examination first If the applicant fails to pass the spelling I don't examine her further Despite this Erd soon supervised more than 200 women These 200 women were the first officially recognized enlisted women in US military history The navy didn't change the title for newly enlisted personnel but some called these new recruits yeomanettes The navy simply added an F for female in parentheses after the title Some of the jobs were boring even though they were important to the navy's operations Yeoman F Nell Weston Halstead asked her boss to give her more exciting work Halstead said One day it got my goat so completely that I boldly sailed into the captain's office he was an old timer in the navy with a basso voice and glowering eyes and I told him we didn't like our jobs and we wanted to go to France Halstead was sternly instructed to return to her duties Aside from the monotonous work most yeomen F became accustomed to navy life and learned to obey orders without question Women were not allowed to go to sea but some were sent overseas to work with nurses in hospitals in France and bases outside the continental United States Most women enlisted in the US Navy worked six days a week for ten hours a day The navy did not provide much training before sending yeomanettes to naval bases and offices all over the country including Guam and Puerto Rico But some
jobs required more skills Yeomanettes who had additional skills were also permitted to fill noncombatant or nonfighting jobs Among those were stenographers electricians pharmacists chemists and PAY RATE During World War women in the US Navy and Marines received the same pay rate as their male counterparts of the same rank Their pay started at 28 75 per month plus 1 25 per day for food and expenses as well as an allowance for uniforms and medical care But women's uniforms cost more than those of the men Women were expected to cover the difference in cost themselves out of their salary telephone operators Many had very little education and took night classes to gain clerical skills necessary for their new jobs They learned naval terms regulations and procedures They weren't expected to carry weapons but practiced marching and simple formations for 30 minutes once a week One yeoman F teacher Lou MacPherson Guthrie worked the graveyard shift midnight to 8 a m in the Navy Yard for the Bureau of War Risk and Insurance Guthrie remembered We liked it even though we had to get off the street car at midnight in the worst section of the city and walk down the wharf Here wharf rats nearly as big as opossums scuttled across our path in the moonlight But it was quite safe There was very little crime recorded in the city then We felt no timidity about walking alone at midnight on poorly lighted
Some new recruits found themselves doing jobs more complex than boring office work filling roles such as librarians fingerprint experts torpedo assemblers and switchboard operators UNIFORMS At first women did not have appropriate uniforms to wear Men's uniforms would not work for women Daniels the secretary of the Navy remembered decisions about women's uniforms were difficult He said Some people thought they ought to wear something like pants Some had different ideas The length of the skirt that was a serious problem Should we have a long skirt that would sweep the decks Or something that revealed more leg Never in my life have I attempted anything great or small without the wise counsel of the women We decided on skirts about eight inches from the ground There were also summer and winter weight hats boots leather gloves and blouses It didn't take long for the navy to realize the popularity of women in military dress patriotism increased wherever they went During the summer of 1917 the navy sent uniformed women to make appearances at recruiting campaigns parades and other official events 10
Women filled important clerical positions left vacant as men went to join the fighting The inclusion of women in the military in 1917 was a turning point for women's rights It was a significant occurrence for women and the war In fact it would have been impossible for the war to be won without women holding up the structure of the military behind the
