The William Spencer Smith DeCoursey collection contains items belonging to DeCoursey, his mother, Clara Lavinia (Mitchell) Pinkston, and his wife, Lois (Joyner) DeCoursey.

William Spencer DeCoursey’s folder contains photographs of him from his childhood to his time in the Navy. There is also a US Navy recruitment postcard addressed to him.

Clara DeCoursey Pinkston’s folder contains photographs, a certificate of membership in the Order of the Eastern Star and two wedding books from her marriage to John Pinkston.

There are two folders with photographs of William Spencer DeCoursey’s relatives, extended family, and family friends, including his father William Spencer DeCoursey, Sr., his grandfather and members of his mother’s family.

There are two issues of the Newport Recruit Newsletter from 1939 and 1940.

The collection contains newspaper clippings from various events, mostly concerning sea vessels, both civilian and Naval, and the city of Newport, including from the Newport Daily News covering the grand opening of the Newport Bridge on June 28, 1969. One undated newspaper clipping includes photographs of Black Civil War veterans.

There is a series of Fall River Line journals from 1932-1934, a history of the line published in 1947 and a newspaper clipping from April 29, 1966, on the return of the Fall River Line.

Black writing portfolio with newspapers from the hurricane of 1938 and two copies of a Providence Journal Hurricane Carol aftermath booklet, from August 31, 1954.

There is a collection of Postcards, three have messages and the rest are blank. Most images are of boats and the ocean.

Other notable items include a booklet on the USS Ticonderoga and its role in World War II, travel books, an issue of Jet magazine memorializing Martin Luther King, Jr., a wedding book from Lois Joyner’s first marriage to Naaman Cooper, and a copy of a biographical booklet titled “George Thomas Downing, Sketch of his Life and Times.”