Beauchamp, Virginia Walcott, May 12, 1982

Virginia Walcott Beauchamp (June 28, 1920 – February 10, 2019), born in Sparta, Michigan and raised in Ann Arbor, was a scholar, educator, and champion of equity for women. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in English in 1942 and taught at the high school level for several years. In the spring of 1945, she was accepted for a position with the Red Cross as a club recreation worker. Assigned to the Philippines, she arrived by ship in Manila on October 5, 1945. She worked at the Red Cross Club in Batangas for approximately eight months. In the interview, she describes the programming there, supplies, and interactions with Red Cross personnel, local Filipinos, and Japanese prisoners of war. She was transferred to San Marcelino Zambales, where she became the club director. On October 5, 1946, she was sent to Japan. She stayed briefly in Yokohama and then worked at the Red Cross Club in Yamagata. She was assigned to the club in Jinmachi in early 1947. She describes her accommodations in Japan, the Red Cross Club facilities, relationships with her Red Cross colleagues and Japanese staff, cultural activities with local Japanese artisans, and her excursions to the countryside. She returned to the United States in May 1947. She obtained a Master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1948 and a PhD in English from the University of Chicago in 1955. She joined the University of Maryland faculty in 1965, where she was instrumental in founding the Women's Studies Program in 1973 and served as it's first coordinator. She retired from the University in 1990.