American women in World War I: they also served

668 Pages·1997·5.15 MB·English

by  Lettie Gavin

American Women in World War I : They
title:
Also Served
author: Gavin, Lettie.
publisher: University Press of Colorado
isbn10 | asin: 087081432X
print isbn13: 9780870814327
ebook isbn13: 9780585099101
language: English
World War, 1914-1918--Women--United
subject States, Women--United States--History-
-20th century.
publication date: 1997
lcc: D639.W7G38 1997eb
ddc: 940.4/0082
World War, 1914-1918--Women--United
States, Women--United States--History-
subject:
-20th century.
Page iii
American Women in World War 1
They Also Served
Lettie Gavin
University Press of Colorado
Page iv
Copyright 1997 by the University Press of Colorado
Published by the University Press of Colorado
P.O. Box 849
Niwot, Colorado 80544
[phone]
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing
enterprise, supported, in part, by Adams State College, Colorado State
University, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Metropolitan
State College of Denver, University of Colorado, University of
Northern Colorado, University of Southern Colorado, and Western
State College of Colorado.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gavin, Lettie, 1922-
American women in World War I/Lettie Gavin.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-87081-432-X
1. World War, 19141918WomenUnited States. 2. WomenUnited States
History20th century. I. Title.
D639.W7G38 1997
940.4'0082dc20
96-38466
CIP
This book was designed and typeset in Nadianne and Times by
Rhonda Miller. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for Information
SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI
Z39.48-1948
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Page v
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
Map xii
1. First Women of the Navy 1
2. Women Marines 25
3. The Army Nurse 43
4. The Hello Girls of the Army Signal Corps 77
5. Reconstruction Aides 101
6. Women of the YMCA 129
7. The Woman Physician in the Great War 157
8. Red Cross Volunteers 179
9. The Salvation Army 209
Appendix A: Chemical Warfare and Shell Shock 241
Appendix B: For the Record 245
Index 285
Page vii
Acknowledgments
Thanks to those wonderful American women of 1917-1918, who
proudly stepped forward during the emergency to offer their time,
talent, energy, and devotion to help the United States win the "war to
end all wars." To one of them, in particular, Merle Egan Anderson,
Hello Girl of the Army Signal Corps, who fought the U.S. Army for
sixty yearsand won, won veteran's status and honorable discharge for
herself and her sister telephone operators.
Thanks to Tom, who encouraged me and shared his vast
understanding of the Great War. Ron, who supported me in every way.
Julie, who asked, "Where are the therapists?" (Thus was born Chapter
5.) Dr. Gordonn A. Logan, who extended the life I used to write this
book. Leila Charbonneau, who understands The Chicago Manual of
Style and put her tidy stamp on the text. Helene M. Sillia, historian,
Women's Overseas Service League. Linda L. Hewitt, Captain,
USMC(R), who chronicled the Women Marines in World War I.
Richard J. Sommers, archivist-historian, U.S. Army Military Institute,
Carlisle, PA. Florence W. Lehman, archivist, Reed College, Portland,
OR. Kathleen Jacklin, archivist, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Mary
Karabaich, American Red Cross, Seattle, WA. Barbara Schroeder,
World War II veteran, who provided solid information in several
World War I areas. Henry I. Shaw and Mike Miller, US Marine Corps
History and Museums Division, Washington, D.C. Merlin Berglin,
Pope County Historical Society, Glenwood, MN. Rick Caldwell,
librarian, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle, WA. Susan Miller
and Judith Johnson, The Salvation Army, National Archives. Frances
Dingman, The Salvation Army, Western Territory Headquarters. Carol
J. Dage, Liberty Memorial Museum, Kansas City, MO. Stephen E.
Novak, Medical Archives, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical
Center. Agnes F. Hoover, Naval Historical Center, Washington, D.C.
Charlotte Palmer Seeley and Michael Knapp, National Archives,
Washington, D.C.
And special thanks to the families of the women in the Great War,
who have generously shared their private and precious memories.
Louise S. Fritz, daughter of Nell G. Storey, Army Nurse Corps. Gloria
Rand and Beth Petrie, daughters of Minnie Arthur, U.S. Marine
Corps. Louise Ferguson, daughter of Marie
Page viii
S.A. LeBlanc, Hello Girl, Army Signal Corps. Joseph A. King and his
sisters, devoted children of Margaret Mary Fitzgerald, U.S. Navy
Yeoman (F). Shannon Applegate, grand-niece of Eva and Evea
Applegate, Reconstruction Aides. Jeannine Davis Mayes, daughter of
Cordelia DuPuis, Hello Girl, Army Signal Corps. Mr. and Mrs.
Charles E. Dingley, cousins of Nellie Dingley, Army Nurse Corps.
Jacquie Kelly and Tam Moore, children of Harriet Forest Moore,
Reconstruction Aide.
And a special dedication to Army Maj. Marie T. Rossi, who took her
rightful place among her male fellow Americans and served as a
helicopter pilot throughout the Persian Gulf War. She died in 1991
when her airship crashed the day after that war ended.
Page ix
Introduction
While the Great War of 19141918 put an end to the "old order" in
Europe, it also contributed immensely to the world progress of what
we now call the Women's Movement. In the early twentieth century, a
woman's place was considered to be in the home, the school, the
church. This philosophy was to change drastically during the course
of the war, as women took over from their absent men in hundreds of
new and challenging occupations, many of which had previously been
considered inappropriate.
The war, in fact, marked the beginning of a new era in the history of
women, both in the United States and in Europe. Many believed that
those four years of war liberated women from old molds and
stereotypes, provided new opportunities for them, and made them
economically independent. Women working diligently and efficiently
laid the foundation for higher wages, better jobs, improved working
conditions, and a more competitive status in the labor market.
Great Britain was perhaps the first nation to feel the manpower pinch,
as it sent thousands of men to France in August 1914 to battle German
aggression. Each man who marched away left behind a job in a
factory, a schoolroom, a bank, in the postal service, or on a farm.
Those jobs were filled by women. When it became clear that many of
these men would never come home, the old notion of a "woman's
place" had to be reconsidered. "The scarcity of men makes the
employment of women a necessity," U.S. author Harry Franklin Porter
wrote in a national magazine. Women simply had to take over every
job they could possibly manage.
In England, women clerks numbered more than 100,000 by 1916, and
thousands of women had enlisted in Queen Mary's Women's Auxiliary