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Susie Winston Bain Collection

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0185

Scope and Contents

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 WASPs 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.

Dates

  • 1943 - 2000
  • 1944

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

Susie Winston Bain was born 21 July 1922 in Markham, Texas, and raised in Bay City, Texas. Her mother was a musician and her father was in the automobile business. She graduated from high school in 1940 and studied home economics at the University of Texas. In early 1942 she found a job in an accountant's office in Houston.

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

Metadata Rights Declarations

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

Abstract

Susie Winston Bain of Markham, Texas, was a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) during World War II.

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. Newspapers and clippings in Oversize box 2. 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

Collection is organized into the following series: Correspondence, Oral History, Papers, Photographs, Printed Material, Artifacts, and Textiles

Method of Acquisition

Gift of Susie Winston Bain in 2000.

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 Linda Jacobson, October 2000

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

Contact:
P.O. Box 26170
320 College Ave.
Greensboro NC 27402-6170 US
336-334-5246