]> hicks Finding Aid for the Mattie Donnell Hicks Collection, 1942 - 1999 Processed by: ; machine-readable finding aid created by: Elizabeth Carmichael

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Machine-readable finding aid derived from XML authoring program. Date of source: January 2004 Description is in English Finding Aid for the Mattie Donnell Hicks Collection, 1942 - 1999 WV-0044 University Libraries, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro &hdrnguscua; Descriptive Summary Women Veterans Historical Collection Hicks, Mattie Donnell Mattie Donnell Hicks Collection, 1942 - 1999 #WV-0044 Material in English 12.5 linear feet 6 archival boxes For current information on the location of these materials, please consult University & Archives and Manuscripts. African American nurse Mattie Donnell Hicks of Greensboro, N.C., served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1945 to 1966. Artifacts, an oral history interview, and textiles document her service in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II and the Korean War. Artifacts include service ribbons, cuff buttons, and shoulder insignia. The oral history interview documents Hicks's early life, her military service, and her post-war life in Greensboro, N.C. Specific subjects include basic training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin;, segregation in the army; damage done in Korea during the war; her activities as a nurse during the Korean War; her travels to Japan, Korea, and Germany; and her social activities in Germany. Textiles include two uniforms, a seersucker exercise suit, a hospital gown and cap, outer wear, and accessories that primarily date from the 1950s. Administrative Information Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers. or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Individuals obtaining materials from University Archives & Manuscripts at UNCG are responsible for using the works in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Mattie Donnell Hicks Collection, #WV-0044, Women Veterans Historical Collection, Jackson Library, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Acquisitions Information

Gift of Mattie Donnell Hicks of Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 25, 1999.

Processing Information

Processed by Linda Jacobson, December 1999

Encoded by Elizabeth Carmichael, January 2004

Biographical Note

Mattie Donnell Hicks was born and raised in Greensboro, N.C. She graduated from Dudley High School and entered nurse's training at the Grady Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, Ga. Hicks graduated after three years and worked in Gainesville, Ga., and Spartanburg, S.C. She also attened graduate courses in public health in both Richmond, Va., and Charlotte, N.C.

Hicks joined the Army Nurse Corps on July 2, 1945, and completed three weeks of basic training with an integrated unit at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin. She was shipped to the general army hospital at Camp San Luis Obispo in California, where she became a member of a segregated African American unit.

Hicks left the army shortly after arriving in California, in August 1945, but re-entered the military in March 1946. She was sent to Tilton Army Hospital at Fort Dix, N.J., as a general medical or surgical nurse, and then to the Fort Lee, Va.

From 1951 to 1953, Hicks was stationed in both Japan and Korea. She served at the Eleventh Evacuation Hospital in Korea and later at the Osaka Hospital in Japan. Additional stations of duty during Hick's military service include Lockburne Air Base, Columbus, Ohio; Valley Forge General Hospital, Phoenixville, Pa.; Letterman Army Hospital, San Francisco, California; U.S. Army Hospital, Fort Lee, Va.; 2nd Field Hospital, Germany; U.S. Army Hospital, Bremerhaven, Germany; and Womack Army Hospital, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Hicks retired from the army as a major in April 1966, after twenty-one years of service. She built a house in Greensboro, N.C., and worked part time at the L. Richardson Memorial Hospital in Greensboro.

Collection Overview

African American nurse Mattie Donnell Hicks of Greensboro, N.C., served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1945 to 1966. Artifacts, an oral history interview, and textiles document her service during World War II and the Korean War. Artifacts include service ribbons, cuff buttons, and shoulder insignia. The oral history interview documents Hicks's early life, her military service, and her post-war life in Greensboro, N.C. Specific subjects include basic training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin; segregation in the army; damage done in Korea during the war; her activities as a nurse during the Korean War; her travels to Japan, Korea, and Germany; and her social activities in Germany. Textiles include two uniforms, a seersucker exercise suit, a hospital gown and cap, outer wear, and accessories that primarily date from the 1950s.

Organization of the Collection

The collection contains the following series.

Series 1. Oral History Series 2. Photographs Series 3. Printed Material Series 4. Artifacts Series 5. Textiles Container List Series 1. Oral History, 1999.

Documents Mattie Donnell Hicks's early life, service in the Army Nurse Corps from 1945 to 1966, and post-war life in Greensboro, N.C.

Hicks provides a brief description of her basic training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, in an integrated unit as well as complications at the hospital at Camp San Luis Obispo due to being in a segregated black unit. Toward the end of the interview she comments on the sense of family in the military and her adjustment to civilian work after more than twenty years of military service.

Hicks also discusses traveling with the army and her many transfers to new bases. Subjects include Korea during the war and the damage done to the country; the type of work she provided in Korea and Japan while tending to military and civilian patients;and her social activities when stationed in Germany; and the different types of uniforms that she wore at various duty stations.

Interviewed by Hermann J. Trojanowski on February 25, 1999. Transcript: 37 pages. Sound recording: 1 audio cassette (65 min.)

1 Sound recording 2 Transcript Series 2. Photographs, c. 1945-1966.

Three black-and-white photographs of Mattie Donnell Hicks in uniform.

3 Photographs Series 3. Printed Material, 1966, 1999.

Printed material includes a photocopy of a 1966 Greensboro, N.C., newspaper article about Hicks and several 1999 Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation (WIMSA) notecards.

4 1966 5 1999 Series 4. Artifacts, n.d. 1: 2-1 French Cuff Buttons American Defense Service ribbon, n.d. Victory ribbon, n.d. Shoulder Insignia, Captain's Silver Bars, n.d. Shoulder Insignia, Major's Gold Oak Leaf, n.d. Series 5. Textiles, c. 1942-1950s. 1 Olive Drab Duffel Bag Olive Drab Herringbone Twill Trousers Olive Drab Socks 2 Summer Green Cord Uniform (Skirt and Jacket), circa 1950s Brown/White Seersucker Dress/Exercise Suit, circa 1942-1951 White Hospital Gown White Nurse's Cap 3 Field Jacket Liner, circa 1945 Taupe Uniform (Jacket and Slacks), circa 1950s 4 Taupe Overcoat, circa 1950s Taupe Raincoat, circa 1950s Separated Material

Separated items include oral history sound recording, artifacts, and textiles.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following subject headings in online catalogs.

African American women--Interviews. Hicks, Mattie Donnell. Korean War, 1950-1953--Participation, Female. Korean War, 1950-1953--Women--United States. Military nursing--United States. Military uniforms. United States -- Armed Forces -- African Americans. United States. Army Nurse Corps. United States. Cadet Nurse Corps. Women veterans--United States. World War, 1939-1945--Participation, Female. World War, 1939-1945--Women--United States.