Jean Kennedy WAC Correspondence

Collection

Identifier: M/A 0367

Staff Only

Description of Contents

Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and Army documents from Jean Kennedy's World War II service with the Women's Army Corps (WAC) from 1944 to 1946. The bulk of the collection contains letters written by Kennedy to her father, aunt, and other family members in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Letters were sent from Des Moines, Iowa; Clovis, New Mexico; Calcutta, India; and Chungking and Shanghai, China.

Family members copied some letters to share with each other. These copies are included in the collection, where they exist. Letters are arranged in chronological order.

Dates

Creation: 1944 - 1946

Creator

Kennedy, Jean (Person)

Access

The collection is available for use in Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library during the department's open hours.

Biographical / Historical

Jean Kennedy was born in Ramsey County, Minnesota, on December 30, 1920. The daughter of Daniel and Jessie Kennedy, Jean was raised at 1296 Hague Ave. in St. Paul with her three older siblings, Katherine, Alan and Joyce. Jean Kennedy graduated from St. Paul Central High School in 1938 and attended the University of Minnesota.

In 1944, Kennedy enlisted with the Women's Auxiliary Corp (WAC) of the U.S. Army. She went through basic training in Des Moines, Iowa (February - April 1944), then served in Clovis, New Mexico (April - summer 1944); Calcutta, India (fall 1944 - summer 1945); and Chungking and Shanghai, China (summer 1945 - 1946). Kennedy worked primarily as a stenographer, including working in the Public Relations office. At the end of the war, she stayed on in Shanghai to work for the Office of Strategic Services.

Kennedy returned to the United States in 1946. She settled on the Pacific coast, where she spent many years working for Shell Oil. Kennedy died in Portland, Oregon, in 2011.