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70 Years Ago….

It was in the just-past-dawn hours of a quiet Sunday morning at an exotic base for U.S. military personnel. The ships were anchored in the port, lined up like sailors at attention waiting for an inspection. A routine day.

And just after 6am, the first wave of Japanese planes launched from Japanese carriers in the Pacific. Two hours later, the planes reached their targets. Pearl Harbor.

More than 90 ships were docked in the harbor, including eight battleships. The USS Pennsylvania was in dry dock on one side of the harbor. The rest sat in battleship row:  the USS Oklahoma, the USS West Virginia, the USS California, the USS Maryland, the USS Tennessee, the USS Nevada and the USS Arizona. Five of the ships received some damage in the raid. The USS Oklahoma flipped upside down (“turned turtle” in Navy parlance) and sank. The West Virginia also sank. But a sinking ship can be a slow-moving process and for the most part men were able to escape those ships.

That wasn’t the case for the crew of the USS Arizona. At just after 8am, the ship was hit by an armorpiercing bomb that ignited some of the ammunition aboard the ship. It exploded. And 1,177 men were killed – the largest number of men lost on any ship that day and about half of the total casualties of the attack.

And then came the second wave of Japanese fighters.

By 10am, the attack was over.  Two-thousand and three Americans were dead. Twenty-one ships were sunk or damaged. One-hundred and eighty-eight aircraft were destroyed and another 159 damaged.  Most planes were hit on the tarmac.

The news would gradually trickle back to the mainland that Sunday afternoon. And the world would forever change.

We remember Pearl Harbor.

Creative Adoption

We know the holiday season can be busy. But its also a time when people think about things outside of themselves. Dirty little secret about the Homefront Heroines production crew: Producer David Staton and Director Kathleen Ryan are addicted to made-for-tv holiday movies. Last night’s entry was Dear Santa, where a young well-to-do woman finds a letter a little girl sent to Santa and as a result begins volunteering at a local soup kitchen. She falls in love with the girl’s father, who runs the soup kitchen, and learns to be a better person from the homeless people they serve.

The promotional photo for the Lifetime movie "Dear Santa"

Yes, it’s silly and not particularly sophisticated, but the movie (and others of its ilk) tap into our spirit of generosity over the holidays.

That spirit has taken a hit in recent years. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that charity giving is down from its pre-recession levels (off by about six percent nationally).  Meanwhile, federal and state dollars are also down because of cuts in budgets, meaning that charities (and the people and projects they serve) are even more reliant on those independent donors. That’s one of the reasons our multimedia project turned to Kickstarter for a fundraising campaign and why we have a donor wall where people can back the project, pre-ordering the film, sponsoring web exhibits or even becoming an executive producer on the project (complete with an IMDB credit).

Paige the Fundraising Penguin from the International Women's Air and Space Museum

For charities, creativity counts. The International Women’s Air and Space Museum in Ohio is asking people to “adopt” an exhibit for six months to a year, to help keep the museum’s doors open. Our friends at the 1940s-era World War II Ball are holding a Christmas extravaganza complete with reenactments from classic holiday movies, big band music and a holiday feast with turkey, roast beef, pecan pie, chestnuts roasted by an open fire (okay, maybe we added the open fire part) and even vegan options – all to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, the Spirit of Flight Center in Colorado, the Boulder Elks Club and Toys for Tots. The non-profit Public News Service is using crowdfunding to underwrite a story on how some wealthy people are using offshore companies to buy property in Florida (avoiding paying property taxes).

We’ve adopted a family through the ACC House of Denver, buying Christmas presents for three kids who otherwise might not get anything under the tree this holiday season.

Newspaper article about WAVE Margaret Anderson's blood drive efforts.

So what does this have to do with WAVES? The military has a long history of charitable good works (Toys for Tots is a U.S. Marines program). The women who served in the Navy during World War II also gave of their time to help others, through blood drives, war bond sales or other efforts.

