From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (African American Women Veterans in and from Kentucky)

Fife, Katherine D. Harris Sorell Shields

(born: July 1, 1921  -  died: January 15, 1992) 

Military Branch

Women's Army Corps

Active Duty Entered

January 28, 1943

Notes

Katherine D. Harris enlisted in the Army in Cincinnati, OH, according to her record in the National Archives, Access to Archival Databases. She was born in Lexington, KY, the daughter of Blanche T. Washington and Henry Donald Harris. The family is enumerated in the 1930 and 1940 U.S. Censuses.

In 1944, Katherine Harris was listed in the Lexington newspaper as one of the 153 WACs from Kentucky; she had enlisted in 1943. After her military service, she returned to Kentucky, where she married Louis V. Sorell. That marriage ended in 1947. She then married Charles Shields. The couple is listed in the 1956 Lexington city directory. She later married Charles Fife. Katherine D. Harris died in 1992 in Lexington.    

Sources: "Funeral Notices: Harris," Lexington Herald-Leader, 1/13/1992, p. 20; "Wac anniversary finds 153 central Kentuckians serving," Sunday Herald-Leader, 5/14/1944, p. 10; U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index in Ancestry; Polk's Lexington (Fayette County, KY.) City Directory, 1956, p. 552; "In & Around: Marriages dissolved," The Saturday Herald and Leader, 9/26/1981, pp. D10-D11; and "New suits filed," The Lexington Leader, 2/14/1947, p. 3. 

Kentucky County & Region

Read about Fayette County, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Kentucky Place (Town or City)

Read about Lexington, Kentucky in Wikipedia.

Outside Kentucky Place Name

Item Relations

Cite This NKAA Entry:

“Fife, Katherine D. Harris Sorell Shields,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed December 2, 2023, https://ukscrc001.net/nkaa/items/show/300004474.

Last modified: 2023-05-12 16:52:21