| Scope and content |
Collection consists primarily of correspondence and other materials that reflect Perkins's career as an officer in the United States Coast Guard. Letters Perkins wrote while a student at the Coast Guard Academy describe student life. Letters from his time in Seattle, Wash., give observations about the people and describe passing through Snow Pass in the Alexander Archipelago. Perkins describes his duty on the Clover and mentions working on unmanned lighthouses and buoys, taking supplies to stations in the Gulf of Alaska, and freeing ships stuck in ice. He describes various Alaskan towns, Russian Territory, King Island, and Victoria on Vancouver Island. He discusses problems in the Coast Guard such as officers resigning, friction between regulars and reservists, and unions. Perkins' scrapbook contains invitations, programs, and newspaper clippings that document his graduation from Admiral Billard Academy and the Coast Guard Academy, his appointment as the new commander of the Coast Guard Cutter Modoc, and his receipt of the Meritorious Service Medal and the Legion of Merit Medal. Items pertaining to the 1977 New York Harbor Festival and the 1976 Operation Sail celebration include correspondence, booklets, and other papers. |
| Access restriction | No access restrictions. |
| Cite as |
David E. Perkins Papers (#376), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. |
| Terms of use | Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law. |
| Acquisitions source |
Joyner- Gift of Gift of Capt. David E. Perkins. |
| Biographical note | David Eaton Perkins, a captain in the U.S. Coast Guard, was a crew member of the Coast Guard Cutter Clover, chief of the Coast Guard Cutter Modoc, and served at the Coast Guard base on Governors Island. Perkins received the Meritorious Service Medal for work on the Programs Staff in the Office of Operations at Coast Guard Headquarters and received the Legion of Merit as commander of all Coast Guard activities in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970. |
