It was a dramatic first, the first time in navy history women wear assigned it the crew of a ship. In 1972, at Hunters Point naval shipyard, in california, the uss sanctuary was recommissioned. The navys first woman admiral gave the commissioning address. The sanctuary is being recommissioned as a new, unusual type of ship with a new mission to assist the efforts to improve morale and flexibility by home boarding compact and ships overseas. It will provide services to deploy dependence wherever the fleet is assigned. In addition to this forward step, the sanctuary has also been accepted as the ship to be dissipated in the pilot program, which will evaluate the utilization of women for ship or duty. It will be home for about 80 women, half in the crew and half at the hospital. With these innovations, you can see the sanctuary is truly unique in many respects. The sanctuary is an experiment to see how well women and men can Work Together at sea. It is also a symbol of the navys changing view toward women. In the navy, equal rights means equal opportunity. However, women in the navy are not new, dating back to world war i navy women have had a long history of proud service. Back in those days, they were known as and provided much valuable assistance in the war effort. Joy hancock, his navy career would span four decades, was one of those who volunteered. Our secretary of the navy was joseph daniels, he did not cut corners when he found a practical way to do things, and when we found that Civil Service couldnt supply the number of women they wanted in the clerical ratings, he said, is there any reason why they should not be sworn into the Navy Reserves . And his aides looked up the law, the legislation, and much to their surprise they found somebody had neglected to write in the word male, so mr. Daniels said, bring in the women and that was it. We were accepted because we had certain skills to offer, mostly in the clerical field, and they did expand to communications, cryptology and telephone operators. 1918, the war ends and women are mustered out, no thought is given to keeping them in service. Not until 20 years later does that thought reappear. 1938, hitler begins the march toward war. The navy realizes women will be needed again, yet there is opposition. Joy hancock was a Navy Civilian employee at the time. Those objections came from various fields. The first was a very positive objection from the congress itself. And i think that was, that had its basis in the feeling of chivalry, which the men had. I heard the expression so many times, the women should not be brought into the war, they are to be protected and so forth and so on. Some of our senior senators were guilty of those remarks. As far as the navy was concerned, except for the very few older officers, no one seemed to remember that women had already served, the experiment had already been carried out in world war i. So very early in the program, there was a need for some sort of a catchy thing, they tried saying the womens reserves, the women for this that and the other, and finally among the various suggestions given was one by lieutenant elizabeth eynard, she is given credit for this slogan or acronym, because it was it smacked of the navy itself, waves, women accepted volunteering emergency service. And that proved to be catchy for republic recruiting. Calling all women, calling all women. Join the waves. In seattle, newly trained waves take over the seattle area station. We are proud of our first assignment and we are taking turns in manning the control tower. We are only a few of the 5000 waves already signed up, but the navy says we are doing such a good job they wanted 30,000 more. Already we have learned how to instruct pilots. Some of us carry lastminute field orders to the pilots, so come on girls, join the waves. And come they did, from all walks of life and all parts of the country the secretaries, students, sales girls, from louisiana, texas, connecticut, oregon, georgia. Whatever their background or they shared it, desire to help their country in times of need. Mildred helen mcafee was appointed first director of the waves. She had been the president of wellesley college. In august 1942, she was sworn in by the secretary of the navy, frank knox. Practically overnight, two major Training Centers were established for the women, one for officers at Smith College in northampton, massachusetts, the other was at hunter college, new york city. This facility was nicknamed the ss hunter. By the end of the first year, 27,000 women were in navy uniforms, and more were coming every day. The first birthday for americas waves and a very healthy oneyearold. All across the nation, the women sailor celebrates the anniversary and when the candle goes out, the second year begins. Oneyearold and already 30,000 officers and enlisted. Women. In philadelphia, they had a 10 foot, 500 pound battleship cake to celebrate with. And helping to cut it was francis ricks daughter. She eats the first piece. The commandant, commando mcafee, speaks to the women of america. We help many thousands more will join the navy. To volunteer their services as this second year goes by, encouraged by their parents, their husbands, their fiances, their friends, to do their part, to help the navy help the nation to win the war and prepare for peace. And the mighty fleet of the u. S. Navy sales on proud and