William Spencer DeCoursey papers

Collection — Container: Box 1

Identifier: MS 025.011

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

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.”

Dates

Creation: c. 1882-1974

Conditions Governing Access

RIBHS staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Conditions Governing Use

RIBHS staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Biographical / Historical

William Spencer Smith DeCoursey, Jr., was born on March 26th, 1914, and passed December 28th, 1975. DeCoursey would be inducted into the US Military on October 19th, 1942, he served in the Navy during World War II and was stationed aboard the USS Topeka in the Pacific theater of the war. After the war, DeCoursey would return to Newport, where he worked for the Navy in a civilian capacity as a truck driver. He married Lois Catherine Cooper.

Clara Lavinia (Mitchell) Decoursey Pinkston, mother of William Spencer Smither DeCoursey Jr, was born on December 12th, 1882 and passed June 11th, 1968. Originally from Boston, Clara moved to Newport at the age of four. At age fourteen she joined Mt. Zion AME Church, where she joined the Stewardess board and Missionary Society. On September 25th, 1913, Clara married William Spencer Smith DeCoursey Sr, and one year later they had their son. DeCoursey Sr, passed away on August 20th, 1926. Clara would later marry John Pinkston on April 8th, 1947. She remained a member of the Mt. Zion AME church until her death.

William Spencer Smith DeCoursey, Sr., was born in 1857 and passed on August 20th, 1926. Originating from Liberia, DeCoursey, Sr., moved to the United States in 1870. He was naturalized in 1879 in New York. In 1885 DeCoursey, Sr., moved to Rhode Island where he was a laborer.

Lois Catherine (Joyner) DeCoursey was born February 2nd, 1919 and passed June 13th, 1970. Lois was born in Virginia and moved to New York at a young age. She worked in New York for the Federal government in the Welfare department. Lois would marry Naaman Cooper on November 18th, 1935. They had two children, Barbara Upson and Raymond Cooper. She met William Spencer DeCoursey, Jr., in New York and would move to Newport with him. In Newport, Lois worked at the Naval Supply center until her retirement in 1969.