Winifred Taylor Kuehn Collection
Content Description
The collection includes an oral history transcript, 2 December 1999; "As You Were" magazine, 1994; Navy WAVES book by Elizabeth Allen Butler, 1988; Naval Reserve Midshipman's school song sheet copy; WAVES Sing-A-Long booklet from 50th Anniversary Celebration, circa 1992; photographs of Kuehn in WAVES uniform and gathering with local WAVES group, circa 1944.
Dates
- circa 1944-1999
Creator
- Kuehn, Winifred Taylor (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.
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.
Biographical / Historical
Winifred E. Kuehn (1919-2011), of Wilmington, Delaware, served in the United States Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) from 1942 until 1945.
Winifred "Winnie" Taylor Kuehn was born in Riverton, Maryland, and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. She graduated from high school in 1937 and then earned a bachelor's degree in French from the University of Delaware at Newark. She taught English at Henry C. Conrad High School in Wilmington from the fall 1941 to the spring of 1942."
In summer 1942, Kuehn joined the first class of United States Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She left for basic training at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, in October. In December 1942, she was assigned to the Eastern Sea Frontier in New York City, New York, where she was a watch officer supervising decoding.
In spring 1945, Kuehn was transferred to Wahiawa, Hawaii, to work in communications at Navy Radio 41. Her final duty station was Honolulu, Hawaii. Kuehn left the WAVES and returned home by the end of 1945. Kuehn returned to the University of Delaware to work in alumni affairs and public relations. She married Ralph Kuehn and the couple moved often, eventually settling in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Extent
0.21 Linear Feet (6 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.
- United States. Navy -- History
- United States. Navy -- History -- 20th century
- United States. Navy -- Women
- United States. Navy--Women
- Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services (WAVES)
- Women and the military
- Women veterans
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Female
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, American
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Women
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Women -- United States
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Women -- United States -- Photographs
- Title
- Winifred Taylor Kuehn Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Matthew McCarthy
- Date
- 2022 June
- 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