staunch in victory the war against freedom oppressors, a bigger and better fleet because of americas women marching on as waves. The work women did released demand for service with the fleet. They performed at jobs ranging from storekeeper to hospital corpsman, from project engineers to linguists, from Communications Technicians to aviation specialists. They worked diligently and they worked effectively, they did so well in fact that they won the praise of even those officers who had initially opposed their entry into the service. Said one of them, admiral chester nimitz, not only are women equally efficient in many of the duties previously performed by men, but in certain types of work may prove to be more efficient and psychologically better fitted. By the end of the war, more than 86,000 women had served with pride in the navy. 1950, the korean war demands the recall of reservists, both male and female, and a navy Expansion Program gets underway. The number of women jumps from a prewar low of 2000 to almost 15,000. Schools are opened in San Diego California and cambridge, maryland to train the women. The incentives of helping the war effort once again causes thousands of women to join the navy. When the war ends, many women return to civilian life. The navy is limited in what it can offer women who wish to stay on, housing, promotions, Retirement Benefits all have legal restrictions attached, nevertheless a nucleus of career minded women remain in service during the 1960s and it is not until 1967 that conditions begin changing for the better. In november of that year, president johnson signed legislation removing rank restrictions for women in all of the armed forces, including the navy. In 1971, the new chief of naval operations, admiral elmo zumwalt, convenience on the problems and aspirations of navy women, he wants to know what it will take to encourage more women to make the navy a career. One result of the meetings is the issuance of 116, which has been described as the navys own equal rights amendment. Of the better than 50 recommendations made by the waves retention study group, well over half are approved and affected. The goal of todays navy is the full integration of men and women permitted by law. Any separate identities that had once existed is disappearing as women enter more and more fields that had one time been the preserve of only men. Women are involved in construction, meteorology, surveillance, aerial photography. They are instructors at the Naval Academy into students with that rotc units. They run computers and edit newspapers, and they handle logistics and fill prescriptions. They have become Commanding Officers in our leadership positions throughout the navy. The early 1970s have been significant because of their firsts. Judith became the first woman admitted to the naval Flight Training program. Lawrence coleman was a sworn in as the first female chaplain in the navy. Shari robinson became the first woman to complete air Traffic Control officers school. Eileen was named the first woman admiral in the navy. Her promotion ceremony contained another first. And for the first time, women were assigned with men to the crew of a ship. We are going to start out with a test on the sanctuary, which is, as you know, a hospital ship being refurbished to be able to serve a Broader Mission of the tenant support, this particular ship is well configured and from the standpoint of facility commute can do that. My view facility, you can do that. My view is, if women want to go to see and undergo the hardships and to serve their country in that capacity, then we can find a way to make it possible for them to do so. We will start out on the larger ships, where the facility problems are easier to handle. Then carriers and so technical problem being surrounded by men all the time, there will now be some women. We have to know how to get along with them, that is one of the problems, so many guys around and they are looking at you to see if you can do the job. There are quite a few that do not like it, quite a few that do. We are trying it out. Some are like me, they want to see if it works out or not. You cannot tell a woman to work the way you can tell a man, because they cannot work as hard as a man. I have got two or three of them in my division. So far, they have outworked any man i have in my division. Do what you are told, do it right, there can be no complaints. I am proud to be in the navy and i do not care who is with me, a woman or a man, as long as the job gets done and Everybody Knows what they are doing, thats fantastic. Women in todays navy perform many valuable and necessary functions. There is no area of navy life they cannot participate in if qualified. And they are qualified. Women in todays navy come into the Service Better educated than ever before. And they adjust to navy life more easily as a result. For enlisted women, indoctrination takes place at the recruit Training Command in orlando, florida, at boot camp. Hard work, classes, physical education and of course that one staple of a good military education, drilling. Make way for navy navy with anchors away Everybody Loves the navy, navy, navy of the usa together we are going to make a great and we will keep trucking that is right right, left 30 72 3072. We are in the navy recruit marching together whenever we are never out of step we are in the navy we are