Women's Air Force Photo Album.
WAF Photo Album. Photograph Album of Women in the US Air Force.. USA: 1953. Photograph album. Oblong 8vo. Military bases, USA, 1953-1955. Brown paper string-tied boards house 146 black and white photographs, with exception of a scant few tinted prints. Photographs vary in sizes, the smallest being 3 x 2 inches, and the largest 6.5 x 4.25 inches.
A substantial album with photographs mounted double sided on every leaf, several with manuscript captions. Also with two greeting cards and a few newspaper clippings mainly reporting results of the WAF sports teams. One single leaf loose, otherwise very good condition.
Album of a woman identified only as 'Liz' of Hartford CT, who served in the US Army from at least four years, starting in her home town in 1951, as documented here in photographs. Married, and mother of one, she soon was transferred to the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Photos from Lackland are dated November 1952. The WAF officer appears to have spent most of her time in Chanute, Kansas in 1953. A three month leave was granted to her in the same year, of which she duly profited to take a cross-country road trip from New York State, across Utah, Idaho, and the Sierra Nevada, to Lake Tahoe in California, conveniently close to her next post, the Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino County, California. An assortment of images appear from various states across the nation, including New Mexico, Illinois, and Massachusetts, mainly during holiday breaks, as it appears that officer Liz's final post recorded here was again in Chanute in 1955.
Historical military interest is illustrated in the various uniforms, training formations, and post WWII barracks. Approaching the second wave of the feminist movement, the formation of the WAF only five years prior to this woman's military career, was a breakthrough for women, an exciting egress from her traditional role. Women's attitudes are seen changing in these views, as they banter with each other and pose like men with cigarettes, also giving each other masculine nicknames such as Burt, Mac, Curley, and Billie Berry. Some of the men in the detachment are seen on occasion, as are spouses and families present for military events, celebrations of promotions and discharges, marriages, and the like. Although social equality was progressing, very few African American women are seen.
The album is replete with photographs capturing fun memories partaking in team sports, enjoying day trips, camaraderie and mischief in the barracks. Officer Liz further includes portraits of her closest WAF friends and colleagues to commemorate her career is the American Air Force. Women in the Air Force (WAF), formed in 1948 when President Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, was a program which permitted women into limited roles in the United States Air Force, serving directly in the military.
At its inception in 1948, WAF was limited to 4,000 enlisted women and 300 female officers. Women were encouraged to fill many different roles but were not to be trained as pilots, even though the United States Army Air Corps had graduated their first class of female pilots in April 1943 under wartime conditions. The WAF directorship was to be filled by a non-pilot. All WAFs were assigned ground duties, most ending up in clerical and medical positions. Women who were already pilots and who would have been good candidates for WAF leadership were instead diverted to the Air Force Reserves. Lackland Air Force Base, near San Antonio, Texas, was where the first cadre of WAFs reported. Recruits were expected to appear attractive and were schooled in posture and cosmetics, which is evident in these images, along with their physical training and military indoctrination.
African-American recruits joined the WAFs in greater numbers in 1949 when basic training for women was desegregated in the USAF. Integration of quarters and mess was slower in coming. The first WAFs wore men's uniforms with neckties. Geraldine Pratt May quickly ordered women's uniforms, selecting herself the particular shade of blue. The cut of the winter uniform was modeled after those of airline flight attendants, using the same material as the men's winter uniforms. Instead of a necktie, tabs were worn on the collar. The effect was considered "smart and contemporary." The two-piece summer uniform, however, made of cotton-cord seersucker, fit poorly and required frequent ironing.
Print Inquire