‘Tis the season – please give!

 

Bowling Alone

When searching for an article to link to on our Facebook page, a story from the St. Petersburg Times popped up. It was about WAVES National Unit 27, which shut down on November 12th of this month. The ladies had met every month or so for the last 25 years, sharing stories and camaraderie. Sixteen women were members of the unit and paid their annual dues, but only five attended the meetings and were active in keeping going. So this year, they made the hard decision to shut the doors. Said Unit Vice President Lee Lund, a WWII WAVE:

The unit has disbanded because of the decline of membership due to death, health issues, lack of younger members to take office and not enough members to assume officer responsibilities.

Unit 27 is facing challenges familiar to all the WAVES National units. When this project began, members were scattered in states across the country. Oregon, where the Homefront Heroines producer and director were living at the time, had the second largest number of units on the West Coast (only California had more); Florida, with its scores of retirees, was traditionally only of the states with a high number of units. The WAVES National Convention, held aboard a cruise ship in 2006, drew nearly 300 women, veterans of WWII, the Korean War, and Vietnam. However, only a handful came from more recent conflicts.

WAVES National Convention 2006, courtesy Mel Kangleon

It’s not just an issue in Florida. Oregon, which had that plethora of active units when we began the project, now had just one listed on the WAVES National website. Other states are seeing similar declines. Barbara McCarthy, herself a Korean vet, was the most recent president of Unit 27. She saw the problem as twofold:

Only three of us are under (age) 80. Three girls are in assisted living facilities. One is homebound. Younger women are working, raising children

But Harvard Professor Robert D. Putnam offers some startling research that indicates this lack of community involvement from the younger generation may be something beyond just working and raising a family. Instead, it has something to do with a shift in traditional social capital:

The very fabric of our connections with each other, has plummeted, impoverishing our lives and communities.  We sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less often.

He dubs this trend “bowling alone,” because while Americans are bowling, they’re not doing it in leagues or other formalized organizations, but rather, alone.

Putnam doesn’t see this as a terminal condition; in fact he offers a list of 150 things you can do to build social capital. And we are seeing an uptick in some organizational groups, such as the politically based Tea Party and Coffee Party movements. Facebook can also offer a way to feel a part of a virtual community, and there are a plethora of veterans groups there (check our our Facebook page “likes” for links to some).

On another note, today (November 26) is Small Business Saturday, a movement to support local and independent businesses during the holiday season. It’s a great cause – and a great way to build social capital through supporting your own community.

What We’re Thankful For, Part Two: Trailblazers

Yesterday we talked about global things we’re thankful for, via President Roosevelt and the Four Freedoms. Today, it’s time for a more personal note.

From Mary M. Ryan. She is somewhere in the sea of women at Hunter College.

As you know, my mother was a WAVE during World War II – and it was her story which inspired this project. And the WAVES were truly trailblazers during the war. This blog is called “Hinges of History” to recognize that contribution. The WAVES were the first women admitted into the service at the same rank and pay as men. And it wasn’t just the service – women during that era generally were paid less than men, under the rationale that they didn’t need the money as much because men were supporting families and women were “only” supporting themselves. So for the Navy to pay women the same amount for the same work was pretty groundbreaking.

WAVE Pay Scale Recruitment Poster, U.S. Navy

But the WAVES weren’t the only ones forging new territory during the war. Inside of the military, the Army WAACs (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, later Women’s Army Corps) were the first women other than nurses to travel overseas in troops with men.

WACs in Formation, U.S. Army

The WASP (Women’s Air Service Pilots) were the first women to regularly fly planes, mostly ferrying planes in the continental United States from one side of the country to another. They weren’t “in” the service, but had the same risks as male pilots: 38 WASPs died while flying for their country.

