Kelley, Beverly Oral History

Kelley_Bev

Beverly Gywn Kelley was born in Shawnee, OK on June 26, 1952 and moved to South Florida at a very young age. She grew up in Miami, FL and graduated from Miami Carol City High School in 1970. She earned her Bachelors degree in Mathematics from the University of Miami. Her mother Lois McCleary [sic] (Penny), was the primary caregiver in her life. Her mother raised three children waiting tables and worked as a bookkeeper. At age 53, her mother went back to nursing school to earn her degree as a registered nurse. Beverly's grandmother was the president of Business and Professional Women in 1930 and raised Beverly's mother on her own. Beverly Kelley entered Coast Guard Officer Candidate School and was commissioned in 1976, the same year the first class of women entered the service academies. Her first assignment was in Marine Environmental Protection working in inspections. In Sep 1977, she reported aboard the first Coast Guard cutter to have women permanently assigned, USCGC MORGENTHAU. At this time, the high-endurance Coast Guard cutters Morgenthau and Gallatin received 10 enlisted women and two female officers each. In April 1979, Beverly became the first woman to command a Coast Guard cutter, the USCGC Cape Newhagen. Twenty years later, she made history again as the first female to command a Coast Guard medium-endurance cutter, the USCGC Northland. Beverly Kelley has a total of 14 years of sea service while serving with the Coast Guard. She earned an MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College in Newport, RI and an MS in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University in Washington, D.C. Beverly Kelley is married and her son was 15 months at the time of the interview.