always happy singing our song for we are in the navy where we belong. The hours are long. River early reverently sounds at 5 00 a. M. And the training is hard. There are no two ways about it. Why do they do it . Strangely enough, womens liberation has little appeal to these young ladies. Most women feel liberated before they join. If anything, what they seek is the structuring that Navy Discipline gives to their lives. And then there is graduation, the day when a young recruit becomes a fullfledged member of the fleet. The last pass and review, when their friends and family can share in her achievement. From orlando, most will go on to further schooling and than the first duty station. Wherever aside, they are secure in the knowledge that the jobs that they do are important, an integral part of the navy. They are needed. And that first assignment could take them anywhere in the world where the navy has a base. From japan, to athens, greece. From scotland to washington, d. C. This is a navy lawyer who entered right after law school. Why did i joined the navy . I wanted to do something different. I did not. For any job that would be a little different and the navy was my first choice and i was lucky enough to get accepted. In my office, we mainly do research and write opinions in the form of letters, memorandum, to the secretarys office and we answer inquiries for retired navy people. For congressman. Has fulfilled my expectations. It is interesting and there is a camaraderie in the navy you would not have on the outside, except maybe in a smaller law firm. And that i like. music i heard hes saying a ha e sang a good song i heard he had a style so i came to see him and live with him for a while music music this is the first female musician in navy history. In college i was a voice major and a piano minor. I would do workshops and things like that and my family had a religious seeing group. I have been singing all the time. There seem to be fears that men have of women coming in. I think they feel like their masculinity is a threatened, but in the band i think they realize i was there to do my job the best i could and they took me for what i was. The band gives you the discipline you need for just about anything in life, i cannot think of any experience you can have in life you will not have in the band. music [singing] diane cogan is a Plastic Surgeon at the bethesda naval house. She joined because she liked with the navy had to offer, she felt the navy would give her some when i came out of reconstructive surgery, i had an equal amount of cosmetic surgery. I have done facial fractures, congenital anomalies. We are still working on some of the vietnam casualties, it is a long time procedure as far as they are concerned, but we are here for a year, in and out of the hospital. And in between the time here we do reconstructive procedures. I think that the people here i do not think you will find them anyplace else. They are grand to work with and for the five years i have been here it has been most enjoyable. music Marianne Gardner is one of more than 2600 navy nurses who serves worldwide, she works in a intensive care unitn and like most navy nurses she appreciates the fact she can move from one station to another without loss in sonority or pay. The work here is not easy, it takes a special devotion to facing crisis situations that these nurses must handle. Since joining the navy, i did it for a couple reasons, i had never been far from home and i wanted to do some traveling and to see other places. And it helped put me through school. And i enjoyed the independence you are given, you are pretty much on your own, with help if you wanted. It is there. But i enjoy being in the navy, part of the navy and the nurse corps, working together with people who have come from all over the country. music without doubt, the navys most ambitious plans for women have been in the Flight Training program. Six women have been selected to pave the way for future women in naval aviation. They are expected to perform the same as men. They go through the same classes, same drills, same exercises come and they fly the same planes. On may 10, 1973, lieutenant judith nupur became the first woman to solo in a Navy Aircraft when she took off from 1834 from the Naval Air Station t34 from the Naval Air Station. It was a very good feeling to know that i had actually taken that plane off and brought it back home all my own. It was definitely a feeling of satisfaction, the feeling of having gotten over one hurdle. And i think it helped to sort of ability a little confidence, of build a little confidence, that we are in the program, we can fly the planes and we are able to cope with the pressures and the rigorous training that we are involved in. Our Navy Strength lies in the fact that individuals are given the chance to show what they can do, black or white, male or female, the opportunity is there. These women prove it. The ladies who wear the navy blue. music watch lectures in history tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv on cspan3, and listen to our lectures and history podcast. Find it now where you listen to podcasts. Professor Amira Rose Davis examines the history of africanamerican women in sports, including women who played baseball in the negro leagues in the 1950s, and women who participated in olympic sports. This interview was recorded at than