A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
The WAVES took over a number of campus building for the training facility at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, which brought in its first full class of officers in October 1942.
Paunce Hall, seen in the photograph above, was the WAVES principle recitation hall. The photo comes from the National Archives.
In early October, 1944, the first full WAVES officer class began training at Smith College in Northampton, MA. The women would train for their duties alongside students enrolled in the college at the time, and many of the campus buildings and haunts were taken over by the Navy. The initial officer class began in August for a compressed training session; they would be the ones training this new class.
This is Capen House, which was the principle WAVES dormitory.
A World War II-era WAVE sings “WAVES of the Navy” at the WAVES National Convention in Orlando, Florida, September 21.
From the final edition of the WAVES Newsletter, published in May 1946. This clipping comes from The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
The last edition of the WAVES newsletter was published in May of 1946. The WAVE is Lottie Coltoniak of Rochester, New York, on dduty in Washington, DC.
It comes from The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
By April of 1946, most WAVES had been – or were being – released from military duty. One thing the Navy offered in its newsletter of that month were suggestions for how the newly-unemployed women could find work. Note the reminder: that WAVES are qualified for benefits, such as educational or loans, which all veterans would receive under the G.I. Bill of Rights.
This clipping comes from The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
This is the second-to-last edition of the WAVES newsletter. The WAVE on the cover is wearing the dress blue uniform and the “overseas” regulation uniform hat.
The newsletter comes from The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
As the Navy was releasing women from service, it realized that it needed some women who qualified for discharge to remain in the Navy. So it created temporary volunteer assignments which would extend the women’s service beyond the initial “duration of the war plus six months” promised by Navy recruitment materials earlier in the war.
This clipping comes from The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
This clipping from a WAVES newsletter shows the point system the Navy was following to release women from the WAVES. Note that women officers and selected enlisted positions such as yeomen, storekeepers and the hospital corps had a higher point total they would need to gather to qualify for separation than other enlisted women.
It comes from The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
The final step for the WAVE leaving the service? Sewing a discharge emblem on the uniform. Here, former WAVE Recruiter Helen Kiley does the job with a smile.
It comes from The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
Hinges of History 