Abbie Voorhies DeVerges papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-361

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Contents

The collection contains materials from Abbie Voorhies DeVerges, an Army Corps nurse who served at the Tuskegee Army Air Field during the Second World War. Items in the collection consist mostly of photographs of Voorhies, her husband Mac Ross, and other Tuskegee Airmen and nurses. The collection also includes Voorhies' military separation records, correspondence, news clippings, and items from a dedication of a philatetic room to Ross.

Dates

Creation: circa 1941-1995
Creation: Majority of material found within circa 1941-1947

Creator

Deverges, Abbie Voorhies, 1915- (Person)

Languages

The collection is in English.

Publication Rights

Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction, and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical Note

Abbie Voorhies was born on August 20, 1915, in Louisiana. She graduated from the Kansas City General Hospital Nursing School, and began working at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Voorhies joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1941, after hearing that military nurses were not discriminated in pay unlike her position in New Orleans. She served as a second lieutenant at Camp Livingston in Louisiana, before transferring to the Tuskegee Army Air Field where she worked as a night nurse.

In 1943 Voorhies married Captain Mac Ross, who was part of the 99th Pursuit Squadron and was a member of the first graduating class from the Tuskegee Army Flying School in 1942. While serving as the Operations Officer for the 332nd Fighter Group in Italy in 1944, Ross was killed in a crash while on a local transition flight. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart among other medals for his service.

By 1946, Abbie Voorhies was promoted to first lieutenant, and was one out of five nurses transferred from the Tuskegee Army Air Field to Lockbourne Army Air Base as the Tuskegee base was closing. She separated from the army in 1947 at the rank of captain. After leaving the army Voorhies remarried and had two sons. She settled in Los Angeles in 1950s.

Extent

0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

Additional Description

Abstract

The Abbie Voorhies De Verges papers contain photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, certificates, and other material from Abbie Voorhies DeVerges, a nurse in the Air Force who worked at the Tuskegee Army Air Field during the Second World War.

Collection Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically.

Acquisition Information

Provenance unknown.

Related Materials

See also an interview with Abbie Voorhies DeVerges on DVD in Box 8 of the Tuskegee Airmen collection (MS 176).

Processing History

Processed by Julianna Gil, Student Processing Assistant, 2017.

Processing of the Abbie Voorhies DeVerges papers was completed by undergraduate students from the University of California, Riverside as part of the Special Collections & University Archives Backlog Processing Project started in 2015. This project was funded by the UCR Library and administered by Jessica Geiser, Collections Management Librarian.