Elizabeth Nolan and friends
SubjectPortrait of
Elizabeth Ann Nolan
American, 1924 - 2017
PhotographerPhotographed by
Unknown
Date1945
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions: 3 1/8 × 4 1/4in. (7.9 × 10.8cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Nolan Barnicle
DescriptionBlack and white photo of five women posing on an house porch staircase: [back to front] Peg Larkin, Phyl Sherman, Marion Dalton, Jacky Gaudreau, and Elizabeth Nolan, 10 August 1945. Elizabeth Nolan [front] is wearing a United States Naval Reserve WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) summer uniform, the other women are dressed in civilian clothing.
Object number2017.55.7
InscribedHandwritten in black ink on back: "Peg Larkin/ Phyl Sherman/ Marion Dalton/ Jacky Gaudreau / ME"Stamped in red ink on back: "AUG 10 1945"
Stamped in green ink on back: "071"NotesSubject Note: During WWII, women were eager to get involved in the war effort. Despite political resistance from those who believed women had no place in the Navy, President Roosevelt passed the Navy Women’s Reserve Act into law on July 30, 1942, creating the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). This opened up new opportunities for women, allowing them to work as aviation mechanics, photographers, control tower operators, and parachute riggers. Although WAVES were not allowed to serve aboard combat ships or aircraft, these women were stationed at 900 shore stations in the continental U.S., later expanding to Alaska and Hawaii. By the end of WWII, more than 84,000 women had served in the WAVES. After the war, Congress passed a law allowing women to gain permanent status in all branches of the U.S. military, effectively disbanding the WAVES organization.
On March 15, 1944, twenty-one-year-old Hartford native Elizabeth “Betty” Nolan, joined the WAVES, where she was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Alameda, CA. To prepare, she attended the U.S. Naval Training School at Hunter College, NY, and Yeoman School at the Iowa Teachers College, Cedar Falls, IA. After the war, Betty worked in the Patent Department of the Underwood Research Laboratories until she and her husband, John P. Barnicle, started their family.
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