{"id":4851,"date":"2016-03-02T15:42:03","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T15:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archives.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/?p=4851"},"modified":"2023-11-28T19:59:35","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T19:59:35","slug":"srsrebeccapurcell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/2016\/03\/02\/srsrebeccapurcell\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stateside Soldiers Abroad and at the University of Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"

This paper is part of the\u00a0Student Researcher Series<\/strong>\u00a0which showcases research students have conducted using resources in the Student Life and Culture Archives. If you\u2019re a student who is interested in sharing your research on our blog, please contact us<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Rebecca Purcell<\/strong>\u00a0is an undergraduate history student at the University of Illinois. This paper was written for History 498:Research and Writing Seminar taught by Professor Leslie Reagan. Rebecca\u00a0presented her research at the Ethnography of the University Initiative Conference in December 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"WATC<\/a>
WATC Cadets. RS 39\/2\/20, Number 0000647.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We often think of women during wartime as someone who the men fighting send letters to.\u00a0 We see them as loved ones, care givers, and providers of those fighting overseas.\u00a0 During World War II women\u2019s roles began to transform into something that did not follow the norms of society set for them in prior wars.\u00a0 Women now had their own divisions of service to sign up for.\u00a0 They had the choice like most men of working under the Airforce, Army, Navy, and the National Guard. Women during World War II played an important role in showing not only how women took on more active roles than they had in previous wars, but also how universities such as U of I became centers where women were able to discover who they wanted to become when it came to war time efforts. These women pushed past restrictions placed on them by men, and proved that they were willing and able to fight for their country just like any man.\u00a0 These women represent not only change, but hope in a future where they could become more than just housewives, but equals to men.\u00a0 Looking at different accounts from the time and prior we can see through their stories and struggles the changes that began to occur after WWII in relation to women. This paper is meant to prove just how significant these women truly were for both the University of Illinois, as well as across the nation making an impact on the U.S., and its military.<\/p>\n

During WWI other countries were taking action to ensure that their nations would not crumble when it came to their military strength. They wanted to be prepared for the possibility that their men would all fall in battle. Countries such as Russia, Japan, Germany, England, and many others were preparing for a total war. This preparation began prior to WWI, and grew strong as the war progressed. \u201cFor over a decade the women of Germany, Italy, and Japan have been training for war. Their duties range from front line combat to manual labor.\u201d[1]<\/a> Russia seemed to be the country that allowed women to be involved in more ways than other countries. Russia allowed women to serve as sharpshooters, dig trenches, and carry ammunition on their backs to troops in the line of fire.[2]<\/a> Countries around the world besides the U.S. at this point allowed women to be involved in military activities. \u201cThe British, whose war effort was more nearly total, had already established women\u2019s auxiliaries in several of their services, and there was considerable evidence that had the war lasted a few months longer the United States might have done like wise.\u201d[3]<\/a> Women\u2019s involvement in the military may have been different in WWII if this would have happened. However, there was one way that women were allowed to be involved in military efforts in WWI.<\/p>\n

The common belief from citizens both prior and during WWI was that a, \u201cwomen\u2019s place was in the home.\u201d[4]<\/a> Looking at how other countries were becoming dominant in women\u2019s involvement in the military, the U.S. began to look at ways to improve women\u2019s involvement in the U.S. However, there was one obstacle that had to be overcome, and that was how men felt about women\u2019s involvement in the military. It was noted by Army psychiatrists of the time that, \u201cin order for women to gain an active participation in military activities it was necessary for man to change his basic concept of the feminine role, to overcome his fear of \u2018women generals.\u2019\u201d[5]<\/a> Even though the United States did not have their own women\u2019s auxiliary programs like other countries, and the approval rate for women to become involved in military was low.\u00a0 The United States did however, take an important step to boost moral, and make it acceptable for women to be involved in the military though creating the Army Nurse Corps. \u201cIn placing nurses in a militarized and uniformed corps, the nation had taken one long step toward admission of women to full membership in the armed forces.\u201d Army Nurses were more than just nurses, they were groundbreakers in the movement necessary for women to be in the admitted into the military. Sadly full admittance would not come until much later, however, Army Nurses played an important role for women in the U.S. until the year 1942.<\/p>\n

