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Katherine Faye Giles Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0215

Content Description

The collection includes an oral history transcript, 15 May 2001; OS Box 1 contains portrait photograph of graduating class of sergeant school 1st class c 1944; newspaper clipping of Katherine's wedding while in service in Marine Corps in Cherry Point, SC, not dated; photocopy of Katherine in page of a National Geographic 1943 article "Bound fpr Boot Camp"; Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point SC pictoral booklet of base; Booklets "Meet Molly Marine" and This is it Cherry Point", circa 1945; photographs of Katherine in uniform while at the Marine Air Station in Edenton, NC and the 1st Seargent's School in Philadelphia PA, circa 1944.

Dates

  • 1943-1945, 2001

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

K. Faye Kane Giles (1918-2010) of Donora, Pennsylvania, served in the Women Marines from 1943 to 1945.

Katherine Faye Kane Giles was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, in January of 1918. She graduated from Donora High School in 1934 and completed a two year program at a business college. Giles was subsequently employed as a secretary in the Washington County school system and then worked as the chief clerk at American Steel and Wire Company.

Giles enlisted in the Women Marines in March 1943 and was sent to Hunter College in New York for boot camp. In June 1943, she received an assignment for the recruiting station in Nashville, Tennessee. After six months primarily processing applications from male recruits, Giles was recommended for and completed First Sergeant School at Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1944.

She was then sent to Marine Air Corps Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, in April of 1944 for assignment and received orders to Marine Corps Air Station Edenton, North Carolina. There she was placed in charge of a women's squadron. In February 1945, the base was absorbed by Cherry Point, where she worked in the adjutant department of the post exchange.

On July 12, 1945, she married a fellow Marine, Roscoe Giles. She was discharged from the Marines in October 1945, but remained on base as a civilian secretary for the commanding general." Following WWII, Giles moved with her husband to Fort Fairfield, Maine, and when he was recalled to active duty during the Koren War, they moved to Massachusetts.

The couple later lived in Pennsylvania for two years and in New York, where Giles worked as a secretary in two elementary schools. When her family moved to Michigan two years later, she worked as a bookkeeper, legal secretary, and a director of a community foundation. They later lived in Holland for twenty years. In 1983, Giles and her husband retired to North Carolina. Giles died in Salisbury, North Carolina in 2010.

Extent

3.21 Linear Feet (3 folders, Oversize box 1)

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
Katherine Faye Giles 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