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Elizabeth Ann Ray Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0416

Content Description

Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Ray of Winnsboro, Texas, served as an officer in the United States Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), Women's Army Corps (WAC), and Women in the Air Force (WAF). Ray served as both deputy director and director of WAF. Her service career lasted from 1942 till 1964.

This collection includes 11 June 2008 oral history transcript; Military service resume; sheet of Women in the Armed Services stamps; photographs from service 1944-1973.

Dates

  • 1944-2008

Conditions Governing Access

This 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

Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Ray (1913-2011) served as an officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), Women's Army Corps (WAC), and Women in the Air Force (WAF) from 1942 to 1965. Ray served as director of WAF from 1961 to 1965. Elizabeth Ann "Betty" Ray was born in 1913 in Winnsboro, Texas, and was raised primarily in Oklahoma. In 1934 she graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in journalism. After graduation Ray worked for a newspaper in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Ray was later recruited by the war department and served in the Public Relations Bureau in Washington D.C.

In 1942, Ray joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and completed Officer Training School at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. She had brief assignments at the training center at Daytona Beach and in Washington, D.C. in the WAAC Headquarters in the Pentagon before being transferred overseas. Ray was sent to the headquarters of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Algiers, Algeria, then appointed commander of a WAC intelligence squadron at 15th Air Force Headquarters in Bari, Italy. She returned to the United States in late 1945 and was assigned to the inactive reserve."

On May 10, 1949, Ray was reactivated in the Women in the Air Force and sent to Mitchel Field, New York, where she commanded female troops then worked in personnel and public relations. In 1950 she also attended Armed Forces Informational School at Carlisle Barracks. From 1953 to 1955 she served as deputy director of WAF. From 1955 to 1958, Ray served as executive secretary for DACOWITS (Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services). She then became a director at Strategic Air Command (SAC) headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

In 1961, Ray was appointed director of WAF, and served in this capacity until her retirement from the military in 1965. After her retirement as assistant dean for academic affairs at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Ray moved to Southern Pines, North Carolina, where she died on 7 December, 2011.

Extent

0.21 Linear Feet (4 Folders )

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

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

Abstract

Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Ray of Winnsboro, Texas, served as an officer in the United States Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), Women's Army Corps (WAC), and Women in the Air Force (WAF). Ray served as both deputy director and director of WAF. Her service career lasted from 1942 till 1964.

The collection includes 11 June 2008 oral history transcript; Military service resume; sheet of Women in the Armed Services stamps; photographs from service 1944-1973.

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 Victoria Hinshaw

Title
Elizabeth Ann Ray Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Victoria Hinshaw
Date
2022 September
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