The University of Illinois being the major military school that it was during both WWI and WWII was involved in the Army Nurse Program. In an article published in the Daily Illini<\/em>, January 13th<\/sup>, 1918 promotes women joining the military through the Army Nurse Program. It was viewed as \u201cone of the best of professions offered to young women.\u201d[6]<\/a>\u00a0 There was however some restrictions, and requirements for Army Nurses who were either enlisting, or considering becoming an Army Nurse. \u201cThey need not only physiology, physics, history, but an absolute faith in humanity and in their God, that, when the first glamour of the task is worn off, and the days and nights follow each other with little rest, and scenes of bloodshed fairly drives one insane, they will still be allaying suffering of both body and mind.\u201d[7]<\/a> These women were expected to be at the least college educated, and to enter nursing schools.\u00a0 Once they finished the amount of schooling necessary for them to take the places of experienced nurses they were allowed to enter the military as a trained nurse.[8]<\/a> Universities like the University of Illinois suggested for women to take specific course when gaining their undergraduate degree.\u00a0 They would also reward those students by giving nursing credit to them, if they had taken the courses that were suggested for nurses to take.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Even though the Army Nurse program was established in WWI, and women were able to enlist in the military as Army Nurses.\u00a0 It was not until 1942 that the United States would initialize a plan for women to be allowed to join their own divisions of the military. To get to that point in 1942 would take years of patience and hard work to build the WAC.\u00a0 There was many steps that took place to get to that point, and it all began not that long after WWI.\u00a0 The first steps in this long process began in 1928 with the Hughes Plan.\u00a0 Male planners of war had a very difficult time planning for a women\u2019s corps, because it was difficult for men to view women as capable of joining the military.\u00a0 Following along with male views at the Army War College men were being taught a course titled, \u201cConservation by Utilization of Women in Industry, in Military Service, and in Welfare Work.\u201d[10]<\/a>\u00a0 This course was meant to show men the roles women were playing in wartime efforts, and how important their work was for the county. Women were allowed to be involved in the war efforts in ways the country deemed approvable.\u00a0 One of these ways was for women to take the places of men in factories.\u00a0 For women to take these positions in society men of the United States deemed these positions honorable for women.\u00a0 Which, was why it was such a difficult task for men to view women as future members of the military. This perception of women was common in WWI, women were not only Army Nurses, but they also worked in factories, and replaced men in jobs they once filled when they went off to war. It was not until Major Hughes proposed a new thought around 1928 the, \u201cacceptance of the fact that women would inevitably play a part in the next war\u2014the more nearly total the war, the greater the part.\u201d[11]<\/a> The Hughes Plan however did not involve initiating women into the military instantly.\u00a0 What it did was, \u201ccontemplated that only women overseas or in danger zones would be militarized.\u201d[12]<\/a> Women on the home front however, would be trained for the possibility of entering a combat zone, they would not be allowed to enter that combat zone until the next war was known.\u00a0 It was then decided under the Hughes Plan that these women, \u201cmust be trained nor merely in drill but in an understanding of Army thinking, a process that could not be achieved overnight.\u201d[13]<\/a>\u00a0 Major Hughes viewed this plan as doing the right thing for women by allowing them the right to get involved in military efforts during wartime.\u00a0 The Secretary of War however felt a very differently about this plan, and it was in a way pushed under the rug, and forgot about almost entirely. This can be seen by the fact that years after this plan was introduced there was still no efforts in putting this plan into motion.\u00a0 When 1931 came around, only three years after the Hughes Plan had been introduced, there had still been no word about women joining the military. It also was perceived at the time that no one seemed to be willing to do anything to put the Hughes Plan in action, thus ultimately ending the peacetime planning for a women\u2019s corps.