ARCHIVE: Women's Army Corps.
(Military) Bischoff, Ellen Parker. Women’s Army Corps Archive.
An archive of over 400 photos from Women’s Army Corps recruit Ellen Parker Bischoff (1924-2009), comprised of three well-assembled and captioned photo albums, more than 165 loose photos of various sizes, two high school yearbooks bearing her artwork, and a WAC pictorial booklet, possibly issued for recruitment. While not overtly lesbian in nature, the near exclusion of men in the photos, curious photo captions, and a risquŽ homemade birthday book given to Bischoff with tipped in photos, all strongly suggest an alternative lifestyle. Overall near fine or better with scattered general wear.
The WAC was formed in 1942 to create an official military support role for women to help release men filling those rolls for active combat duty. The program attracted 150,000 women opening up a host of nontraditional jobs and providing them a greater level of independence than ever before. It had particular appeal to lesbians of the day who were seeking less traditional female roles and welcomed the opportunities to meet other like-minded women.
Bischoff was a graduate of Kelvyn Park High School in Chicago in 1942. She appeared to be a popular student and a talented artist whose artwork adorned the covers of both her junior and senior class yearbooks. She attended the WAC boot camp at Fort Des Moines in Iowa before being station at Fort Winfield Scott just outside of San Francisco. Pictures show her clowning with friends, playing baseball, walking around San Francisco in and out of her uniform, with a group of women roasting hot dogs at the beach and sunbathing on the grass outside her barracks. Half of these images are found in the three photo albums along with captions on the front of the pictures or on the rear and many written in a manner suggesting they were sent to her parents in Chicago. The remaining loose photos are a mix of additional photos like those from the albums (with a few duplicates), personal photos from home, and those sent to her from friends stationed overseas, including several photo postcards. Also found in the photos are headshots of other WAC recruits, images of Navy ships, and those from a trip to Mirror Lake.
Included with the photos is a birthday card/horoscope book constructed from blank sheets with a few photos tipped in. The horoscope entries are a mix of risquŽ comments related to WAC duties, often related to the latrine or mess hall food, and some suspiciously suggestive ones: “Something appears to be reaching a point of climax,” “Something stimulating is coming your way,” and “Your interest runs keen in things ÔAltered’ Ð always wondering how to make a steer out of a Bull.” In addition, a page lists Bishoff’s number one talent list as, “Drawing pictures of nude WAC’s,” and tipped in at the rear is a photo of another WAC sitting on the grass in her uniform with her legs splayed wide.
An interesting collection of original photographs from the life of an early WAC recruit, as well as a potential window into the life of a group of lesbian women stationed in San Francisco at the close of World War II.
Inventory
Photos:
1. 8” x 10” photo portrait of Bischoff in her WAC uniform. Sunned at the edges, near fine.
2. Two 14” x 11” photos of WACs in Fort Des Moines, Iowa. One photo shows them wearing their hats and one does not. With the original mailing envelope and cardboard backer addressed to Bischoff’s parents in Chicago.
3. 162 black and white photos, various sizes from 1.5” x 2.5” to 8.25” x 5”, with some captioned on the rear, and about two dozen contemporary copies. The photos echo many of the same images found in the photo album with WAC servicewomen around the base, at the shore lounging and roasting hot dogs, along with a few scattered portraits. Among the loose photos are a handful of images from friends stationed overseas in Switzerland and Germany in 1948, a few personal photos of Bischoff with her family, a docked *U.S.S. Saratoga* shortly before its destruction in atom bomb testing, and a group of women visiting Mirror Lake.
Photo Albums:
4. Brown leatherette album with comb binding, with “My Snapshots Treasury” on the front board. Circa 1945. Fine with some darkening to the spine. Includes 89 black and white photos, measuring 1.5” x 2.5” to 1.75” x 4”, with most captioned on the front or rear. Photos show Bischoff and other women playing baseball, posing in group shots, canoeing on the Russian River north of San Francisco, by the shore near the Golden Gate Bridge, and celebrations in the streets of San Francisco following the surrender of Japan, including images of people climbing street signs and kissing in the streets.
5. Red leatherette album with comb binding, with “My Snapshots Treasury” on the front board. 1946. Fine. Includes 82 black and white photos, measuring 2.75” x 4.5” to 5.5” x 4”, with many captioned on the rear and one stamped “400th AAF Base Unit Base Photo Lab.” Images include a group of women listening to Colonel Westray Battle Boyce speak, images of Bischoff and friends in and around the base sunbathing, goofing around, sitting on tanks and trucks, and near the water with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
6. Red leatherette album with comb binding, with “My Snapshots Treasury” on the front board. Circa 1946. Fine. Includes 95 black and white photos, measuring 2.25” x 2.5” to 5.5” x 4”, with each captioned on the front with a tiny tipped-on strip of typed paper. The photos include Bischoff and friends on the beach sunbathing, roasting hot dogs by a fire, and making sand sculptures, all with humorous captions. Also a handful of images of San Francisco from a hilltop, and several views of the *U.S.S. Massachusetts* and *U.S.S. Alabama* from the dock.
Books:
7. *The Kelvynian June 1941 / January 1942*. Chicago: Kelvyn Park High School 1942. Quarto. 48pp. Perfectbound with textured illustrated wrappers. Very good or better with rubbing and wear at the extremities. Bischoff’s junior yearbook with her artwork on the cover and ownership Signature on the inside front wrap. Autographed throughout by fellow students.
8. *The Kelvynian June 1942 / January 1943*. Chicago: Kelvyn Park High School 1942. Quarto. 48pp. Perfectbound with textured illustrated wrappers. Very good or better with rubbing and wear at the extremities. Bischoff’s senior yearbook with her artwork on the cover and ownership Signature on the title page. Autographed throughout by fellow students with two cartoon athletes on the title page, presumable drawn by Bischoff. Laid in are two different 10” x 8” photos of the basketball players, likely the men’s varsity and junior varsity teams.
9. *WAAS at Fort Des Moines Iowa*. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Fort Des Moines Public Relations Office / Universal Press [circa 1943]. Quarto. [36]pp. Stapled pictorial wrappers. Near fine with a bump at the crown and wear along the foredge. Pictorial program of WAC basic training in Des Moines with photos of intake, uniforms, barracks, training, and at work, along with two pages dedicated to African-American recruits. With the original mailing envelop and cardboard backer addressed to Bischoff’s parents in Chicago.
10. *April 1948 Happy Dirfday Girrl!* [sic] Eight sheets of paper with decorative borders folded once and laid one inside the other to form a 32-page booklet with three tiny photos tipped in, and a matching envelope with matching decorative border. Fine. A birthday horoscope book filled with humorous entries related to WAC duties, but also with many suggestive comments as noted above.
(#4655217)
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