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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Persian Gulf War, 1991
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Location of Service: Vietnam; Persian Gulf
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/24325

View full service history

"I had to work very, very hard, and I always said I had to be better than my counterpart. It wasn't enough to be just as good." (Audio interview, 22:06)

As a college graduate facing limited employment opportunities, Rear Admiral Katharine Laughton was drawn to what the Navy offered her: equal pay for equal work. Trained in communications, she served in Vietnam as well as stateside in recruitment, which was often a hazardous prospect during an era of frequent anti-war demonstrations. Following her service in Vietnam, she served in high-ranking positions at the Pentagon, for the Navy Inspector General, and in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War-eventually becoming one of the first women to be selected as a flag officer.

Katharine Lenora Laughton Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Katharine Lenora Laughton Collection

Names

  • Laughton, Katharine Lenora
  • Hasemeier, Mary C.
  • La Plata High School
  • Bird, Erin M.

Home State

  • Maryland

Headings

  • -  Laughton, Katharine Lenora
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.
  • -  Persian Gulf War, 1991 -- Personal Narratives

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Location of Service: Vietnam
    • Dates of Service: 1963-1997
    • Military Status: veteran

  • Persian Gulf War, 1991

    • Location of Service: Persian Gulf
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2009-01-30)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2009-01-30; 2009-01-30)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-05-24)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2007-11-07; 2007-11-07)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/24325

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Physical Form

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Highest Rank

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

Home State

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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:

Laughton, Katharine Lenora, Mary C Hasemeier, La Plata High School, and Erin M Bird. Katharine Lenora Laughton Collection. 1963. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24325/.

APA citation style:

Laughton, K. L., Hasemeier, M. C., La Plata High School & Bird, E. M. (1963) Katharine Lenora Laughton Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24325/.

MLA citation style:

Laughton, Katharine Lenora, et al. Katharine Lenora Laughton Collection. 1963. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24325/>.