Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) was created by Congress in July 1942, allowing women to serve as officers and enlisted personnel in the U.S. Naval Reserve. At its height, over 80,000 women served in the WAVES, performing vital shore-based duties that freed men for combat.
The GG Archives collection spans from recruitment brochures and boot camp yearbooks to postwar newsletters and separation pamphlets—making this one of the most comprehensive online resources on WAVES history.
A first look at official WAVES uniforms and insignia—an early visual marker of women’s entry into the U.S. Navy during WWII.
Wartime brochure outlining pay, uniforms, training, assignments, and eligibility for the Navy’s WAVES and Coast Guard SPARS.
A step-by-step explanation of eligibility, duties, training, and service paths for women entering the Navy or Coast Guard.
A landmark recruiting piece that promoted pride, opportunity, and the growing scope of women’s naval service during WWII.
Archival photograph of WAVES riding a Navy Pier bus in Chicago, 1944. Captures training logistics and daily life for women at one of the Navy’s major WWII training centers.
Note: This photograph was originally misattributed to the Library of Congress.
Correct source is the National Archives (NARA, ID 153723431).
Image path updated to CVimages/MIL/USN/NARA/ for consistency.
Daily routine, housing, admin & communications work, and the end-of-war transition back to civilian life.
WAVES operating communications lines during WWII
A period photo postcard shows WAVES running switchboards at the U.S. Naval Training School (WR), Bronx. It’s a tight snapshot of WWII service life: precision routine, technical skill, and the shore-based work that kept the fleet connected.
A lavishly illustrated look at housing, routines, and recreation in wartime Washington. An essential window into daily life, community, and service identity for Navy women.
Post-war demobilization in practice: benefits, records, and steps back to civilian life—vital context for family research and women’s veterans’ history.
The last official wartime-era newsletter from BuPers—closing the chapter on mass demobilization and signaling the post-war transition of women’s service.
Rare company books with rosters, portraits, and leadership—gold for genealogists and a vivid record of women’s recruit training at Great Lakes and Bainbridge in the early Cold War era.
Early post-WWII women’s training at Great Lakes—68 graduates under Chief Storekeeper Agnes McSkimming. Strong admin/technical emphasis: yeoman, storekeeper, comms, personnel.
46 graduates, 3 Aug 1953. Highlights CAPT Joy Bright Hancock and LCDR Jean M. Stewart—landmark leaders in the post-PL 625 Regular Navy era.
52 graduates, 10 Aug 1953. Training under TE1 P. Muenchow; CAPT Hancock & LCDR Stewart featured. Strong portraits and roster detail.
Compact post-Korea yearbook (38 graduates; 27 Sep 1954). Leadership by CAPT Louise K. Wilde & LCDR Jean M. Stewart.
Large class (71 graduates; 3 Oct 1955) under DKCA E. H. Walther. American Spirit Honor Medal: SR Capitolie A. Sutton (Los Angeles, CA).
From demobilization to permanence: women nurses at sea, volunteer networks, mid-60s recruiting, and late-1970s training—tracing the Navy’s path toward fuller integration.
Nineteen Navy nurses deploy aboard the hospital ship Repose—a snapshot of women’s afloat medical service during the Vietnam era.
Volunteer training at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey—documenting the scale and professionalism of family-support networks.
Mid-sixties recruitment style meets evolving duty opportunities—bridging WWII identity and later Regular Navy integration.
Late-1970s recruit life and pipeline just before broader shipboard integration—a baseline for comparing today’s training environment.
Policy milestones, recruit training narratives, and richly illustrated books that preserve the story of Navy women from WWII through the Cold War and beyond.
BuPers Circular Letter guidance translating the 1948 Integration Act into a practical ladder: eligibility, Officer Qualification Test, deadlines, and indoctrination at Newport (Line) or Bayonne (Supply).
From WWII roots to Regular-Navy permanence under PL 625: processing, eight-week curriculum, Service Week, Saturday reviews, and data on ratings, assignments, and origins.
150+ photographs from Steichen’s Naval Aviation Photographic Unit—training, work, and everyday life that humanize the WWII women’s Navy.
Yearbook-style volume compiled by WAVES National—hundreds of photos, short bios, and tributes from Yeoman (F) and Nurses through WWII and the Cold War.
Reference: For abbreviations and shipboard roles, see our Navy Ranks, Ratings & Roles and Glossary of Naval Terms.
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