Julia (Judy) Houk Cooley 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/1066
What's in the full collection?: March 2009 oral history transcript, photograph; WAVES enlisted garrison cap insignia and a WAVES collar insignia.
Full biography: Judy Cooley (1924-2016), of Edmonton, New York, served as a radio operator in the United States Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) from 1944-1947.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Branch of service: Navy -- WAVES
Conflict: World War II era (1940-1946)
Subject headings: World War, 1939-1945
United States. Navy--Women
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

: Oral history interview with Julia "Judy" Houk Cooley; Primarily documents the service of Judy Cooley in the United States Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service [WAVES] during World War II as a radio operator. Cooley tells of growing up in the rural area of Edmonton, New York, her early education, and how she joined the United States Navy after being forced to postpone her collegiate education to care for her mother. She describes her military training, her technical radio training, and her service. Other topics include the military service records of her brothers, her memories of growing up during the depression, and her experience of taking messages from surrendering German U-boats following the conclusion of wartime hostilities. Additional, Cooley states her views on women in combat, details her first marriage, and describes her civilian life.

: Portrait of Julia "Judy" Houk Cooley; Portrait of Julia "Judy" Houk Cooley as a radioman 3rd class in her WAVES uniform, circa 1944.

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