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Hughes Plan may not have been passed as quickly as people would have hoped. However, it may have been the light that was needed to get the fire burning for the United States to have a women\u2019s corps.\u00a0 In 1939 just eight years after all hopes, and dreams of having a branch for women in the military was put to a stop General George C. Marshall, \u201cwas appointed Chief of Staff, and a month later was planning for a women\u2019s corps.\u201d[15]<\/a> The Civilian Conservation Corps began working on how to create a women\u2019s corps.\u00a0 However, they must not have been aware of any plans discussed previously, such as the Hughes Plan due to the fact that it was a completely different plan than what was brought up in 1928. The new idea that the CCC created for these women restricted them, just like in their everyday lives.\u00a0 The plan stated that, \u201cThe CCC has shown how persons may be grouped in units with a military form of organization, uniformed, given grades of rank, paid and cared for, employed under orders of Army Officials, administered by the Army\u2019s chain of command, and governed by War Department Regulations, without being members of the Army.\u201d[16]<\/a>\u00a0 The catch to this plan lies at the end, women were not allowed to be given full military status, they were considered members of the Army, but by no means were they to be considered at the same level as men fighting over seas. It was decided that these women\u2019s jobs would be, \u201chostesses, librarians, canteen clerks, cooks and waitresses, chauffeurs, messengers, and strolling minstrels.\u201d[17]<\/a>\u00a0 The War Department however, could not make an executive decision about allowing women to be members of the military.\u00a0 Gen. Marshall wrote a letter to an inquire stating how the United States has the manpower they need, unlike other counties like England who have had to rely on their women to fill the ranks that men no longer can.\u00a0 He also went on to say about women and the war rising that, \u201cwe must plan for every possible contingency, and certainly must provide some outlet for the patriotic desires of our women.\u201d[18]<\/a> Yet the plan that was created would in no way prepare women for every possible contingency, since they would not be trained the same way as a man, and would not hold the same positions.\u00a0 When 1941 rolled around the Senate and the House was able to build support for the Rodgers Bill, which supported women joining the military. After support from both Congress, and the first lady herself Eleanor Roosevelt, and after much debate and deliberation from both Congress, and the War Department it was decided that the WAAC (WAC), Women\u2019s Army Auxiliary Corps should and will be formed.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The University of Illinois WATC was the first program of its kind. RS 39\/2\/20, Number 0000649<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One woman was leading the efforts and establishing the programs basics.\u00a0 This woman was Republican Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers (Mass.).[19]<\/a> Through her efforts the Act to establish the WAAC (WAC) passed with Congress, and the legislation was completed on May 14th<\/sup>, 1942.\u00a0 The following day, \u201cPresident Roosevelt issued an Executive Order, authorizing its establishment.\u201d[20]<\/a> It was stated in the Act that the terms of service for any woman shall be one year. \u201cIn times of war or emergency the Secretary of war may extend the term to include the period of war or emergency, plus not to exceed six months.\u201d[21]<\/a> The Act also set rules for enrollment and discharges for women who joined the WAAC.\u00a0 The first of these was an age restriction, which stated that women between the ages of 21 to 44 were allowed to enlist. \u201cThey must also be physically fit, of good character, and with the ability to learn.\u201d[22]<\/a> Payment to the women who were enlisted was significantly less than that of enlisted men.\u00a0 The reason for this being that these women would not fight in combat, meaning their pay should be considerably less.[23]<\/a> The WAAC was allowed to have 150,000 women recruited and working in their units of 150 members. They never reached full capacity, it is said that, 100,000 women at one point served the WAC at its peak during WWII.[24]<\/a> The WAC whose name changed from the WAAC to the WAC after it was converted to a full status of the military.[25]<\/a>\u00a0 The WAC proved to be extremely affective, and continued to enlist women until it was disbanded in 1978 when women integrated into units with men.<\/p>\n

