Collection Title: William G. Pierce Collection
Series Number: MS10-46
Processed and Cataloged by: Sarah Hardaway
Date Listed: January 5, 2020
Date Span: 1858-2016
Size of Collection:
Number of Boxes:
Type of Material: Photographs, ephemera, license plate, correspondence, dvd, textiles.
Condition of Material: Good with some foxing due to improper storage.
Arrangement: Subject and chronological arrangement.
Biographical / Historical Information: William G. Pierce was a citizen of Mayfield, Kentucky during the Second World War. He resided at 412 East South Street. He attended Murray State University after graduating high school and then joined the United States Navy. While in the U.S. Navy, he was stationed on the USS Sperry (AS-12), a submarine tender and traveled to numerous countries while deployed including Yokosuka, Japan and Matazlan, Mexico. As a retired military service member and civilian, he worked for the Datsun Motorvator (forklift) company.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of World War II era ration books, a war stamp booklet, Wendall Willkie campaign mailer and a program from a Pearl Harbor memorial service in Mayfield, Kentucky. There are many photos of Pierce and his shipmates, Navy certificates, and two USS Sperry uniform patches. Included in the collection are luggage tags, stationary, cards, and menus from Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan. Pierce collected numerous souvenirs and mementos from the various military museums he visited including rack cards, maps and guides, and a small booklet. Museums and national sites he visited include Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia; Patriot's Point Maritime and Naval Museum in South Carolina; Halls, Tennessee Veteran's Museum and Air Show; Patton Museum Kentucky; Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.; USS Alabama in Alabama; and the USS Batfish in Oklahoma. There is correspondence between Pierce and various Kentucky state elected officials including Senator Mitch McConnell and national elected political figures including Colin Powell (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff). There is a booklet on the estate sale of Mr. Lon Carter Barton and a two-disc DVD set, "The Pearl of the Purchase" (a historical tour of Mayfield) with Mr. Barton narrating. The collection includes information about Mayfield, KY native and World War II pilot Colonel Herschel H. Green.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Pierce, William G.
World War, 1939-1945 – United States.
Rationing – Kentucky – Mayfield.
United States – Petty Officer.
Green, Herschel H., 1920-
