The Great War

When the war in Europe began, women in the United States where still prohibited from joining any branch of the military and women’s suffrage continued to be at the forefront of several women’s organizations. Eventually, suffrage was put on the back burner and replaced with patriotism for war efforts. Although the need arose for an increase in troop levels, focus for the war efforts remained masculine driven and recognition of female participation minimized or deterred when the U.S. initially entered in 1917. When the Surgeon General of the Army sent out request forms to qualified Physicians, several female physicians completed the request. Because the requests were sent under the assumption that all physicians were male, the women were denied the opportunity.

Female doctors with equal education and experience eventually served they were paid less than their male counterparts, held positions without rank recognitions, and often volunteered services confronted with sexism that males did not face. Women of color faced racism both while serving and following with even less inclusion in recognition of their service from historical documentation at the intersection of their gender and race.

Women also found roles in the Navy as Yeomen (F-female) following the passage of the Naval Reserve Act of 1916. This was not the original intent of the Navy’s rank and file. This was not the Navy's original intent but, because the term persons was used rather than men, they could not deny women from joining. Eventually, they were referred to as the Yeomanettes. The Navy was unprepared for the newly enlisted women. They had no housing, proper uniforms, or female nurses readily available for examinations and many made their own uniforms and found housing at the local YMCA. One African American Yeomanette Ruth Wellborn was the grandmother of the Secretary of Commerce, Ron Brown under the Clinton administration.

Mollie C. Marr. “They Were There: American Physicians and the First World War.” Retrieved from The Permanente Journal online.(2020)1-2.

Nathaniel Patch, “The Story of Female Yeomen during the First World War.” Retrieved from National Archives. Prologue Magazine: (2006, fall, Vol.38.No.3). https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2006/fall/yeoman-f.html.