From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (African American Women Veterans in and from Kentucky)
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.
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
Cited in this Entry
| NKAA Source: National Archives, Access to Archival Databases (online) |
| NKAA Source: Ancestry (online) |
| NKAA Source: Lexington herald-leader (newspaper) |
| NKAA Source: The Lexington herald and Lexington leader |
| NKAA Source: Polk's Lexington (Fayette County, KY.) city directory (annual) |
| NKAA Source: Lexington leader (newspaper) |
Related Entries Citing this Entry
| none |
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