Hampton Roads History Uncategorized
A World War II Camp Hill Mystery…
S/Sgt. John B. Dyer, Jr., 34327356, Rockwood, Tenn., 3164th QM Company, Camp Hill, congratulates Mrs. Anna B. Palmer, Newport News, Va., who was just named the mother of Camp Hill, HRPE, Newport News, Va. (Archive #P0003/01-#E-13990)
Dearest Mariners' Blog Readers, I need your help with something. A short while ago, I was perusing our collection as I often do, in search of an interesting February lecture topic. Each month, I meet with the docents (at present, this is done virtually), and give a short presentation on an object in our collection. And for February, I was on the hunt for something relating to World War II and Black History – I was hoping we maybe had an object belonging to Francis Wills or Harriet Ida Pickens. Alas, I had no such luck. But what I did happen upon is actually far more intriguing and exciting.
The initial object that caught my eye was the above photo that has the catalog title Anna Palmer, mother of Camp Hill. I instantly had many questions: Who was Anna Palmer? What is a Camp mother? And what is this Camp Hill? To my knowledge, Camp Hill was abandoned after World War I – could this be the same camp? Although, to be completely honest, I am far from an expert on the Hampton Roads Ports of Embarkation. As it turns out, this photo is one of over 600 in our collection that include some variation of "Camp Hill, HRPE" in the inscription on the reverse – the Army Signal Corps was diligent in their accurate labeling of photos. Read more
Author Jennifer HackneyTagsTags anna palmer, Army Signal Corps, black history, Black history month, Camp Hill, camp hill HRPE, camp mother, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPE), Newport News, US Army, World War II, WWII Newport News
Hampton Roads History Photography
Hampton Roads During WWII: USO Clubs
Posted on February 22, 2021 May 13, 2021
Dance floor at Service Club C. Naval Ammunition Depot Band played for the benefit of Enlisted men & their ladies to gave a round of applause to Lt. Burgess for his efforts in making the evening a success. (archive number P0003/01-#J-9176)
While the most recognizable way for individuals to serve their country at times of war is through the service branches, there have historically been many other ways in which people served their country abroad and at home. For example, the United Service Organizations, better known as USO, a nonprofit-charitable organization which provides leisure facilities and shows to United States Armed Forces was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1941, to "unite several service associations into one organization to lift the morale of [the] military and nourish support on the home front" (USO.com/about).
In fact, during World War II, there were estimated to be about 3,000 USO clubs worldwide, and Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation was no exception. USO clubs helped soldiers feel at home and gave them the opportunity to step away from the job and the realities of war. They provided leisure, like dances, ping pong tables, and other games; entertainment, sometimes local bands or even Hollywood celebrities would make an appearance (!); and they often had a snack bar, too, selling sandwiches, smokes and soda (but not liquor!) to service people. Read more
Author Laurie KingArchaeological Conservator Author Hannah FlemingMaritime ArchaeologistTagsTags black history, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPE), photographs, The Mariners' Museum Library, World War II, WWII
Hampton Roads History Library & Archives Staff Voices
Hampton Roads during WWII: Army Nurse Corps
Posted on February 2, 2021 September 20, 2021
Major Walter C. Stebbins stands with the 81st Field Hospital Unit during debarkation. To his right is Captain Eileen E. Donnelly Chief Nurse of the 81st Field Hospital Unit since its activation.
The United States Army Nurse Corps (ANC) was formally established by the US Congress in 1901. Women served as nurses in previous wars, but it wasn't until 1901 that they were officially on Army Payroll. The ANC did not see large numbers of active duty nurses until World War I, when 20,000 registered Nurses joined. Numbers dropped after the end of WWI, and in 1941 there were fewer than 1,000 Nurses in the ANC. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor numbers quickly grew; six months later there were over 12,000 on duty Nurses. Over the course of World War II, over 59,000 nurses served in the ANC, many serving abroad in North Africa, England, Burma and the Southwest Pacific.
While many of the enrollees had nursing experience, few had military experience. A four week training course was instituted for ANC Nurses which taught Army organization; military customs and courtesies; field sanitation; defense against air, chemical, and mechanized attack; personnel administration; military requisitions and correspondence, and property responsibility. Nurses worked in all areas of the army-they went wherever the wounded were, and during WWII they worked close to the front lines. Nurses served under fire in field hospitals and evacuation hospitals, on hospital trains and hospital ships, and as flight nurses on medical transport planes. Read more
Author Laurie KingArchaeological ConservatorTagsTags Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPE), Nurse, photographs, The Mariners' Museum Library, World War II, WWII
What Can You Do with a Ship When It's Retired?
Posted on January 7, 2021 February 1, 2021
Caught by the famed photographer Keith Beken of Beken of Cowes, Queen Mary (1936) sets out for New York for the last time. (From P0001.003, Photographs of Steamships, Motorships and Ocean Liners)
Welcome to the New Year, dear readers! I hope you had a peaceful, restful, enjoyable holiday, which now is finally drawing to a close. As usual, this past season while I took a rest from work, I watched movies. I did not watch, however, one of my childhood favorites, that old Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye chestnut White Christmas. But I thought about it when processing a curious part of MS0528, the Herbert Beazley Ocean Liner Ephemera Collection. That section we named, "Repurposed Ships." You see, in the film Bing goes on television to ask his old Army buddies to come to Vermont for Christmas, to help out their former commanding officer who now operates a ski lodge. To introduce the idea, Bing croons, "What can you do with a General, when he stops being a General? Oh what can you do with a General who retires?"
Beazley's liners
Herbert Beazley was all about ocean liners. A small series within his sprawling collection concerns ocean liners that are no longer ships. Many of you will know about one of them, the Queen Mary, now a hotel in Long Beach, California. Since 2018 another former Cunarder, Queen Elizabeth 2, has joined her as a floating hotel in Dubai. Beazley also collected material about the ongoing proposals to repurpose the United States. Read more
Author Jay E. Moore, Ph.DLibrarian ArchivistTagsTags ferryboats, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPE), Hotel ships, Hudson River Day Line, museum ships, Ocean Liners, rebuilt monitors, restaurant ships, side wheel steamers, whalers
Hampton Roads during WWII: the WACs
The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was formed in 1942; originally it was the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), but it was converted to active duty status in 1943. This made WACs unique to other women's military groups, because it was the first time, and the only group, that integrated women into the United States Military. Around 150,000 women volunteered to serve in the WAC during World War II. Women were not allowed to fulfill 'active combat' roles in the military, but that still left over 250 support roles in the army to step into, from stenographer to map maker, photographer to truck driver, mechanic to switchboard operator. All of these positions were vital to the war effort. Many of the women who joined the WAC had a relative or sweetheart already serving, and hoped to bring their loved ones home sooner by aiding in the war effort.
Most of these women served on the homefront, taking over office and other non-combat jobs so that men were able to go overseas to fight. These women were stationed in every type of state-side Army installation, working with the Army Service Forces, Ground Forces, the Army Air Forces, and in Army Hospitals. Read more
Author Hannah FlemingMaritime Archaeologist Author Laurie KingArchaeological ConservatorTagsTags Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPE), photographs, The Mariners' Museum Library, Women's Army Corps, Women's History, World War II, WWII