Emma Dale Newell Love Collection

Details

Who's responsible?: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries (Repository)
How much has been digitized?: Only a part of this collection has been digitized.
Where can I find more information?: https://uncg.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/890
What's in the full collection?: 4 June 1999 oral history transcript; Copy of Certificate of the Bronze Star Medal awarded to Emma; Honorable Discharge Certificate and military form; copy of Army German-American relations orders; copy of personal correspondence during overseas service,1944; photographs of Emma during service in France 1944; photocopy of Emma walking with General Patton circa1945, Luxembourg; photocopy of Charlotte Observer article featuring Emma March 29, 1945.
Full biography: Emma Newell Love (1921-2003), of Charlotte, North Carolina, served overseas in the Women's Army Corps from 1944 until 1946. Emma Newell Love grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and graduated from high school in 1940. She attended Queens College in Charlotte for one year before taking a job in the circulation department at the "Charlotte Observer". In 1944, Love joined the Women's Army Corps (WAC). She completed basic training at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia and was then shipped out to the United Kingdom, landing in Scotland in May 1944. She was sent to London for six weeks as a secretary in the First Army, and then crossed the English Channel and landed at Omaha Beach in August 1944, shortly after the Battle of Normandy. She was assigned to the Twelfth Army and transported to Versailles before leaving for duty in Verdun, France. Before May 1945, Love moved to Wiesbaden, Germany. When the Twelfth Army was disbanded, she was given the Bronze Star for her service and transferred to the Fifteenth Army at Camp Lucky Strike near Le Havre, France. Love returned to the United States on 14 February 1946, and was discharged at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Love was married to a German for about thirteen years and had a daughter. In the late 1950s, she reconnected with James C. Love and they were married. She worked for the "Charlotte Observer" after returning from the war and later worked for the Small Business Administration.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Branch of service: Army -- WAC
Conflict: World War II era (1940-1946)
Subject headings: World War, 1939-1945
United States. Army--Women
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

: Emma Dale Love at French ruins; Emma Dale Love, wearing a WAC field jacket and holding her helmet, poses among ruins in France, October 1944.

: Emma Dale Love holding Christmas present; WAC Emma Dale (Newell) Love shakes one of her Christmas packages as they begin to arrive at the 12th Army Group Headquarters in France, November 11, 1944.

: Emma Dale Love in France; WAC Emma Dale (Newell) Love wearing an olive drab wool shirtwaist in France in the fall of 1944

: Emma Dale Love in French ruins; Emma Dale Love reads a book while sitting among ruins in France in October 1944.

: Emma Dale Love in uniform; Emma Dale Love leaning against a tree in France, circa 1945.

: Emma Dale Love playing horseshoes; Emma Dale Love, wearing her field jacket, and fellow WAC play horseshoes in front of ruins in France on October 17, 1944.

: Emma Dale Love reading in tent; Emma Dale Love reads a book while lying underneath a tent in France, October 1944.

: Oral history interview with Emma Dale Newell Love; Primarily documents Emma Newell Love's service in France as a member of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1944 to 1946. Love discusses her reasons for choosing to join the WAC; her parents' reactions; basic and overseas training; boredom on the troop ship; getting her hair done in England during a bombing; buzz bombs; crossing the English Channel; and Liberty ships. Topic related to her service in France include the liberation of France; hearing the Battle of the Bulge from her tent in Verdun; living conditions in France; Colonel C.R. Landon, her commanding officer; social life, including going to dances and restaurants; respect she felt from male co-workers; taking a ride on Adolf Hitler's yacht; C-rations; being sick in Verdun and spending time in the forward field hospital; pup tents; visiting wounded GIs in field hospitals; her constant fear while overseas; and mess hall food. Other war-related subject include the day of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's death; her opinion of Eleanor Roosevelt; and having her photo taken with General George Patton. " Personal topics include growing up with and later marrying James Cleveland Love, and her daughter, Dale. Interview also includes many details of J. Cleveland Love's experiences in Europe and Japan during World War II.

: WACs listen to radio; Official army photo of Emma Dale Love (left) and three fellow WACs listen to the radio while stationed in France, 1944. One of the WACs, who wears an engagement ring, is also fixing her hair.

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Women Veterans Historical Project

Emma Dale Newell Love Collection

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