Elaine Agnes Anderson Collection

Details

Who's responsible?: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries (Repository)
How much has been digitized?: Most of this collection has been digitized. Some items have not beed digitized due to copyright or other logistical issues.
What's in the full collection?: 13 December 2000 oral history transcript; photographs of Elaine during her services as a WAC in Germany 1949-1952; military payment certificates in five and ten cent denominations.
Full biography: Elaine A. Anderson (1926-2016) of Galesville, Wisconsin, served in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1949 to 1952, and in the United States Army Reserves from 1958 to 1968. She had a long career in finance with the Pelton & Crane Company. Elaine A. Anderson was born in Galesville, Wisconsin, in 1926 and graduated from high school there in 1944. In later 1944 she moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Casualty Department, where she typed letters of notification for the families of wounded, missing, and dead soldiers. She returned to Galesville in 1945 and worked in retail for four years. Anderson enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in June of 1949. After basic training in Fort Lee, Virginia, she attended finance school in St. Louis, Missouri. She was assigned to the Army Chemical Center near Baltimore, Maryland, where she worked in the payroll department. In 1950 she was stationed in Bremerhaven, Germany, where she eventually became head of the payroll department. She was discharged soon after returning to the United States in October of 1952, with a final rank of staff sergeant. Anderson worked briefly as an accountant in Wisconsin and at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida before settling in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she took a job with Pelton and Crane dental equipment company. She joined the United States Army Reserves in 1958 and remained in for the next ten years. Anderson retired from Pelton and Crane in 1990 after over thirty years with the company, and stayed active in the American Legion.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Branch of service: Army -- WAC
Army
Conflict: Post World War II, Korea (1947-1963)
Subject headings: Korean War, 1950-1953
United States. Army--Women
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

: Elaine Anderson and WAC in Germany; Elaine A. Anderson (left) and a fellow WAC pose outside barracks in Germany, circa 1950.

: Elaine Anderson in Germany; Elaine A. Anderson perches on a wall outside a building in Germany, circa 1950.

: Elaine Anderson in Germany; Elaine A. Anderson stands outside Harnack House Annex B near Berlin, Germany, circa 1950, wearing a WAC twill utility overcoat and holding gloves.

: Three WACs on bivouac in Germany; Three WACs sit in the woods while on bivouac in Germany, circa 1950. They have field uniforms, helmets, and canvas field bags; a military vehicle can be seen in the background.

: Two WACs in chairs aboard ship; Elaine Agnes Anderson (right) and a fellow WAC sit in wooden lounge chairs on the deck of a ship headed to Europe, circa 1950. Anderson wears a twill utility overcoat and hood.

: WACs and airmen at NCO club; Elaine Agnes Anderson (center) and a fellow servicewoman are seated at a table in an NCO club in Germany with six Air Force enlistees, circa 1950.

: WACs on bivouac in Germany; Seven WACs, including Elaine A. Anderson (3rd from left) stand in the woods among their tents while on bivouac in Germany, circa 1950.

: WACs play cards in Germany; Elaine A.Anderson (right) and two fellow WACs play cards outdoors in Germany, circa 1950.

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Women Veterans Historical Project

Elaine Agnes Anderson Collection

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