Women who served in the military were not always treated the way that we would expect them to be today. We may never know what these women were truly feeling or even thinking.\u00a0 However, due to one woman we can catch a glimpse of what we can only assume is what all women went through who served in WWII.\u00a0 Aileen Kilgore Henderson was a member of the WAC from 1944 until her discharge in December of 1945. Through her accounts from that year we are able to get a glimpse of what it truly meant to be a stateside soldier. Henderson, who was known at the time as Corporal Kilgore, which was her rank in the WAC. Realized that through joining the WAC it would enable her to make a contribution to the war effort, while also receiving some much needed financial compensation.[26]<\/a> She describes how afraid she was to bring up to her family, and even her friends that she was interested in joining the WACs.\u00a0 It was not until she ran into one of her sister\u2019s old boyfriends who was in the Air Corps that she realized that joining the WACs may not be as unimportant as she thought.\u00a0 He told her when she asked about the WACs that, \u201cThe WACs I\u2019ve worked with are doing a good job.\u00a0 If joining is what you feel is right for you, go ahead.\u201d[27]<\/a> She then had the courage and strength she needed to tell her family and friends about her new journey, and soon realized that \u201clife in the military during wartime was a unique experience for a woman.\u201d[28]<\/a><\/p>\n

On January 26th<\/sup>, 1944 Kilgore\u2019s journey began and the one question she had on her mind was what joining the WACs would do to her reputation. She had this to say on her first day, \u201cI can hardly wait, yet I\u2019m scared to death.\u00a0 Am I getting into something that will transform me into a monster?\u201d[29]<\/a> Yet one thing kept her going, her parents support for her joining the Army.\u00a0 More than anything her mother who was more supportive than her father, saying that, \u201cshe\u2019d do the same if she were young and single.\u201d[30]<\/a> Her first days her fear was wavering as to what she was getting herself into, yet one thing is clear throughout her diary entries, she is more excited than afraid.\u00a0 She was twenty-tree years old leaving her family for the first time, yet the future did not seem bleak.\u00a0 On February 2nd<\/sup> her entire world changed, she was now officially Private Kilgore, and soon to be Corporal Kilgore. Nearly a month after her enlistment she wrote to her parents saying, \u201cI like the Army better as the days go by but many are turning against it now. They gripe constantly.\u201d[31]<\/a> As days went by Kilgore became a true lover of Army life, and could not imagine being a civilian.\u00a0 She dreaded the day she graduated, and would have to leave the life she had fell in love with behind. As days went by there was more and more things that kept changing for Kilgore; more rules, more restrictions, and even more realizations about herself as a person. After a couple of months she learned that, \u201cif you keep a diary while in the military service it has to be censored.\u201d[32]<\/a> This then began to make her question if the letters she was writing to her parents, and loved ones were censored.\u00a0 We her parents seeing the same things that she was writing, and was the Army trying controlling the most private part of her life. Even with these questions and concerns, she still never lost faith in what the WAC was about, and if she was doing the right thing.<\/p>\n

Kilgore saw everything that you would expect to see being a woman in the military, and one thing she saw that we knew was taking place in the real world was men\u2019s disapproval of the WACs. Kilgore noted how women just like her were receiving letters from their boyfriends of years to not write letters to them anymore.[33]<\/a> The reason for this can be assumed that service men, were supportive of women joining the WAC, as long as it was not their women. One woman who was married, and whose husband was based in Italy, told her he was divorcing her because she joined the WAC.[34]<\/a> The most moving account written by Kilgore comes from her letter written to her parents on \u201cD\u201d Day, June 7th<\/sup> 1944.\u00a0 She not only learned her cousin was killed in action, and the regret she felt in her heart for her family and loved ones dying in combat, when she herself was not allowed to fight.\u00a0 She still never lost faith in the cause she was fighting for, but the role she was playing began to seem less important. Not long after she became a Corporal she was discharged on December 7th<\/sup>, 1945. She was disappointed, and uncertain about what her future would be like.\u00a0 Kilgore no longer knew what it was like to live as a civilian, and it scared her, \u201cmore than joining the military to go back to normal life.\u201d[35]<\/a> She truly experienced everything a woman in the military could, basic training, assignments, but never combat. The U.S. never got to a point in WWII where they needed to fully enlist women in the military, which was a disappointment to the women who served in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Illinois WATC- Women\u2019s Auxiliary Training Corps\u2014was the nation\u2019s first to be based on the Army WAC program.\u201d[36]<\/a> That statement itself says a lot about the pride and honor our university had when it came to being involved as heavily as they were with women\u2019s newfound involvement in the military. There was two ways that the University of Illinois was involved. They were the first to establish a WATC program under the WAC, setting an example for other universities to follow. The second way that U of I was involved was by being a major recruitment center for the WAC, WAVES, WASP, and SPARS. Looking at the WATC program, more specifically on the University of Illinois campus, its importance can be seen by looking at the effort that took place behind the scenes to get this program started.\u00a0 Joe Wright stated that the, \u201cWar Effort- Newest war activity at the University of Illinois is the Women\u2019s Auxiliary Training Corps, an as-yet unofficial branch of the university military department to prepare co-eds for the WAAC as the ROTC prepares men students for the Army. Miss Maria Leonard, dean of women, one of the sponsors of WATC, inspects the cadette uniform on Marie Eeron, 1721, Carmen Avenue, Chicago.\u201d[37]<\/a> The University of Illinois could be viewed as being proud of the WATC program they found, due to the headgear they created for its members to wear. \u201cProminent on WATC headgear is the orange block \u201cI\u201d of Illinois, with the initials \u201cWATC across it.\u201d[38]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The WATC prepared female students for the WAC RS 39\/2\/20, number 0000648<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Daily Illini accounts show the many ways that recruitment took place on its campus. On March 18th<\/sup> 1942, the first article about the WAC was published providing a local account for students of the university to view. This article provided information to female students about how they could enlist, and what roles they would be able to take part in when it came to military life. Not a year later, the Daily Illini published an article about how the University of Illinois was establishing the WATC program. It was stated that, \u201cwomen students who will complete their courses within a year and are 21 years old are eligible for the WAAC reserve statues.\u201d[39]<\/a> These course needed to be eligible were now being offered at the University of Illinois, giving its female students more of a chance to be successful in the WAC. Which was why the University is seeking official status for the local WATC unit.\u00a0 In effect, a women\u2019s ROTC is being sought.\u201d[40]<\/a>\u00a0 1943 was a big year for the University of Illinois the WATC program began, and recruitment began to boom for other divisions besides the WAC.<\/p>\n

