A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
Classroom instruction at boot camp for WAVES uses innovative techniques, including showing the women the equipment they might be working with during their Navy career. Here, women at the USS Hunter see a Link Instructor, a flight simulation unit used to train pilots.
The c. 1943 photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
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 the Hunter College boot camp learned every aspect of military life. Here, they’re leaning the various Naval protocol, including the process for a regimental review.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
One of these things is not like the other….
A (male) guest stands out from the crowd as he listens to a lecture at the WAVES boot camp at Hunter College in the Bronx, c. 1943.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
Today we begin a series of posts about WAVES boot camp at Hunter College.
WAVE boots learn about the chain of command at the USS Hunter, the boot camp training facility in the Bronx, New York. USS Hunter was the former Hunter College, a women’s college commandeered for the WAVES for the duration of the war in early 1943.
The photograph comes from the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
After training at specialty schools, WAVES traveled on trains to their station assignments. Here, WAVE Doris Green is shown the engine of the train she’ll be taking from the Cedar Falls, Iowa training facility by Engineer W.J. Cherney.
The 1943 photograph comes from the National Archives.
WAVES leave their training post in Normal, Oklahoma, in summer of 1943, heading via train for their next assignments. WAVES in Norman trained in aviation specialties.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
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.
WAVES Elizabeth Bieser, Ann Boryk, and Virginia Bounds learn the ropes as machinist’s mates at the Naval Training Center in Norman, Oklahoma. They’re working on a hinge fitting plate.
The photograph comes from the National Archives.
Ever wonder if you have what it takes to become a WAVE? Attached is the physical exam from August 21, 1942 for would-be WAVE officer Winnifred Quick.
You’ll note that her vision was perfect, she was 5’4″ and weight 113 pounds. She was 30 years old at the time of her exam.
Oh, and she passed the exam with flying colors – Quick would become one of the first WAVE officers, would be the first WAVE to serve outside of the continental United States (in the then-territory of Hawaii), and would become director of the WAVES from 1957-1962.
Hinges of History 