Helen Louise Cowgill Collection

Collection

Identifier: WV 0475

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains correspondence from Helen to her family, one newspaper clipping, and one letter from her brother William. The letters that Cowgill wrote to her family detail her life in the Army, her service in various hospitals around the country, and the places where she was stationed.

Dates

1945-1948
Other: Date acquired: 12/20/2009

Creator

Cowgill, Helen Louise (Person)

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.

Biographical Note

Helen Louise "Weezie" Cowgill was born on 1 May 1919, in West Point, New York, the second child of Army Major Allen P. Cowgill and Helen Mary (Schwind) Cowgill.

Cowgill joined the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WAC) on 27 February 1945 and was sent to Fort Des Moines, Iowa, for basic training. Afterward, she was stationed with the 39th WAC Hospital Company at the base hospital at Camp Pickett, Virginia, and then the 96th WAC Hospital Company at the Woodrow Wilson General Hospital in Staunton, Virginia.

Early in 1946, she was stationed at the Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, before being transferred with the WAC Medical Detail to the Regional Hospital in Fort Meade, Maryland. Other locations she served at the 1946 were the 109th WAC Detail to Camp Stoneman, California, and Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. On 16 October 1946, Cowgill arrived at Fort Clayton, Canal Zone, near the Panama Canal in Central America. In 1947, she was promoted to Sergeant and finished her Army career at Fort Clayton in 1948. After her death on 16 March 2008, Cowgill was buried at the West Point Cemetary in New York.

Extent

0.08 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Helen Louise Cowgill (1919-2008) of Syracuse, New York, was a segeant in the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1945 until 1948.

This collection contains correspondence 1945-1948 by Helen Cowgill, one newspaper clipping, and a letter from Cowgill's brother William.

Arrangement Note

The collection is arranged chronologically by date of creation.

Source of Acquisition

eBay

Offensive Language Statement

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