The University of Illinois was such an important recruitment spot for women that in 1944 they sought recruits for confidential work. It was not stated what this opportunity was however, they need to have, \u201ca high I.Q. and a record of loyalty to the United States.\u201d[41]<\/a> This was such a secret that they would not allow the test to take place on our campus. \u201cThe applicant will be sent to Chicago shortly for an interview with a signal corps officer. A mental test and through examination of character and family history will follow.\u201d[42]<\/a> Only 100 women were chosen for this secret mission, in the 6th<\/sup> service command, and will be sent to Arlington hall in Washington D.C. for basic training. Sadly not all the accounts provided in the Daily Illini<\/em> about the WASP, WAC, WAVES, and SPARS can be as spectacular as in early years.\u00a0 When the war was reaching its end, these programs began to fall apart. The WATC division founded at the University of Illinois had been canceled in 1944 due to \u201clack of interest.\u201d[43]<\/a> A reporter at the Daily Illini wrote about why there was no WATC division on our campus any longer.\u00a0 The conclusion to the article was that the opinion women were receiving from men was that they should not be involved in such activities, and that it was not for their women, and \u201cunfeminine.\u201d[44]<\/a> It seemed that public opinion for these new women\u2019s divisions was positive, but that perception seemed to only derive from some of the women of the time. Men truly were unhappy about their women being involved.\u00a0 That can be seen not just from Private Kilgore\u2019s accounts in her diary but also in the articles published by the Daily Illini and how the University of Illinois itself acted towards the end of the war. It seemed that the university supported this women\u2019s movement by how much they got involved, but through their quick dispansion of the WATC program, and how there are essentially no pictures found in the Illio\u2019s <\/em>supporting women\u2019s involvement.\u00a0 It can only be assumed that the public\u2019s opinion, meaning man\u2019s had reached the University of Illinois, and made their decisions to follow the common belief of the time that much easier. It seems that even U of I could not beat public opinion and made women\u2019s military involvement something forgotten.<\/p>\n

Even though all we can see is the disappointment, and hatred the women who served in these programs often felt from both the men in America, and their loved ones. There is one account we have that shows it wasn\u2019t all bad for the women who served who were in relationships. Dorothy Barnes was a member of the WAVES; she was also a housewife who enlisted when the war began.\u00a0 Upon learning of her husbands return to Hawaii, she asked her commanding officer to be transferred to Hawaii\u2019s naval base.\u00a0 When he asked the reason why she wanted to be transferred, she told him that was where her husband was stationed.[45]<\/a>\u00a0 We may think about women who were left behind on the home front while their men went to war, but now we have both husbands and wives fighting for the same cause. Yet there were rules and restrictions put in place by the army to prevent there to be public altercations between couples. It was not until Dorothy essentially quit, was she able to live with her husband on the naval base. Married women were allowed to enlist, however they were not allowed to live a married life and be a soldier.\u00a0 They had to choose which life they wanted to live, and Dorothy chose to be with her husband.<\/p>\n

