a band performs at a party she helped organize for U.S. and Argentine officers visiting the Long Beach Naval Station in August 1962.

: Foreign Officers at pool party; Two foreign naval officers and two women in cocktail dresses chat while seated in lawn chairs at a pool party at U.S. Naval Station Long Beach in 1962.

: Letter from WAVE to Shirley Thacker's parents; Letter written by WAVE officer to the parents of Shirley Thacker (Lewis), informing them of their daughter's recovery from abdominal surgery.

: Military wedding; Newly married naval officers Sylvia Cass Reid and Jack Reid prepare to walk through the arch of swords following their wedding in Long Beach, California, in June 1963.

: Navy Public Information Officers; A group of U.S. Navy public information officers stationed at Long Beach, California, is pictured in August 1963. Pictured (left to right) are Public Information Officer (PIO) Cress, Assistant PIO Shirley Ann Thacker (Lewis), Commanding Officer Cleveland, former PIO Fell, and Assistant PIO McMahill.

: Navy officers at party; Officers at U.S. Naval Station Long Beach mingle by a swimming pool at a party, circa 1962

: Navy officers pool party; A U.S. Navy officer and his date are served punch at a pool party honoring visiting foreign officers at Naval Station Long Beach, California, in 1962.

: Navy relief rose ball; Article from the Long Beach Dispatch Women's Section describing the Navy Relief Rose Ball in July 1963.

: Navy wedding; Wedding portrait of naval officers Sylvia Cass and Jack Reid, attended by maid of honor Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis and an unidentified man (possibly chaplain J.D. Cox), in Long Beach, California, in June 1963.

: Officer and girl dance at Foreign Officers party; Argentine Ensign and Sandy Silk dance at party for foreign officers organized at U.S. Naval Station Long Beach in 1962.

: Portrait of Shirley Thacker in uniform; Official full-length portrait of Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis in U.S. Navy white service uniform with gloves and handbag.

: Portrait of Shirley Thacker in uniform; Official headshot of Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis in U.S. Navy white service uniform, circa 1962.

: Seahorse article; Clipping from the U.S. Naval Station Long Beach newsletter, the Seahorse, depicting four servicewomen receiving a certificate of appreciation from the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors in November 1962. Pictured are Shirley Ann Thacker (Lewis), U.S. Navy; Margaret Cooper, U.S. Army; Dianne Batchelder, U.S. Air Force; and Barbara Boyd, U.S. Marine Corps.

: Seahorse article about Shirley Thacker; Article from Seahorse Newspaper announcing Shirley Thacker's appointment to Assistant Public Information Officer.

: Seps: important to the fleet; Article in the U.S. Naval Station Long Beach newsletter, the Seahorse, about the Separation Office, directed by Shirley Ann Thacker (Lewis), published 20 April 1962.

: Servron one hosts officers' party; Article in the U.S. Naval Station Long Beach newsletter, the Seahorse, describing an "international gala" held for visiting members of the French Navy in January 1963.

: Shirley Thacker at formal ball; Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis poses in a white evening gown at a navy ball in 1962.

: Shirley Thacker in swimsuit; Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis poses on a beach in her swimsuit while stationed at Long Beach, California, in 1962.

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Women Veterans Historical Project

Shirley Ann Thacker Lewis Collection

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