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Helen G. James Collection

National Air and Space Museum

Object Details

Creator
James, Helen G.
Topic
Women in aeronautics
Aeronautics, Military
Lesbian and gay experience
Provenance
Helen James, Gift, 2018, NASM.2018.0042
Creator
James, Helen G.
See more items in
Helen G. James Collection
Summary
This collection consists of one nine by six inch green photograph album containing 70 pages of back and white images, mostly snapshots, relating to Helen G. James' United States Air Force career, 1952-1955. The collection also contains James' military and discharge records as well as legal documents from her discharge lawsuit.
Biographical / Historical
Helen G. James, born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, enlisted in the US Air Force in 1952. Receiving positive performance evaluations, she was promoted from radio operator to crew chief, achieving the rank of Airman Second Class. While stationed at Roslyn Air Force Base, James came under investigation by the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) as part of the "Lavender Scare," the campaign to remove all lesbian and gay people from government employment in the 1950s. She was arrested and discharged as "undesirable" with no severance pay or other benefits. James then moved to California where she got an advanced degree in physical therapy from Stanford University. In 1972, she began teaching in the physical therapy program at California State University at Fresno and in 1989 she went into private practice. During the 1960s James successfully upgraded her status from "undesirable" to "General Discharge under Honorable conditions." As her less than honorable discharge status was always on her mind she successfully sued the US Air Force in January 2018 to have her discharge upgraded to honorable. James is now eligible for all Veterans benefits, including access to heath care for the US Department of Veterans Affairs and burial in a national cemetery.
Extent
0.13 Cubic feet (1 box)
Date
1952-1955, 2018
bulk 1952-1955
Archival Repository
National Air and Space Museum Archives
Identifier
NASM.2018.0042
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Citation
Helen G. James Collection, NASM.2018.0042, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement
Collection is in original order.
Processing Information
Arranged and described by Patricia Williams, encoded by Jessamyn Lloyd, 2018.
Rights
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of one nine by six inch green photograph album containing 70 pages of back and white images, mostly snapshots, relating to Helen G. James' United States Air Force career, 1952-1955. The collection also contains James' military and discharge records as well as legal documents from her discharge lawsuit, and two photographs of a bronze cast sculpture of James' hand, holding her dog tag.
Restrictions
No restrictions on access
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1527775805925-1527775805931-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg2050d8b6f-2247-48c6-a965-a3bd0636c75f

In the Collection

  • Legal Documents - Discharge Lawsuit

  • Military Records

  • Sculpture Photographs

  • Photo Album

[Photo Album]
View Slideshow
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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View Finding aid

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