Grace C. Boddie Interview, 2003-08-27 [MilColl OH 86]

NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES OFFICE OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY Military Collection State Archives of North Carolina Grace C. Boddie Interview Summary MilColl OH 86 Interviewee: Grace C. Boddie Interviewer: Iris Howell-de Nijs Interview Date: August 27, 2003 Interview Location: Durham, N.C. Interview Runtime: 0:18:10 Biographical Sketch Grace Collins Boddie was bom on January 15, 1917, in Charlotte County, Virginia, to Flavius Overton and Grace Comfort Crews Collins. Grace Boddie graduated with honors from Drakes Branch High School, and went on to attend college at the State Teacher’s College (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. During her senior year in college in 1943, she entered the U.S. Naval Reserve College program. Upon graduation, Boddie enlisted in the women’s branch of the Naval Reserve during World War II, known as WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She was assigned to Officer Candidate School at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Upon graduation from Officer Candidate School, Boddie was commissioned as an Ensign, and assigned to the Naval Reserve program at Hunter College in New York City. At Hunter College, she taught naval regulations and military law to U.S. Navy recruits. During WWII, Hunter College became a major U.S. Navy training site for women volunteers. The college leased buildings to the Navy, and the Naval Reserve program trained some 95,000 recruits for sendee in both the Navy (the WAVES program) and the U.S. Coast Guard (the SPARS) program. She eventually reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander. When the Navy closed the Hunter College station, Collins was reassigned to Washington, D.C., where her duties included issuing a shipbuilding bulletin. She remained in Washington, D.C., from 1943 to 1948, when she retired to attend law school under the G.I. Bill. When released from active duty, Collins remained in the U.S. Naval Reserves until 1954. 1