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Blossom Ellis Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0382

Content Description

The collection includes an oral history transcript, 9 February 2007; photographs of Blossom in United States Air Force Nurse uniform, circa 1953-1954; official discharge paperwork, 1962.

Dates

  • 1954-2007

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.

Biographical / Historical

Blossom Bernstein Ellis (1929-2012) of Brooklyn, New York, served in the United States Air Force Nurse Corps and Reserves from 1952 to 1962. Blossom B. Ellis was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 25 October 1929, one of five children born to Isadore Bernstein, a Russian immigrant, and Florence M. Bernstein. She graduated from Brooklyn High School for Homemaking and then attended nursing school at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn. Upon completing the nursing program, she continued working there as a general floor duty nurse.

In November 1952, Ellis was commissioned into the United States Air Force and was sent to Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, for basic training. She was subsequently stationed at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas; Royal Air Force Station Greenham Common in Berkshire, England; and Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, California. Ellis met her future husband, William "Bill" Ellis, when she was in England, and they married on 16 June 1957.

She ended her active duty status in September 1957 and was discharged from the reserves in June 1962. The Ellises had three children and lived in various places in the United States and abroad due to Bill Ellis' career in the United States Air Force. When he retired in 1974, the family settled in Liberty, North Carolina, where Ellis worked as a nurse at Randolph Hospital, Kellwood hosiery plant in Siler City, and Clapps Nursing Home. She retired from nursing in the late 1990s. Ellis died 18 November, 2012.

Extent

0.21 Linear Feet (2 folders in document folder )

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

  • License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.

Condition Description

The condition is good.

Offensive Language Statement

The UNC Greensboro University Libraries collects, preserves, and makes accessible unique and historical materials for learning and research. The nature of historical materials is such that some material may represent positions, norms, and values that are offensive and objectionable. These materials represent the opinions and actions of their creators. By providing access to these records in our reading room and through our digital collections, we recognize that archives and rare books can play a vital role in holding those creators accountable and in helping us learn from the past.

Our finding aids and other collection descriptions may occasionally re-use language provided by creators or former holders of the materials, but we strive to place outdated or offensive terminology in context. That said, we recognize that we may not always make the right decision and welcome feedback from all sources so we can learn and adjust our practices. Please contact us at scua@uncg.edu if you encounter problematic language in our finding aids or other collection description. We will review the language and, as appropriate, update it in a way that balances preservation of the original context with our ongoing commitment to describing materials with respectful and inclusive language.

Processing Information

Processed by Matthew McCarthy.

Title
Blossom Ellis Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Matthew McCarthy
Date
2022 August
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Repository Details

Part of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives Repository

Contact:
P.O. Box 26170
320 College Ave.
Greensboro NC 27402-6170 US
336-334-5246