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Westray Battle Boyce Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0472

Scope and Contents

The Westray Battle Boyce Papers cover her life in the WAAC and WAC from 1943 to 1947 as well as her life after her military career. Photographs include a personal appearance at Woman's College, her receiving the Legion of Merit medal, and portraits of her in uniform and civilian dress. Correspondence consists mostly of letters between the alumnae secretary of the Woman's College and Boyce. Clippings include articles and photographs that appeared in different issues of the Alumnae News from 1943 to 1945, as well as clippings from different newspapers covering her career, her life, and local appearances, and speeches she gave. Also included are her typed notecards of the speech she gave at the July 1943 alumnae dinner and which was later printed in Alumnae News, and typed biographical and news releases from different points of her career.

Dates

  • 1943-1975
  • Other: Date acquired: 2009

Creator

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 Note

Westray Battle was born 10 August, 1901 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob B. Battle, Jr. She attended North Carolina College for Women (now University of North Carolina at Greensboro) from 1918 to 1919 in the Commercial program, and Pell's Law School in Raleigh, North Carolina from 1921 to 1922. From 1919 to 1934 she worked at various local and general insurance companies. In March 1934 she entered civilian service of the federal government and worked with National Recovery Administration, Rural Electrification Administration and the Federal Works Agency out of Washington, DC.

From 1924 to 1941, she was married to James Stacy Boyce. Boyce enlisted in Officer's Candidate School (OCS) for the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in the summer of 1942. In October 1942 she was assigned to the Fourth Service Command Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia to head the WAAC s in seven southeast states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. She served on Major General William Bryden's staff, the first second lieutenant to do so as well as the first woman to be a member of such a group. In December 1942 she was promoted to captain. In August 1943 she was sent to North Africa as WAC staff director at Allied Forces Headquarters under General Eisenhower. Boyce was promoted to major and oversaw the reenlistment of the WACs assigned to North Africa. She was also responsible for the health and welfare of the WACs in the North Africa theater and later Mediterranean theater. In 1944, she was promoted to lieutenant colonel and the first woman to receive the Legion of Merit for her work in North Africa.

In August 1944, Boyce returned to the United States and was a military personnel officer on the staff of the War Department at the Pentagon. That same year she was made deputy director of the WAC under Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby. 3 September, 1945 she succeeded Col. Hobby as director of the WAC and was promoted to full colonel. In 1946, she received the Oak Leaf Cluster to her Legion of Merit.

She retired from the service March, 1947 and was appointed national field representative of the National Society for Crippled Children and Adults. In 1947, Boyce was the first woman to receive the Military Service Cross from the Daughters of the Confederacy.

She married William Leslie in 1948 and they were married until his death in 1961. In 1964, she married Willie Jones Long.

Boyce died 31 January, 1972 at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. She was buried in the Battle family burial plot near Cool Spring Plantation in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (1 manuscript box)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

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

Abstract

Westray Battle Boyce (1901 - 1972), of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, served as part of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corp (WAAC) and Women's Army Corp (WAC) from 1942 to 1947. She served under General Eisenhower in North Africa and is the first woman to have received the Legion of Merit medal. In 1945, she succeeded Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby as director of the WAC and served as its second director until her retirement from military service in 1947.

Collection contains copies of letters to and from the alumnae secretary of Woman's College of the University of North Carolina (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), personal and military photographs, biographical information released for publication in conjunction of the announcements of her receiving the Legion of Merit medal and her military appointments, clippings of articles from the Alumnae News and various newspapers, including her obituary.

Arrangement Note

Collection is organized into the following series: Photographs, Correspondence, Clippings, and Miscellaneous

Source of Acquisition

Alumni Office of University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Related Materials

Other Descriptive Information

Westray Battle Boyce is discussed in WV#0212 Josephine Martin Flynn oral history interview, located under External Documents.

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 Edward Lee Love, July 2015.

Title
Westray Battle Boyce Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Edward Lee Love
Date
2009
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