Though women served their country unofficially or in connection with the Navy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they did not play a significant role in the Navy until the twentieth century. Women enlisted in the Navy as a legitimate part of the military for the first time during World War I as either yeomen (F), which stood for yeoman “Female,” or Marine Reservists. Altogether, almost 12,000 women served, primarily performing clerical work in order to allow men to serve at sea. Women were disbanded from the Navy as soon as World War I ended.
World War II brought a more urgent need for women to become part of the military again. Though most of those involved wanted women to be associated with the Navy rather than an official part of the service, many others believed that women deserved military status. One of them was Harriet Elliott, Dean of Women at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina [now UNCG]. On May 30, 1942, Elliott wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt urging that the women be granted military status and asking the First Lady's help in getting presidential approval. On July 30, 1942, Roosevelt signed the bill creating the WAVES, officially known as the Women's Reserve of the U.S. Naval Reserve. The legistlation was passed in order to enlist and train women for shore duty, thus releasing men for combat duty at sea. The 86,000 WAVES who served during the war had been incorporated into the Navy from the outset.
Mildred H. McAfee, president of Wellesley College became the first director of the WAVES. Officer training was established at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and by February 1943 the WAVES had one large and permanent camp for enlistees at Hunter College in New York. WAVES typically performed clerical work such as storekeeping and stenography, but they also became air traffic controllers, mechanics, and truck drivers, and performed many other jobs. They majority served in the U.S., because it was not until 1944 that Congress ruled that they could serve in American territories of Hawaii and Alaska.
 |
Recruiting brochure for the Navy's Hospital Corps, 1943. (Women Veterans General Printed Material Collection, #WV-0002) |
WAVES proudly attended the U.S. Training Naval School at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., which had offered the Navy the use of a portion of its campus. Nearby Mount Holyoke College soon did the same, and more than 10,500 women trained at these locations. A permanent camp for enlisted WAVES was established at Hunter College in New York in 1943. (Julia Hill Gunn Collection, #WV-0060) |
 |
 |
WAVES advertising fan. (Women Veterans General Printed Material Collection, #WV-0002) |
Boot Camp, United States Naval Training School, Bronx, N.Y., 1944. (Elizabeth C. Hickcox Collection, #WV-0067) |
 |
 |
The WAVES uniform was designed by prominent fashion designer Mainbocher, who was known for his elegant evening clothes. He introduced the strapless evening gown and made the wedding dress for the Duchess of Windsor. The uniform for the Coast Guard SPARS was the same except for the lapel insignia. (Louise Nash Dorsett Collection, #WV-0017, Anna Jean Coomes Woods Collection, #WV-0019) |
WAVES Summer White Uniform (Judith Bullock Nisbet Collection, #WV-0056) |
 |
 |
WAVES Black Oxford Shoes (Women Veterans General Textile Collection, #WV-0001) |
WAVES hat for Officers (Women Veterans General Textile Collection, #WV-0001) |
 |
 |
WAVES hat for enlisted women. (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.
Return to the Women Veterans Historical Collection main page
Permission of the repository required to cite, quote, or reproduce in published works.
