This collection contains items that document community college administrator Jerome Worsley's life as a student at East Carolina Teachers College (now ECU) in the mid-1940s and as a member of the U.S. Army (1951-1953). Included are photographs, clippings and a certificate related to Mr. Worsley's participation in the Chi Pi Players at East Carolina Teachers College; photographs, documents, passport, dog tag, patches, and insignia concerning his service as office manager in Paris, France, for SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. SHAPE is the military unit of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
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.