Prior to World war II, only nurses served in the U.S. Army. Though 1,000 women worked with the Army with civilian status as translators and telephone operators duing World War I, a bill to enlist them was rejected. With the advent of World War II, the necessity of having men released from noncombat military work in order to be sent to battle overcame fears and concerns about women in the Army. On May 14, 1942, Congress passed the bill that created the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, and women began serving with the Army with civilian status. Oveta Culp Hobby, a Texas newspaper executive and president of the Texas League of Women Voters, became the director in February 1942. One year later, Congress granted the women military status. In September 1943, the corps became the Women's Army Corps (WAC), without the term auxiliary.
WACs served in the three main parts of the Army in numerous positions. In the Army Air Forces they tended to be weather observers, radio operators, and control tower operators. in the Army Service Forces women could become cryptologists, photographers, telephone operators, lab technicians and clerical workers, and in the Army Ground Forces they worked in secretarial positions and motor pools. Unlike their counterparts in the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps, WACs could be stationed anywhere. They served behind the lines on the battlefield and in every theater of operation overseas. The Army also admitted African American women, but they were placed in segregated units.
Most members of the Women's Army Corps were discharged after the war, but in 1948, Congress passed a law making women a permanent part of the U.S. Army.
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Postcard published by the Asheville Post Card Company during WWII. (Women Veterans General Printed Material Collection, #WV-0002) |
WAC barracks. (June Neely Baker Collection, #WV-0138) |
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African American WACs at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, 1943. Only the Women's Army Corps and the Army Nurse Corps admitted black women early in the war. These women served in segregated units and used segregated facilities. For some black and white women from the North, this was their first experience with segregation. The official segregation of African Americans in the military ended in 1948. (Marjorie Randolph Suggs Edwards Collection, #WV-0177) |
WAC band, Fort Des Moines, Iowa (Inez Stroud Collection, #WV-0009) |
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WACs handling mail in Europe, ca. 1943-1945. (Dorothy Sullivan Collection, #WV-0187) |
After mail call during basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., in January 1945. (Ann Kaplowitz Goldberg Collection, #WV-0142) |
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This World War II WAC service uniform consisted of a wool, olive-drab skirt, jacket and “Hobby Hat,” which was named after director Oveta Culp Hobby. The gold buttons with the U.S. coat of arms indicates this uniform was worn after 1944. (Kathleen Bayne Collection, #WV-0110) |
Khaki Hobby hat for summer. (Women Veterans General Textile Collection, #WV-0001) |
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A knit rayon material was used for slips and underwear. This was the favored material not only because it was cooler in the summer but also because rayon was not a material in great demand for defense purposes. (Women Veterans General Textile Collection, #WV-0001) |
To return to the online exhibit Women at War, select a link from the catagories below to view the materials on display.
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