Elizabeth Clark Beavans

Elizabeth Clark Beavans. Image Source: East Carolina Yearbooks, Tecoan, 1930. UA50-01. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Elizabeth Clark Beavans, a native of Enfield, N.C., was born August 27, 1908, the second child and first daughter of William Eugene Beavans (1868-1946) and his wife, Estelle Ferdinand “Ferdie” Clark Beavans (1881-1972). During WWII, Beavans was among the first female alumni to take advantage of largely unprecedented opportunities for women in the armed forces and in doing so, personally demonstrated East Carolina’s support for the war effort as well as her own devotion to the school’s motto of service.

Beavans initially studied at the State Teachers College (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. There she was a member of the Old North State Club her freshman year and a member of the Spanish Club and secretary of the North Carolina Club her sophomore year. Beavans transferred to ECTC where she graduated in 1930, an intermediate education major. At ECTC, Beavans was a member of the YWCA, the Emerson Society, and the Elementary Education Council. She also furthered her education with study at Smithdeal-Massey Business College in Richmond, Virginia.

In 1942, Beavans joined WAVES – Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, a unit of the U.S. Naval Reserve – not long after Pres. Franklin Roosevelt signed the corps into law on July 30, 1942. WAVES was comparable to the slightly older U. S. Army WAAC – Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps – program, but unlike WAAC which did not initially give its participants status comparable to men in the Army, WAVES enlistees were recognized as full-duty members of the U.S. Navy and served in various capacities from clerical service to flight instructors. A similar program, SPARS – “Semper Paratus – Always Ready” — was established to provide women with service positions in the Coast Guard. And as a Teco Echo article on the new programs noted, “As a member of the WAVES or SPARS, you can wear the same ratings and earn the same pay as America’s finest fighting men.”

Beavans completed her three-month basic training program at Indiana University in 1943, and then received her commission from the Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. During her WAVES service, she worked at the Office of Naval Inspection in Atlanta.

Shortly after the war, Beavans married Mobley Sheppard (1904-1961) and moved to Decatur, Georgia, where she and her husband, a 1922 graduate of Georgia Tech and owner and president of Sheppard Plate and Machine Works, lived for a number of years. She later moved to The Albermarle, a retirement facility in Tarboro, N.C., where she lived until her passing, October 25, 2003, age 95.

Sources:

• Brown, Rosalie. “With the Armed Forces. Teco Echo. October 29, 1943. P. 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37927
• “East Carolina Has 312 Alumni Listed in Armed Services.” Teco Echo. November 12, 1943. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37928
• “El Circulo Espanol.” Virginian. 1928. P. 193. https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/yearbooks/72/
• “Elementary Education Council.” Tecoan. P. 159. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15335
• “Elizabeth Beavans.” Tecoan. 1930. P. 31. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15335
• “Elizabeth Beavans Sheppard.” News and Observer. October 27, 2003. P. 20.
• “Miss Beavans Wed To Mr. Sheppard.” Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virgina). April 21, 1946. P. 41.
• “Mobley Sheppard Is Dead at 56.” Atlanta Constitution. February 2, 1961. P. 20.
• “Mrs. Mobley Sheppard.” News and Observer. April 21, 1946. P. 13.
• “New WAVES-SPARS Booklet Offered By All Navy Recruiting Stations.” Teco Echo. April 24, 1943. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37921
• “North Carolina Club.” Virginian (State Teachers College Yearbook). 1928. P. 203.
• “Old North State Club.” Virginian (State Teachers College Yearbook). 1927. P. 203. https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/yearbooks/71/
• “Three College Publications Aiding War Effort In Number Of Ways.” Teco Echo. October 29, 1943. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37927
• “What are the WAVES and the SPARS?” Teco Echo. April 24, 1943. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37921
• “WAVES Perform Important Navy Duties.” Teco Echo. July 9, 1943. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37924
• “WAVES Filling Vital Navy Jobs in All Parts of United States.” Teco Echo. August 23, 1943. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37925

Related Materials

Elizabeth Clark Beavans. Image Source: News and Observer. April 21, 1946. P. 13.

Image Source: Teco Echo. April 24, 1943. East Carolina University Campus Newspapers. UA50-05. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Image Source: Teco Echo. October 29, 1943. East Carolina University Campus Newspapers. UA50-05. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

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