worldwar2feminist - Tumblr blog

[worldwar2feminist]

Lt. Annie Fox

Annie Fox was born on August 4, 1893, and was the first woman to receive the Purple Heart for combat.

She served as the chief nurse in the Army Nurse Corps at Hickam Field during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. 

Fox had joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1918, at the end of the First World War. While no stranger to military service, the surprise attack landed her in combat for the first time. Fox quickly took control of the situation as bombs rained down on the base. As Head Nurse, Lt. Fox rallied the nurses and organized the hospital’s response to the assault.

However, the awarding of the Purple Heart did not require the service person to be injured. 

The requirements were changed after the attack of Pearl Harbor and Lt. Fox was awarded the Bronze Star because Fox was not wounded in the attack. The Bronze Star, when awarded for bravery, it is the fourth-highest combat award of the US Armed Forces and the ninth highest military award in the order of precedence.

For her outstanding performance, Fox was recommended for and awarded the Purple Heart. Because of that, it is often misreported that she was injured during the attack while she was not. 

Today we will be discussing the cute but dangerous animal of the Fur Seal. There are eight different species of fur seal found in the world's oceans. Only one of these fur seal species is found in the northern hemisphere with the other seven species of fur seal found in the southern hemisphere. Fur seals are more closely related to sea lions than true seals. The fur seal is often targeted by large aquatic animals such as sharks, killer whales, sea lions and occasionally the larger adult leopard seals. Even though it is not in major trouble of extinction, the fur seals need to be protected by larger predators and were hunted by humans in the earlier 1900s. 

My sources:

https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/bravery-army-nurse-annie-g-fox-pearl-harbor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Fox_(nurse)

https://a-z-animals.com/animals/fur-seal/

hope you enjoyed!

[worldwar2feminist]

Ruby Bradley

Ruby Bradley was born on December 19, 1907, was one of the most decorated women in United States military history! 

She entered the United States Army Nurse Corps as a surgical nurse in 1934 and was serving at Camp John Hay in the Philippines when she was captured by the Japanese army three weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In 1943, she was moved to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila. She provided medical help to fellow prisoners and fed starving children by shoving food into her pocket meaning that she would often go hungry herself. At the camp, she assisted in 230 operations and helped to deliver 13 children with the medical instruments that she would snatch. 

She was freed on February 3, 1945, and She returned to the United States where she continued her career in the Army and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California in 1949. 

Bradley also served in the Korean War as Chief Nurse and in November 1950, she refused to leave until she had loaded all of sick and wounded onto e plane while surrounded by 100,000 advancing Chinese soldiers. She was able to jump aboard the plane just as her ambulance exploded from an enemy shell! That is actually the most badass thing I have ever heard in my entire life!

Her military record included 34 decorations, medals and other awards so I am not going to list all of them but some include Prisoner of war medal and the World War II campaign medal. Colonel Bradley retired from the U.S. Army in 1963.

The red-handed tamarin is a New World monkey named for the reddish hair on its hands and feet. The red-handed tamarin is native to the moist woodland areas along the Amazon river in South America. They are found inhabiting the forest alongside the Amazon throughout Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and Venezuela. The natural territory of the red-handed tamarin has rapidly been decreasing due to deforestation. Today, the red-handed tamarin is not considered to be an animal that is in danger of extinction although the population of wild red-handed tamarins in the rainforests of South America has been declining in recent years primarily due to habitat loss caused by deforestation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Bradley

https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/9303/Bradley-Ruby-Grace.htm

https://a-z-animals.com/animals/red-handed-tamarin/ 

hope you enjoyed!

[worldwar2feminist]

Aleda E. Lutz

All the women I have talked about have made an impact in some way but Aleda Lutz is an actual hero and is one of the most celebrated women war heroes during World War II. 

Aleda E. Lutz " Lutzy" was born on November 9, 1915, the youngest of 10 children in Freeland, Michigan and her name means  "winged" "famous warriors" making the role she played in the war destiny. She was a graduate of the Saginaw General Nursing School, then enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) in November 1941. She transferred to the 802nd Medical Air Evacuation Transportation Squadron (MAETS) after her work as a general nurse at Station Hospital at Selfridge Field, Michigan. 

As a flight nurse, Lutz flew in unmarked transport planes, used to carry supplies to front lines and transport patients backing out, making them legal targets for enemy fire. She aided and evacuated many men from the battlefront and even helped to evacuate wounded soldiers from the Anzio Beachhead, which was under attack from the German Army at that time. Lieut. Lutz was involved in 196 missions and had accumulated 814 hours in the air, more than any other army nurse. Lutz was not alone in her military service to her country because her brother Adam fought in WWI, her other brother Conrad joined the medical division during WWII. During WWII, her nephews Theodore and Frederick joined the U.S. Army and her other nephew joined the peace corps after WWII. 

Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending; she was transporting 15 wounded soldiers from Lyon, France to a hospital in Italy in a C-47 when a violent storm hit the plane causing it to crash with no survivors. It is believed that Lutz volunteered for that flight, despite the dangerous conditions of the storm.  She was 28 years old when she was killed and was thought to be the first female killed in action in World War II.

Lutz was buried with full military honors in the Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial in Draguignan, France and she is currently the only woman buried there. Lutz is one of the most highly decorated women in the United States Military and has the purple heart, the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, the European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the Red Cross Medal. Lutz earned six battle stars: Tunisia, Sicily, Rome-Arno, Southern France, and North Apennines.

Wow, what an accomplished woman! 

Today we will be talking about the Albatross, a large species of sea-bird found throughout the southern Pacific and even into the colder Antarctic regions. They are one of the largest Birds in the skies as the wingspan of the male Albatross can easily reach 3.5 meters or more! The biggest enemy of the Albatross is, of course, humans with the exception of tigers sharks who tend to eat the babies of the Albatross. An estimated 100,000 Albatrosses, of various different species, are thought to be killed every year by illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean.   They were hunted frequently during the 19th century for their feathers which were used to stuff pillows. Today, 19 out of the 21 different Albatross species are listed as Endangered in their natural environments. Today as of late, there has not been too many activities to help save them except preventing them from being hunted. 

https://www.saginaw.va.gov/SAGINAW/features/Aleda_E_Lutz_World_War_II_Female_Army_Nurse_Corps_Remembered_This_Veterans_Day_2010.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleda_E._Lutz

https://a-z-animals.com/animals/albatross/ 

Hope you enjoyed!

[worldwar2feminist]

Frances Eliza Wills and Harriet Ida Pickens

Today we have a double whammy! Today we will be talking about Frances Eliza Wills and Harriet Ida Pickens who are the first WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) officers in 1944. The navy created the WAVES as an 'emergency service' to recieve additional help when the navy men were sent over to fight in the World War II. Calling it an 'emergency service' allowed the government to hire women to serve in the navy but discharge them when the war is over. The first two women to join were Frances Eliza Wills and Harriet Ida Pickens, two African American women who graduated from the Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School (Women’s Reserve) at Northampton, Massachusetts.

Frances Eliza Wells was a Hunter college graduate who worked with the famous poet Langston Hughes when she was pursuing her MA in social work. She moved on to working in adoption agencies where she would place children into homes and later in life she wrote a book about her experience as a navy officer.

Harriet Ida Pickens was a public health administrator with a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Columbia University. Her father was the founder of the NAACP or The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Harriet moving into the job of Executive Secretary of the Harlem Tuberculosis and Health Committee of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association. 

The two joined forces and became inseperable in November of 1944 when together they were sworn into the US Navy as apprentice seamen, then went on to join the last class of the Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School (Women's Reserve) at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.The Navy assigned Pickens as a physical training instructor and Wills as a classification test administrator at the main enlisted WAVES training facility at Hunter College in New York City, also known as USS Hunter.

They were able to inspire and opened up the opportunity for African American women to be apart of not only the WAVES program but the Navy as well. 

Another notable woman to mention is Mildred Mcafee who was the Navy's first female commissioned officer and she was able to give Frances and Harriet the opportunity to be in WAVES since she was the first director of it. 

Today we will be talking about one of my favorite animals: the polar bear. Polar bears are literally the reason why I am an environmental science major. Polar bears are vulnerable and endangered because of the melting of ice caps from the obvious source of climate change. polar bears have also been an important part of the cultures and economies of Arctic peoples. Polar bears depend on sea ice for their existence and are directly impacted by climate change but if their habitat is melting and disappearing then they will have no where to go. Climate change is real!!! They are also in endanger from illegal hunting and oil spills are fatal to them.  Tasks to save them include trying to lessen the impact of climate change and to watch the populations to make sure they are not being hunted by poachers. 

https://owlcation.com/humanities/First-Black-Female-Naval-Officers-Frances-Wills-Harriet-Pickens

http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2014/10/17/remembering-the-first-black-woman-naval-officers/

https://americacomesalive.com/2013/02/11/frances-wills-and-harriet-ida-pickens-first-african-american-women-to-become-waves-officers-1944/

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/polar-bear

Thanks I hope you enjoyed! 

[worldwar2feminist]

Jackie Cochran

Out of the entries I am going to do for this blog, Jackie Cochran will most likely be the woman that you know the most since she is very famous during World War II Era for her history breaking feats as a female aviator and being the first woman to break the sound barrier! 

