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The majority of the collection relates to Captain Leslie Avery Shaw's military service in the U.S. Army, especially during World War II when he served in the 11th AAA, 49th AAA Brigade, VII Corps, U.S. First Army in Europe. Included are maps and overlays concerning operations at Utah Beach at Normandy, orders, citations, reports, photographs, letters, postcards, military ribbons and insignia, and items from his personal military file. Additional items including many photographs document his personal life after the war. Photographs, printed material and memorabilia from the 1950s and early 1960s relate to the early years of his son Robert Avery Shaw's life in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Documents pertaining to World War II activities of a squadron designated at various times as Bombing Squadron 106 (1943-1944), Patrol Bombing Squadron 106 (1944-1945), and Patrol Squadron 106 (1945-1946), including historical summaries, action reports, war diaries, interviews operational orders, articles, rosters, etc.

Papers of ECU professor and writer Vernon A. Ward, Jr. containing his published works, literary manuscripts, poetry drafts, correspondence, clippings, memorabilla, and photos.

The papers contain material related to the life of Alison Hearne Atkins. A graduate of East Carolina University, Ms. Atkins earned a bachelor's degree in music education in 1952 and a master's degree in vocal performanace in 1961. She taught voice at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas for 28 years and later taught voice at a private studio. Ms. Atkins performed operatic works and performed and accompanied Scottish folk and art songs at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in Linville, North Carolina for over 40 years. Included are notebooks containing teaching notes, programs, and clippings related to her career; clippings related to her former students; cards; letters; and documents relative to her being chosen as one of East Carolina University's 100 Incredible Women in 2007. The papers also include compact discs, an audiocassette, and a 5" reel to reel tape.

This collection contains material related to the Naval service of William Laedlein Wentz (November 25, 1925-April 8, 2014). Included are his Naval records such as correspondence, orders, and inventory forms plus a couple of items related to visits to Korea and China, and Historical Notes for Personnel of the Naval Operating Base at Saipan on Navy Day (October 27, 1946), and reproductions of the December 7, 1941, issue or Honolulu Star-Bulletin 2nd Extra and the December 8, 1941 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser.

Papers (1908-1967, undated) pertaining to the military career and personal life of Lieutenant General Robert Frederick Sink (1905-1965), a graduate of West Point, a pioneer in the use of airborne warfare, who commanded the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army Airborne Corps, during World War II, 1942-1945, participating in the Allied Invasion of Normandy (1944) and the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne, Belgium (1944-1945); and served as Chief of Staff of the RYUKUS command based on Okinawa, Japan (1949); as Assistant Commander of the 7th Infantry Division in Korea (1951); as a member of the Joint Airborne Troop Board at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (1954); and as commander of the Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) and the 18th Airborne (1958); he was promoted to lieutenant general, in 1959, and took command of the U.S. Army in the Caribbean, a post he held until he retired in 1961 due to poor health; he died in 1965; the collection consists of correspondence, clippings, manuscripts, photographs & printed materials.

Personal files created by Pitt County, North Carolina, native Mary Perkins-Williams relate to the Pitt County Black Assembly (1979, 1983), NAACP Legal Defense (1980), regional development (1977-1979), minority issues, and fair housing. Audio-Visual Materials include photographs of scrapbook images (ca. 1950s) documenting both abandoned and active Pitt County, North Carolina, African American public schools. Also included are seven videocassettes documenting a grant-funded oral history project completed in 1994 entitled Growing up African-American in Pitt County.

Papers of ECU professor Dr. Richard C. Todd containing awards for his service at ECU, information about the establishment of the Richard and Clauda Todd endowment, postcards, and materials from his alma mater Millersville State Teachers College, and materials in relation to his publication Confederate Finance.

This collection contains alumnus Suzanne Payne's account of life as a female student at East Carolina University before the passing and implementation of Title IX legislation.

Papers (1856-1898) consisting correspondence in Civil War, letters, post-war correspondence, diaries, miscellaneous items about camp life, etc.

Papers (1873-1922, undated) consisting of mortgage and chattel liens, Mayors' Court complaints, a court case amendments records, a ledger, genealogical data, pamphlets, financial statements, etc.

Papers include military record and report of separation and registered nurse certificate from the North Carolina Board of Nurse Examiners.

Set of 132 photographic prints on stereoscopic cards, arranged in alphabetical order by skin disease. Explanatory text on verso of each card. "Copyright 1910 by Dr. S. I. Rainforth N.Y." at the foot of each card.

The Insurance Survey of Greenville collection contains a letter (December 31, 1937) and an insurance survey (December 27, 1937) of the city of Greenville, North Carolina.