Sherley Mae White 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/207
What's in the full collection?: May 2010 oral history transcript; a scrapbook about her time in service in Palm Beach, Florida and another scrapbook about her time the Coast Guard Base in Ketchikan, Alaska; insignia; patches; medals; ribbons; copy of St. Petersburg Times Magazine, 4 July 1943; newspapers; 2 copies of newspaper "The Bowsprit"; photographs; correspondence; souvenirs; sketches; and military papers.
Full biography: Sherley Mae White (1923-2014) served in the Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard (SPARs) from 1943-1945. She served as a drum major for the SPARS marching band at the Biltmore Training Station in Palm Beach, Florida. She later transferred to the Coast Guard Base in Ketchikan, Alaska. White was born on 18 May 1923 and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana.The Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard (SPARS) accepted her for service on 25 May 1943, and subsequently sent her for initial Boat Training at the United States Coast Guard Training Station, in Palm Beach, Florida. The SPARS promoted White to Seaman Second Class after she completed training. White remained at Palm Beach Training Station and performed duties with the SPARS marching band as band major. She also played clarinet and oboe. She was promoted to Boatswain's Mate Second Class on 22 March 1945. The Coast Guard closed down Palm Beach Training Station in spring of 1945, and White departed on 10 April 1945 with orders for duty at the Coast Guard Station at Ketchikan, Alaska. After leave and in-processing in Washington State, she arrived on 19 May 1945. On 28 August 1945, White was promoted to Boatswain's Mate First Class, the rank she held until separation. After the war ended, White departed Alaska on 14 November 1945 for discharge at St. Louis, MO." After her service she earned a B.A. in English from Mills College in Oakland, California in 1950. She later worked for the Girl Scouts of the United StatesA, as a fundraiser for the Crippled Children Society in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as an alderman in Elon, North Carolina, and at the library at Elon Unversity.
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

: Oral history interview with Sherley Mae White; Sherley Mae White tells of her early life and education, the process of entering the service, her SPARS career, and her life after leaving the service. White discusses her family, SPARS training, her friends in the service and Girl Scouts (many of whom were the same people), college education, and later career. Other subjects include her views on war, current politics, anecdotes about friends and family, and the educational system.

: Portrait of Sherley Mae White; This is a black and white portrait of Sherley Mae White in her uniform.

: Portrait of Sherley Mae White; Sherley Mae White, drum major, is seen here posing for the SPAR Band in her enlisted personnel service dress uniform, in Palm Beach, Florida in 1944. On her left sleeve is one service stripe, indicating four years of active service in the United States Coast Guard.

: The bowsprit [vol. 2, no. 2]; This is an issue of The BOWSPRIT, newsletter of the United States Coast Guard Training Station in Palm Beach, Florida, from December 16, 1944.

: The bowsprit [vol.1, no. 1]; This is an issue of The BOWSPRIT, newsletter of the United States Coast Guard Training Station in Palm Beach, Florida, from November, 1943.

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Women Veterans Historical Project

Sherley Mae White Collection

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