WASPs on a Plane's Wing, International Women's Air and Space Museum

Of course, there were also the Women Marines (about 20,000 during World War II) and the SPARs (Coast Guard women, about 12,000 served; their name comes from the Coast Guard motto “Semper Paratus, Always Ready). And we can’t ignore the contributions of the “Rosie the Riveters,” millions of women who entered the workforce during the war to take jobs on assembly lines and in other formerly-male jobs. Before World War II about 12 million women were in the workforce. By the end of the war, that number had swelled to 18 million, a full third of the workforce, and three million of those were “Rosies.”

A "Rosie" working as a Electrician, National Archives.

While historians are divided about the lasting contributions of these women, those who served in both civilian and military jobs believed their work mattered. They were the “hinge”: without their contributions the world wouldn’t have changed in the same way. Without them, our world would be a different place.

First post-WWII WAVES take the oath of office, U.S. Navy.

Our friends at the National Women’s History Museum seem to be on the same wavelength this week. They put together a fabulous video series about women who blazed a trail for those who followed – and those who are dedicated to keeping those histories alive. Part One is embedded below (see Part Two and Part Three on their YouTube channel).

Thank you, this Thanksgiving eve, to the National Women’s History Museum and everyone else who is honoring the trailblazers in women’s history! And, of course, thank you to the trailblazers!

What We’re Thankful For, Part I – The Four Freedoms

In January of 1941, months before the United States would become officially involved in World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt gave one of his radio addresses.

Roosevelt was an innovator in using mass media to help bring his message to the public. His speech about the banking crises in 1933 was the first time a President had used the power of the radio to speak directly to the American public (in this case to attempt to stop the bank runs which nearly destroyed the nation’s economic system in 1933).  That speech would lay the groundwork for the Fireside Chats, 31 radio addresses on a variety of topics, ranging from the New Deal to the War in Europe.

The Four Freedoms speech wasn’t one of those Fireside Chats. It was the official State of the Union Address for 1941. But it nonetheless illustrates Roosevelt’s skill at using the public airwaves to speak to the American public:

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms…That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb. To that new order we oppose the greater conception—the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.

Roosevelt included two Constitutionally-mandated freedoms (Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Worship) in his speech, and then added two freedoms which he said should be a part of the social contract we have with our fellow Americans. Freedom from Want means that Americans shouldn’t go hungry or be without basic human needs (food, shelter, etc.) – and that a modern society had a responsibility to provide for those in need.  Freedom from Fear means that we should live in a country where we don’t have to worry about our safety. Roosevelt went on to say that these weren’t just American values, but should be values available to everyone in the world.

The Four Freedoms would later be illustrated by Norman Rockwell in a series of drawings for the Saturday Evening Post.

The Four Freedoms wasn’t a Thanksgiving speech, but nonetheless we’re thankful this time of year for Roosevelt and his identification of the Four Freedoms.

11/11/11

Seventy years ago today, America wasn’t officially involved in World War II.  In less than a month, the country would be. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would thrust the United States into the war and transform the country.

This is a photograph of my (Homefront Heroines Director Kathleen Ryan) mother, Mary Marovich Ryan. It was taken after she enlisted in the WAVES. She came from a large family and grew up on the south side of Chicago. They didn’t have much – it was the Depression and there were a lot of mouths to feed.

But as the war enlisted all of her brothers – except for her younger brother who was too young to join up – enlisted in the military. They joined the Army and the Coast Guard. Two of her brothers joined together. By the time my mother enlisted, every member of her family was in the service, except for that younger brother and a sister who was married with a young child (her younger brother would serve during the Korean War). I love her quote in the article below about wanting a six star pin so she can honor her brothers.

Those of you who have been following the Homefront Heroines project know that my mother didn’t talk much about her military service. I knew that enlisted in mid-1943. She went to New York for boot camp, and then traveled across country on a train to head to her specialty training at a Naval Hospital in California as a pharmacist’s mate. A pharmacist’s mate helped out in various  medical capacities; my mother actually worked in the pharmacy. She was stationed at Treasure Island in San Francisco where she met my father, a pilot in the Army Air Forces. She was decommissioned shortly after V-J Day, and she and my father eventually settled about an hour north of New York City in a town along the Hudson River.

