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Irma Jean Brooks Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0347

Content Description

The collection includes an oral history transcript, 19 April 2006 oral history transcript; photograph of Irma at retirement ceremony with presentation by RADM Emmett Tidd; Textile Box contains white evening dress uniform jacket and skirt circa 1952-1973; Artifact box contains Recruitment command pins; 2 bags of naval rank pins; name tags.

Dates

  • 1952-1973, 2006

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

Irma Jean Brooks (b. 1929) of Madison, Tennessee, served in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service)from 1952 to 1973, primarily in personnel and administration.

Irma Jean Brooks was born and raised in Madison, Tennessee, but also spent several years in Richland, Washington, during World War II while her father worked at a facility involved with making the atomic bomb. The family returned to Tennessee after the war, and Brooks graduated from Isaac Litton High School in Nashville in 1947. She then attended the University of Tennessee, graduating in 1951 with a major in physical education.

Brooks taught for one year before joining the navy. Brooks received a direct commission in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in January of the following year and was sent to the Women Officers School in Newport, Rhode Island. After four months of training, she was sent to San Francisco, California, where she worked in the office of Commander, Western Sea Frontier, for one year and then as a custodian of registered publications for two years.

Brooks was then transferred to the United States Naval Station in Washington, D.C., where she was in charge of the Quarters K barracks facility in Arlington, Virginia, for three years. Brooks was then ordered to Naples, Italy, for two years on the staff of Commander, Fleet Air Mediterranean. Brooks returned to the United States in the early 1960s and was assigned to the Officer Personnel Division of the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington, D.C.

After that three-year tour, she was transferred to the Naval Air Development Center in Johnsville, Pennsylvania, for three years. Brooks then returned to the Women Officers School in Newport, this time as academic director and leadership instructor." In the late 1960s, Brooks returned to BuPers and was put in charge of officer training.

Her final duty station was at the United States Navy Recruiting Command, where she was in charge of personnel from 1970 until her retirement in March 1973. Brooks moved to San Diego, California, the following year to work in management consulting, and remained there after leaving the company three years later.

Extent

3.42 Linear Feet (2 folders, textile box 1, WVHP general artifact box 2)

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
Irma Jean Brooks Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Matthew McCarthy
Date
2023 February
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