Susie Winston Bain Collection
Scope and Contents
Dates
- 1943 - 2000
- 1944
Creator
- Bain, Susan Winston (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.
Biographical Note
Bain took flying lessons in order to qualify for the newly formed WASP in 1943. She interviewed and joined the WASP at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, in November 1943. After six months of basic training at Avenger Field outside of Sweetwater, Texas, Bain graduated in Class 44-W-4, Flight 1, on 23 May 1944. She was sent to Love Field in where she ferried PT-19s across the country. In September 1944, after a short stint at Garden City, Kansas, Bain was transferred to Laredo, Texas, where she flew B-26s and towed targets for men's live ammunition practice.
Susie Bain met her future husband, Carson Bain, while they were stationed in Laredo. She received an early discharge to marry him in October 1944. After his discharge the couple moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, where Carson founded the Bain Oil Company and they raised a family. The couple later divorced and Mrs. Bain relocated to Austin, Texas.
Extent
3.50 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Correspondence, artifacts, textiles, printed material, clippings, and an oral history interview document Susie Winston Bain's 1943-1944 service as a WASP. Letters from Bain to her family describe daily life on base in Laredo, Texas, in 1944. Military and personal papers document Bain's activities as a pilot during WWII and in post-war Greensboro, North Carolina. Photographs illustrate WASP and their planes, while printed material records WASP contributions and related organizations. Bain's oral history interview details her early life, her military experiences, and the effects of her service on her life after the war. Prominent subjects include Jacqueline Cochrane, Nancy Love, Hap Arnold, Eleanor Roosevelt, and women in the military. Textiles include Bain's WASP battle jacket and reunion materials.
Arrangement Note
Method of Acquisition
Offensive Language Statement
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may occasionally re-use language provided by creators or former holders of the materials, but we strive to place outdated or offensive terminology in context.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
- Bain, Susan Winston
- Women Airforce Service Pilots (U.S.)
- Women Airforce Service Pilots (U.S.) -- Interviews
- Women Airforce Service Pilots (U.S.) -- Military life
- Women air pilots -- United States -- Correspondence
- Women air pilots -- United States -- Interviews
- Women in war
- Women veterans -- United States
- Women veterans -- United States -- Interviews
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Female
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Women -- United States
Creator
- Bain, Susan Winston (Person)
- Title
- Susie Winston Bain Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Beth Carmichael
- Date
- 04/08/2007
- 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