But she kept things. Like these photographs (including the one above of a celebration at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco with a group of friends) and the articles about her service. Or a book discussing the properties of various prescription drugs. Or gloves. Dozens of pairs of white cotton gloves, which were part of the formal WAVES uniform. And before she died, she asked that she be buried with military honors, commemorated by a headstone listing her dates of service.

On this Veteran’s Day, we salute all of those who offered their service to our country, including those Homefront Heroines who blazed a trail for women in the future – in the military, of course, but also in the civilian workplace.

Boot Camp and Beyond

In the spring of 1943 Hunter College in the Bronx, N.Y. (now Lehman College), opened a WAVES training school.  Women were sent here for boot camp where they learned things like Naval history and marching.  They also took placement tests to find out which Navy jobs best suited their skills.

Homefront Heroines is experimenting with a new model of storytelling. We’re creating exhibits geotagged with the location of various locations important to the WAVES, like Hunter College, its buildings and surrounding apartments, with TagWhat –  as discussed in this previous post.  The posts will include video footage, interviews and interesting stories about the WAVES.

Irene Bendnekoff is one of the women we’re featuring:

So what does this mean? Check out the full exhibit here, or download the TagWhat app on your smartphone, head to the Bronx. The exhibit will pop up on your phone – you can see the WAVES’ story while your at a location important to the WAVES!  We love this method of storytelling and would love to know what you think.

Learn about the placement process, training facilities, and hear the stories of many of these WAVES in this Specialty Training exhibit.

Vogue’s Best Dressed Women

If you talk to one of World War II’s Navy WAVES, you are going to hear about her designer uniform.  The Navy was already known for having “sharp”-looking uniforms for men and with the creation of the WAVES, a lot of thought went into making an appealing uniform for women.  The women took great pride in the comfort, quality make and fashion of their Mainbocher-designed dress.

Fashion designer Main Bocher opened his own shop as an American in Paris in 1929.  He became a sensation in Europe and the United States, with many wealthy clients in both places including the Dutchess of Windsor.  His clothing was beyond what many WAVES could have afforded which is another reason they became prized possessions.

(Main Bocher)
(One of Mainbocher’s most famous designs made famous by Horst’s photo – “Mainbocher Corset”)

The WAVES uniforms were so trendy that in 1943 the WAVES and other women in uniform were named as Vogue’s “Best Dressed Women in the World Today.”

Check out this Exhibit on the uniform identity of the WAVES to learn more.

Does She Have What it Takes?

Not just any woman could get into the WAVES.  These ladies had to make the cut and after being accepted they went through a rigorous training process before becoming active duty members or officers. WAVES had to take a placement test, a physical fitness test, and had to submit letters of recomendation among other requirements (requirements for the WAVES).

Those who were accepted and enlisted became heroic figures in their hometowns and newspaper articles were written about their recruitment.

Some women did not graduate boot camp and were sent home.  Read about “washing out,” or failure here.

But those who did make it … went on from Hunter College, Smith College, Cedar Falls or wherever they trained to members of the U.S. Navy – a whole new realm for women of their time period. The ones who made the cut became the hinges of history.


Learn more about the training process and transition to military life by visiting the “Recruits to Boots” exhibit.

Creating the WAVES

Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”  Regardless of some of the theological debates about Darwin’s theory of evolotion, it seems this particular statement has proved true, particularly in the last century.  Yet people can still be resistant to change.

Not everyone was supportive of the Navy, and other branches of government, giving women active duty positions during the war.  In a previous post Janette Alpaugh shared a story about a cold encounter with a woman who was not a fan of the WAVES.

The establishment of the WAVES did not happen overnight.  The process was pioneered by several influential women.  Read more about them and the creation of the WAVES in this exhibit.