In the book written by Mattie E. Treadwell , published by the U.S. Army we learn that this book is meant to show , \u201cthe public skepticism and masculine hostility into which the WAC ran headlong in its first year.\u201d[46]<\/a> This skepticism shaped public opinion of women joining the military.\u00a0 This view was something women were use to, they dealt with it in WWI, and when they enlisted in WWII they dealt with it again.\u00a0 Even though their boyfriends and husbands despised their women being involved in the military, and even led to break-ups, and divorce.\u00a0 The women who served during WWII never gave up on their dreams of being able to serve their country during a war.\u00a0 They wanted to be more than housewives, and they wanted to learn who they could truly be.\u00a0 Private Kilgore shows precisely what it meant to serve your country, and to never lose faith in the cause you were fighting for.\u00a0 All across the country, women were joining the WAC, WASP, WAVES, and SPARS to ensure a better future for themselves.\u00a0 What they did not realize was that they were becoming essential groundbreakers in the movement for women to one day become full members of the military. Even though the University of Illinois disbanded its program, and after the war recruitment came to a halt on its campus.\u00a0 What they accomplished during the war, inspired other schools to take the same course of action in supporting women\u2019s involvement.\u00a0 These women truly are inspirational to women everywhere, yet they seem to be a forgotten part of our nations history. When we learn about WWII in high school, we learn about the battles, and the men who died.\u00a0 Nowhere does it talk about the women who were involved in WWII.\u00a0 The stateside soldiers truly are a forgotten part of our nations history, and it seems that some things may ever change. The men\u2019s views of the time, that women\u2019s role was not important due to the fact that these programs established are overlooked by the teachers of the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The Infantry Journal. You Must Be Fit The Official Training Program of the Women\u2019s Army Corps. <\/em>U.S Government Printing Office. 1943. Pg 2<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 2<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Mattie E. Treadwell.\u00a0 United States Army in World War II, Special Studies, The Women\u2019s Army Corps. <\/em>U.S. Government Printing Office. 1954. Pg. xi<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 5<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 5<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> The Daily Illini<\/em>, January 13th<\/sup>, 1918. Pg. 1<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> The Daily Illini<\/em>, January 16th<\/sup>, 1918<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0 The Daily Illini<\/em>, January 13th<\/sup>, 1918. Pg. 1<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> United States Army in World War II, Special Studies, The Women\u2019s Army Corps<\/em>. pg. 13<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 13<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 14<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Ibid. pg 14<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 15<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Ibid. pg.15<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 15<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 15<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 16<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Leisa D. Meyer. Creating GI Jane<\/em>. Columbia University Press. (1996). Pg. 11<\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> Women\u2019s Auxiliary Training Corps: Basic Manual.<\/em> The Military Service Publishing Company. 1943. Pg. 53 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

[21]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 54<\/p>\n

[22]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 54<\/p>\n

[23]<\/a> United States Army in World War II, Special Studies, The Women\u2019s Army Corps<\/em>. Pg. 66<\/p>\n

[24]<\/a> United States Army in World War II, Special Studies, The Women\u2019s Army Corps<\/em>. Pg. xi<\/p>\n

[25]<\/a> Women\u2019s Auxiliary Training Corps: Basic Manual.<\/em> Pg. 60<\/p>\n

[26]<\/a> Aileen Kilgore Henderson. Stateside Soldier. <\/em>University of South Carolina Press 2001. Pg. 3<\/p>\n

[27]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 3<\/p>\n

[28]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 3<\/p>\n

[29]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 4<\/p>\n

[30]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 4<\/p>\n

[31]<\/a> Ibid. Pg. 26<\/p>\n

[32]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 31<\/p>\n

[33]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 39<\/p>\n

[34]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 44<\/p>\n

[35]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 240<\/p>\n

[36]<\/a>WATC Photograph, Photograph Subject File1868-, Record Series 39\/2\/20, Box 145, folder Military (WATC), University of Illinois Archives.<\/p>\n

[37]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[38]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[39]<\/a> The Daily Illini. February 28th<\/sup>, 1943. Pg. 1<\/p>\n

[40]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 1<\/p>\n

[41]<\/a> The Daily Illini. May 12th<\/sup> 1944. Pg. 3<\/p>\n

[42]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 3<\/p>\n

[43]<\/a> The Daily Illini. July 21st<\/sup>, 1944. Pg. 2<\/p>\n

[44]<\/a> Ibid. pg. 2<\/p>\n

[45]<\/a> Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt. They Also Served<\/em>. A Birch Land Press Book. 1995. Pg. 112<\/p>\n

[46]<\/a>Mattie E. Treadwell.\u00a0 United States Army in World War II, Special Studies, The Women\u2019s Army Corps. <\/em>U.S. Government Printing Office. 1954 pg. xii<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This paper is part of the\u00a0Student Researcher Series\u00a0which showcases research students have conducted using resources in the Student Life and Culture Archives. If you\u2019re a student who is interested in sharing your research on our blog, please contact us.\u00a0 Rebecca Purcell\u00a0is an undergraduate history student at the University of Illinois. This paper was written for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":626,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[36,206,275,323,326,328,329,339,344,345],"class_list":["post-4851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-found-in-the-archives","category-research","tag-army-nurse-program","tag-military","tag-spars","tag-wac","tag-wasp","tag-watc","tag-waves","tag-womens-army-auxiliary-corps","tag-world-war-i","tag-world-war-ii"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4851"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10797,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851\/revisions\/10797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/slc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}