End of the War

Dorothy Turnbull says the most meaningful thing she got from the Navy was this letter from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, which she received after she resigned from the WAVES at the end of the war.

There was no need for me to sell the Navy anymore. I mean to represent it. I felt that they were big now, they could take care of themselves (laughs). That I had nurtured them along?  No, the Navy did more for me than I ever did for it.

After the war, Dorothy returned to college to get an M.A. in counseling. She taught for years, and also counseled veterans.

Shipshape

The reality was that Dorothy Turnbull, and most of the WAVES, spent little or no time about ships. The rumor was that it was unlucky for women to be aboard ships, and Navy policy prohibited women other than the Navy Nurse Corps from serving aboard a ship.

However, the women did do goodwill tours to visit various ships in port, as in this photograph from the Dorothy Turnbull Stewart collection.

 

Getting the Chiefs on Your Side

Dorothy Turnbull used her southern charm to win over even the most recalcitrant Navy man. She knew that the key to her success was making sure that those in command supported her.

Keeping these people on your team was the main reason for success.  If the old chiefs were with you, you had your foot in the door and you could get people that would maybe just casually call or see him someplace and ask them a question about Navy women or something. He would then be your salesperson, so to speak, even if he was just an old gruff fellow with no polish. He could still support the Navy and the women.

This photograph of Dorothy with two regional Navy commanders comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.

 

“A Little Risqué”

Dorothy Turnbull wasn’t above using sex appeal to sell the WAVES – as long as it was wholesome sex appeal.

You see, well, they were showing the audience that we had that had gotten together. They were were showing how the women in the Navy were still women. And ladies. That was the whole thing was to let society know that our girls were their girls. They were mothers, perhaps — well, not mothers. They were daughters and sisters. This was one method of getting something a little risqué — bathing suits.

This photograph of a WAVES recruitment event in Galveston comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.

A New Orleans Touch

When women got to the recruiting events, Dorothy Turnbull used creative methods to get the women excited about their new jobs in the Navy.

In this photograph, women are pulling charms from a Mardi Gras-style “King Cake.” The charms are of the various jobs the women could hold in the Navy, from yeoman to pharmacist’s mate, gunnery instructor to aerographer and everything in between.

It comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.

The YWCA Brochure

Dorothy Turnbull worked several cities in Southern Texas, including Beaumont, where she coordinated with the local YWCA to host events for recruits.

These ar two of my recruits.  Women who came in to be tested, see, they’d come from these little towns down to Beaumont. They’d come from Port Arthur, Orange. We’d arrange for them to take the tests with me there.  Bring the doctors over, or they’d come over to Houston to take the physical.  They’d do everything before the physical in Beaumont area. Then in Houston, they’d come over and if they passed the physical they could be sworn in right then.

This brochure comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.

On the Job

Dorothy Turnbull first was stationed in New Orleans, but later transferred to southern Texas to work as a recruiter.

We never had to sell the Navy openly. To me, when I’d go to a radio station and talk about what the Navy women were doing and so forth, talking about their lives before they went in service — see, you had to show their families were behind them. That they were still young ladies, even though they had this uniform on. They weren’t going to be different from their sisters were.  This kind of thing.

This photograph shows Dorothy on stage at a recruitment event in Texas. It comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.

 

Meeting Eleanor Roosevelt

Dorothy Turnbull joined the WAVES in 1943. She headed to boot camp at Hunter College and was selected to become a recruiter. Because of her connections in New Orleans, they wanted her to be stationed there. But when she finished boot camp there weren’t any openings, so she spent another eight weeks at Hunter making sure the new boots didn’t get into trouble as part of the Shore Patrol. She also helped out with visiting dignitaries.

Eleanor Roosevelt came to visit us when I was on Shore Patrol. Well, ship service is what they called us.  And here she is getting out and I think I might have been one of these.  My claim to fame is when she was going into the building from getting out here and going down here, I held the door for her (laughs).  With my backside as I’m (laughs).  That was my claim to fame.

This photograph comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.

To New York

It was in 1943 when Dorothy Turnbull headed to boot camp at Hunter College. While she was there, they tried to discover what she could do in the Navy.

They interviewed you and tested you and did all of this with us.  And marched around, and I enjoyed that. So as I would be interviewed, I realized I couldn’t say I wanted, I was – I was good in numbers, but I sure didn’t want to go to bookkeeping or storekeeping, or whatever they called it.  I couldn’t imagine myself as selling anything or that storekeeping, you see (laughs). That’s what I thought it was.  All I could do was talk and tell them about things I believed in.  So they decided that that’s all I could do, and that’s what a recruiter does.

This photograph of Dorothy’s boot class comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.