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UH Veteran's Office Records

 Collection
Identifier: 1977-006

The UH Veteran's Office Records contain material pertaining to the university and government-sponsored office for the support and advising of veteran students during the 1940s and 1950s. Dates for items in the collection range from 1944 to 1958, with the bulk of the material dating from the late 1940s.

The collection is arranged into nine series: Veteran's Office, Veteran's Staff Meetings, Budget, Correspondence with Veteran's Administration, Veteran's Administration Field Manual for Training Officers, Guidance Office, Veteran's Service Center, Forms, and Miscellaneous. The original arrangement has been kept intact where possible, however some minor rearrangement was necessary to facilitate research. Material is grouped chronologically within each series. Folder headings used by the originators have been adhered to where possible. For additional information on veteran's affairs at the University of Houston, researchers should also consult the Veteran's Village Records.

Dates

  • 1944-1958

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Extent

1.00 linear feet

Historical Information

The University of Houston played an important part in the United States' efforts during the Second World War. Among its many contributions, the institution housed the first Naval School established in a college, training more than five thousand Navy personnel and several hundred Army and Navy pilots. Following the war, many of the nation's servicemen and women returned to colleges and universities to take advantage of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the GI Bill of Rights. Under the GI Bill, veterans received up to $500 a year from the government to cover tuition and fees as well as a monthly stipend.

Just as the University of Houston contributed to the war effort, following the war it contributed to the education of thousands of returning veterans. Dr. W.W. Kemmerer, assistant to the university president, strongly influenced the university's successful shift from a wartime to a peacetime stance. The postwar years were an era of significant growth for the fledgling institution. Many UH students used the GI Bill to further training obtained in the military, learn a vocational trade, or pursue college degrees. Enrollment for Fall semester 1944 reached 2,720, a significant increase from the 1,104 students just a year before. By the 1947-1948 school year enrollment reached 10,882.

To aid veterans in their transition from military to student life, UH established a guidance program with Richard O. Jonas as chief counselor and Roy A. Crouch as head of the office of psychological services. In December 1944 the U.S. Veterans Administration selected the University of Houston as the site for an official VA Advisement Center, augmenting the guidance program's effectiveness. The office provided assistance in application for admission to the university and obtaining compensation through the GI Bill. A special housing bureau helped veterans and their families locate places to live. Counselors, often former members of the armed forces themselves, aided ex-soldiers with registration, career guidance, and overall readjustment to civilian life.

Related Materials

Veteran's Village Records, Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.

Processing Information

Tyler Selle, June 1997

Title
Guide to the UH Veteran's Office Records
Author
Tyler Selle
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2021-07-20: As a part of the 2021 Special Collections reparative description project, Brooks Whittaker added subject headings to this finding aid to better represent individuals and promote discoverability of collection materials.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Houston Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections
MD Anderson Library
4333 University Drive
Houston TX 77204-2000 USA
713-743-9750