In the Military
Sources about the women who enlisted and served
Image source: Wikipedia
Sources about the women who enlisted and served
Image source: Wikipedia
Goebel, K. E. (2011). Women for victory: American servicewomen in World War II (Vols. 1–2). Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
This is a two volume visual encyclopedia of women’s military uniforms during WWII. Each volume contains color photos, both full length and closeup views, of original clothing and accessories. Photos are supported by original wartime photos, as well as documents, tables and drawings. The history of each uniform iteration is included. This is an excellent resource for a researcher interested in the uniforms worn by women in the military during WWII. The editor, Katy Endruschat Goebel, is a graduate historian with a special interest in vintage clothing and WWII with decades of research experience in both areas. First published in 2011, it has one edition. The first volume covers uniforms worn by the Army Nurse Corps, the Navy Nurse Corps, and Army Hospital Dietitians, and the Army Physical therapists. The second volume covers uniforms worn by the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), and its successor the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Each volume contains over 1,000 photos. It is intended for a general audience. I found this source by searching “best reference book on women’s war effort” on Google.
Miller, W. M. (2016). To live and die a WASP: 38 women pilots who died in WWII. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
This book is about the 38 women pilots who died in WWII out of the over 1,000 that served. It provides short biographies for each woman, as well as details of their crash. This book includes difficult to find details on the 38 women, making it especially valuable for those interested in WASP history. This collection of biographies is an in depth look into these women’s lives, placing them in the social context of World War II. It gives a short history of how the WASPs came to be. This resource is divided into 16 ambiguously titled chapters, each detailing the circumstances of one or more WASPs’ lives and deaths. William M Miller authored this book as well as other historical books and worked as a newspaper reporter and history columnist for nearly eight years. This resource has no front matter, but does have multiple useful appendices, as well as chapter notes, a bibliography, and an index. This is intended for a general audience. I found this source by searching “world war 2 wasp reference book” on Google.
National WASP WWII Museum – Honoring the life and legacy of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2025, from https://www.waspmuseum.org/
The National WASP WWII Museum website is an extension of and is maintained by the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, TX. Due to its focus this is an invaluable research tool for those interested in WASP history. It has several types of resources, most prominently an archive containing aircraft information, artifacts, documents, images, and more primary sources. To access the full archive you must request permission, but many resources are available without this permission. It does not publish peer-reviewed scholarly written articles, but they do have a blog that writes about WASP related topics. It is updated regularly, as the museum and its website are active and popular. The site seeks to educate visitors about WASPs in WWII and encourages visits to their museum. It has prominent donation buttons but does not interrupt browsing and is ad-free. This site is intended for anyone interested in WASP history, but has many resources aimed at students and educators. I found this source by searching “wwii wasp website” on Google.