A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
Classroom instruction at Hunter College in the Bronx also included the rich history of the Navy, including songs, as these WAVES boots learned in 1943.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
WAVES at boot camp learned about the various jobs open to them. Here, a display with posters and photographs shows what the women might be doing in various positions, such as Aviation Machinist’s Mates.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies.
The Navy caption to this photograph reads “Girls in the Classroom.” WAVES attend training at Cedar Falls, Iowa, c. 1943.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Here’s a photo to make you swoon on a sultry summer day. The WAVE is Margaret Rheinhold. 1943 American amateur diving champion, in mid-spin during a plunge off the high dive at the Hunter College boot camp in the Bronx during her training in 1943.
The photo is held by the National Archives.
One of the WAVES officers in charge was Joy Bright Hancock. She served in the Navy during World War I as a Yeomanette, or Yeoman (F), and worked as a civilian for Navy aviation during the years between World War I and World War II. This portrait of her dates from 1943.
It comes from the U.S. National Archives.
WAVES drilling at the Naval Aviation Technical Training Center, Norman, Oklahoma, 1943. Note the drill sergeant giving instructions at the far left. The photo comes from the National Archives.
By February of 1943, the WAVES would move their enlisted training facility to Hunter College in the Bronx, New York. Here, WAVES in the last boot camp at Cedar Falls, Iowa, in early 1943 listen to a lecture.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
After the first snowfall of the year in 1943 (shown in yesterday’s photograph), the WAVES were up for some fun and games, like this snowball fight at the boot camp at Cedar Falls, Iowa. The photo comes from the National Archives.
WAVES at NATC Pensacola, Florida, work on their shooting skills. They’re using a .22 target pistol before advancing to larger guns. Upon completion of the course, they will be assigned to teaching male gunners marksmanship, using films and synthetic guns.
The photo comes from the National Archives.
In this photograph from the National Archives, WAVE Bette Board Brown airbrushes a photograph at the Navy’s Art and Animation Division, U.S. Naval Photographic Science Laboratory, Anacostia, D.C.
Hinges of History 