Scope and Contents

Letters and postcards from Arline Furstman to an acquaintance in Jamaica, Long Island, chiefly document Furstman's service with the WAVES in 1944 and 1945. Letters detail her duties in the military; off-duty activities; reactions to VJ Day in August 1945; entertainment; and the 1945 plane crash into the Empire State Building.

Scope and Contents Letters, chiefly from Port Blakely, Washington, document Tillson's daily life with the WAVES. Subjects include her dates and social activities, particularly the USO (United Service Organization), a Women's Service Club, dances, and athletics; her family; the status of the war, including the death of Franklin Roosevelt and the German surrender; WAVES uniforms and uniform regulations; and her work as a radio operator. Tillson writes in detail about the opportunities the navy provides and about...

Abstract

Mary Ellen West (b. 1922) of Dover, North Carolina, served in the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) from 1943 to 1946.

The Mary Ellen West Papers primarily date from 1943 to 1948 and contain papers, printed material, photographs, textiles, artifacts, and an oral history interview which document West's military service.

Abstract

Virgilia "Jill" Williams (1914-2003) of Grandview, Iowa, served in the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) as a pharmacist's mate third class at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, and an instructor of pharmacist's mates at the U.S. Naval Training School in the Bronx, New York, during World War II.

The collection contains correspondence, military papers, photographs, postcards, publications, and a scrapbook kept by Williams.