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Dorothy M. Jenkins [October 1944]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
  • Location of Service: Camp San Luis Obispo, California; Camp Beale, California; Papago Park, Arizona
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/5724

View full service history

"As I assisted with surgeries, often times the tears soaked the surgical masks that I wore because of the betrayal that I felt about the government in permitting such treatment." (Memoir, page 2)

Raised on a farm in rural Oklahoma, Dorothy Jenkins faced limited educational opportunities and was encouraged by her family to venture further afield, by first attending high school in Oklahoma City and then later nursing school in Texas. By the time she turned 21 in 1944, she was a registered nurse with dreams of serving in the military. Denied entry to the Navy due to her race, she wound up in the Army, serving as a bedside and surgical nurse at military installations in California and Arizona that housed enemy prisoners of war. As she recalls in her oral history and a short memoir, her white colleagues often treated the German POWs with more warmth and respect than the African American nurses received. Following the end of the war, she left the service and used the GI Bill to obtain a degree in public health nursing at the University of California at Berkeley.

View 2 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

View 2 images in sequence.
[ Military Record and Report of Separation Certificate of Service [May 4, 1947] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Army of the United State Separation Qualification Record [January 27, 1947] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Presidential appointment to the rank of First Lieutenant in the US Army Nurse Corps [November 28,1945] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Memoir, "World War II Black Army Nurses in POW Camps in the U.S.A." ]

About this Item

Title

  • Dorothy Margaret Jenkins Collection

Names

  • Greater Talent Network
  • Buckley, Gail
  • Jenkins, Dorothy Margaret

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Jenkins, Dorothy Margaret
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Nurse Corps.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Nurse Corps
    • Location of Service: Camp San Luis Obispo, California; Camp Beale, California; Papago Park, Arizona
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1944-1947
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served at the German Prisoner of War (POW) Camp in Papago Park.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Military Papers [3 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1945-1947)
  • Manuscript: Memoir [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [2 items] -- Portrait (collected 1944-10)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/5724

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Greater Talent Network, Gail Buckley, and Dorothy Margaret Jenkins. Dorothy Margaret Jenkins Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05724/.

APA citation style:

Greater Talent Network, Buckley, G. & Jenkins, D. M. (1944) Dorothy Margaret Jenkins Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05724/.

MLA citation style:

Greater Talent Network, Gail Buckley, and Dorothy Margaret Jenkins. Dorothy Margaret Jenkins Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05724/>.