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Ruth Shaver Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0226

Content Description

The collection includes various Correspondence; interviews and news releases; military papers; publications; newspaper clippings; poems; scrapbook; and photographs.

Publications include: WAAC/WAC/Army Printed Material, circa 1942-1945: pamphlet 155 WAC Jobs, 1943; pamphlet Guide for the Operation of Block Leader Service, 1943; pamphlet Physical Examinations of Personnel of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, 1943; pamphlet Tentative WAAC Drill Regulations, circa 1942-1943; pamphlet Train Regulations, circa 1942-1945; pamphlet W.A.A.C. Recruiting Training Memorandum, circa 1942-1943; book WAC Songs, circa 1943-1945; and book Women's Army Corps Fact Sheet, 1943. WAAC/WAC/Army Publications, circa 1942-1946: pamphlet 73 Questions and Answers about the WAC, 1943; pamphlet 90,000 More WAAC Recruits,1943; pamphlet A Plan for Increasing the Rate of Enrollment in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, 1943; pamphlet Graduation Seventeenth Officer Candidate Class of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, 1943; pamphlet, Summary of Organizational and Promotional Work Effected for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, 1943; newsletter WAC News Letter, July 1943; and pamphlet, When You Are Overseas, 1943.

Dates

  • 1942-1951, 1963-1966, 1997

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

Ruth Shaver (1900-1990) served as a recruiter in Ohio and an intelligence officer in Europe as a member of the WAC and WAAC during World War II.

Ruth Shaver was born in Ohio in 1900. She attended Muskingham College in New Concord, Ohio, and Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, before being employed as a School of Education instructor and methods supervisor in the Curry Training School of the Woman's College (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) in 1937.

In 1943 Shaver enrolled in the Woman's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). After basic training at Ft. Des Moines, Iowa, and Officer Candidate School, Shaver was appointed to head recruiting for both the WAAC and it's successor, the Women's Army Corps (WAC), for the state of Ohio, and also served as the liaison officer to the governor. In 1944, Shaver received orders overseas to join the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force in the Intelligence Section of Psychological Warfare, and was also appointed commanding officer of a company of WACs going overseas. To prepare for her work in intelligence, she was sent to British Intelligence School, where she and one other WAC were the first two women to ever attend that school. Shaver was then sent to Paris, where she worked as an interpreter and as an interrogator of French prisoners of war and deportees. She was later transferred to Germany, where her duties included working to counteract German propaganda. Her last position in Europe was in France as dean of women and teacher of French at Biarritz American University. By this time she had been promoted to captain. For her distinguished service during the war, she was awarded the American Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre.

After the war, Shaver returned to Greensboro and Curry School. In 1950 she moved over to Woman's College, as associate professor in the Department of Romance from which she retired in 1966. Shaver died on 27 January 1990.

Extent

0.21 Linear Feet (12 folders )

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
Ruth Shaver 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