I.V. Billes papers

I.V. Billes attended Southern University in Baton Rough, Louisiana, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1941. He continued his education at the Tuskegee Institute, in Tuskegee, Alabama, studying toward a Master’s Degree in Administration. He entered the Armed Forces in 1942 and fought in World War II. He was discharged in 1946 and retired from the U.S. Army Reserves as a Lt. Col. in 1969. He started his career as a teacher and coach in 1942 at Lincoln Parish Training School, Ruston, Louisiana, and Grambling College, Grambling, Louisiana, before starting work at the VA Hospital in Tuskegee as a Assistant Supply Officer and working his way up to a Directorship at the VA Medical Center in Martinsburg, West Virgnia. The collection consists of an oral history interview done in 2001 and contains information on the African American experience during World War II. The second part of the collection contains booklets, news clippings and personal information documenting Mr. Billes' career with the Veterans Administration.