Abbie Voorhies DeVerges papers
Finding aid prepared by Julianna Gil, Student Processing Assistant.
Special Collections & University Archives
The UCR Library
P.O. Box 5900
University of California
Riverside, California 92517-5900
Phone: 951-827-3233
Fax: 951-827-4673
Email: specialcollections@ucr.edu
URL: http://library.ucr.edu/libraries/special-collections-university-archives
© 2017
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Abbie Voorhies DeVerges papers
Date (inclusive): circa 1941-1995
Date (bulk): circa 1941-1947
Collection Number: MS 361
Creator:
Deverges, Abbie Voorhies, 1915-
Extent:
0.42 linear feet
(1 box)
Repository:
Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
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.
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.
Preferred Citation
[identification of item], [date if possible]. Abbie Voorhies DeVerges papers (MS 361). Special Collections & University Archives,
University of California, Riverside.
Acquisition Information
Provenance unknown.
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.
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.
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.
Collection Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically.
Related Materials
See also an interview with Abbie Voorhies DeVerges on DVD in Box 8 of the Tuskegee Airmen collection (MS 176).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Ross, Mac, 1912-1944
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.
African American fighter pilots
African American nurses
Nursing
United States -- Armed Forces -- African Americans
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, African American
Genres and Forms of Materials
Correspondence
Photographs
Programs
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence
1947, 1989-1991
Box 1, Folder 2
Mac Ross Memorial Philatelic Room dedication
1989
Box 1, Folder 3
Military service records - Abbie Voorhies Ross
1947
Box 1, Folder 4
Newspaper clippings
1970-1991, undated
Box 1, Folder 5
Photographs - Abbie Voorhies
circa 1943-1947
Box 1, Folder 6
Photographs - African American nurses
circa 1941-1947
Box 1, Folder 7
Photographs - Buildings and airplanes
circa 1941-1947
Box 1, Folder 8
Photographs - Captain Mac Ross
circa 1941-1944
Box 1, Folder 9
Photographs - Tuskegee Airmen
circa 1941-1947
Box 1, Folder 10
Tuskegee Airmen 24th Annual National Convention program
1995
