Julia and Richard Uvick papers

Collection, MC/20

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: 1941 – 1960
Quantity: 8 folders
Language of Materials: English.
Call Number: MC/20

Administrative/Biographical History: Julia (née Huber, also known as Julie and Judy) Uvick worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard from 1940 to 1953, when she resigned to have children. Julia worked in a variety of capacities within the Navy Yard’s accounting department. She began her employment as a cardpunch operator, gathering statistical data for the department’s returns. She was then promoted in 1941 to assistant clerk, in 1943 to a team leader payroll clerk, in 1947 to a fiscal account clerk, and finally in 1950 to a payroll clerk. While working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Julia corresponded with a number of servicemen stationed in the United States and overseas. She was also a member of the Choral Club, and was described as “Broadway material” in the January 8, 1947 issue of the Shipworker newsletter. She met Richard Uvick in 1948 in the Fiscal Accounting Department; they became engaged in May of that same year and were married one month later.

Richard Uvick first began working at the Brookyn Navy Yard in 1942, but then left to serve in the armed forces until February of 1946. He returned to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in that same year, working first in the Receiving Division and then moving on to the Fiscal Accounting Division, where he served as an industrial relations officer in the Stores Returns section. He was a member of Commander Allen Jones’ One Thousand Hours Club for accruing 1,000 hours of unused annual sick leave – an honor bestowed upon just 20% of Navy Yard employees. While working at the Navy Yard he submitted a number of efficiency suggestions to improve workflow, and was awarded recognition for at least two of these suggestions: once in February of 1952, and again in May of 1953. Mr. Uvick also wrote at least two editorials in a series under the headline “Wake Up America,” in which he expressed the importance of free elections and freedom of religion; the journal or magazine in which these articles were published is unknown.
Scope and Content: The collection includes both personal effects and professional documents from the period. Julia Uvick’s effects, largely contained in Folder 1, are primarily personal in nature and include postcards and letters from servicemen and colleagues (including Richard), as well as pay stubs documenting some incremental wage increases and promotions that she received. Richard’s effects, folders 2, 5 and 6, are mostly professional, and illustrate the work that he did in the Navy Yard’s Stores and Returns Division (medical materials). Also included in this collection are some shared photographs documenting their involvement in the Navy Yard, Richard’s suggestion award as well as notice for their engagement and baby shower. Other materials include a launching day program for the USS Iowa, a Navy Yard “A” pin, and other more generalized documents that would have been distributed to all employees.

System of Arrangement: This collection is arranged by type of material and subject.
Access and Use: Conditions Governing Access This collection is open for research.; Conditions Governing Reproduction Material in this collection is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The use must assume full responsibility for any use of the material, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced material. Please see the BNYDC Archives’ Policy on Access and Use for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish. Any material used for academic research or otherwise should be credited using the citation below.; Preferred Citation Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Julia and Richard Uvick Papers; MC/20; Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation Archives, Brooklyn, NY.