Jacqueline Cochran born as Bessie Lee Pittman was born on May 6, 1906, and grew up in poverty working on textile mills when she finally started to work in a beauty shop where she was motivated to start her own business. Her beginning life was so difficult because of the work and the environment that Chuck Yeager said, "The harsh environment that consumed her early years... would become the essence of her personality". At a dinner party, after her business was blooming, Jackie met Floyd Odlum (whom she married in 1936) who convinced her that she should learn how to fly to call on clients, gain popularity, and grow an advantage over the competition in the beauty industry. 

Over the next 4 years, she learned how to fly and received her pilot license and got her own plane. She was nervous that she was not going to pass the written part of the exam because of her lack of education to receive her license but she persuaded the examiner to take the test orally and of course she passed with flying colors. A normal person took three months to complete their flying training but it took Jackie three weeks!  In 1935, Cochran began to race in major flying competitions where she won several of them. Fun Fact: her and Amelia Earhart were incredibly close and would race each other numerous times. 

When Hitler began his raid in 1939, she believed that America would be involved and women would be a big part of the Allies winning the war. She wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt to consider a female aviator program but General Henry Hap Arnold was not convinced until 1941 when he reconsidered seeing her success and talent with a plane. She, after observing the "Wings for Britain" program, became the first woman to fly a bomber across the North Atlantic in 1941 and she was appointed to the General Staff of the U.S. Army Air Forces to direct the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program in 1943. She trained women pilots for the duration of the war. In 1945, she received the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal for her accomplishments.

Jackie Cochran was a remarkable woman in the air and on the ground. She received more than 200 awards during her flying career and set speed, altitude and distance records that remain to this day. She will always be remembered for her amazing spirit and charisma. I also attached a short little video from the 1940s where they are interviewing her. 

In spirit of Jackie Cochran's flying abilities, we are going to talk about the Forest Owlet which is incredibly endangered with only about 50 to 250 owls left in the wild! The populations are isolated and fragmented from one another and can only really be found in Central India, particularly the Melghat reserve in the Narmada River Valley, appears to be the place most likely to support the forest owlet. Habitat destruction and deforestation are the main threats to the existence of the forest owlet. Illegal wood cutting and expansion of agriculture has greatly reduced the forest the animal needs to survive. In Indian culture, owlet eggs are thought to increase luck when gambling, and killing a baby owlet is supposed to make the person more fertile. Many Indian reservation centers are trying to protect and are trying to bring awareness to their existence. Support these poor babies and hope for a survival of their species. 

My sources: 

https://www.biography.com/people/jacqueline-cochran-9252061

http://www.chuckyeager.com/the-life-of-jackie-cochran

http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/species/birds-bats/forest-owlet/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKCA27gpB18

Thanks for reading Pals!

[worldwar2feminist]

Hedy Lamarr

Let's talk about another beauty today in the form of Hedy Lamarr! God was she beautiful I mean just look at her!

Hedy Lamarr known as "the Hollywood Bombshell" or the “most beautiful woman in films”was an Austrian Born American who was a famous actress and an inventer during World War II. She and composer George Antheil in 1942 developed a radio guidance system they called "secret communication system" for Allied torpedoes that used frequency hopping technology and spread spectrum to stop the threat of jamming by the Axis powers wow what a mouthful! Even this process was not used for decades by America, it can be seen used in Bluetooth and a similar process in wifi. Their revolutionary work leads them to be placed in the national inventors' hall of fame in 2014. During this time she was also an actress in films such as Algiers (1938),

Boom Town (1940)

and I Take This Woman (1940), 

When she was younger like 12 young, she knew she wanted to be an actress. In Austria-Hungary, she forged a note from her mother earning her the spot of the script girl and received smaller roles in movies when she hit the jackpot when she received her role for the movie Ecstasy( 1933) and at the age of 18, she became a movie star. Fun fact: In ecstasy, she acted out a scene where she reached an orgasm and it was the first to ever be put in main stream cinema! After her popularity, Friedrich Mandl became obsessed with her - a stalker if you would but he was very charming and rich and she fell for him. Her family did not approve of their marriage since he was very closely connected to Mussolini and later on in their relationship Adolf Hitler. When attending her husband's meetings about the science behind the military technology, she became introduced to the idea of science and engineering.

 After their marriage became unbearable she explained her autobiography "Ecstasy and me", she escaped to America where she became involved in Hollywood but she wanted to be more involved with the war efforts. She wanted to join the National Inventors Council but was convinced to use her wealth and status in Hollywood to sell war bonds; she participated in a war bond campaign with Eddie Rhodes. She proved to woman around the world that you could be beautiful, smart, and have an impact on the war. 

Our endangered animal for the day is the Iberian Lynx! The Lynx Pardinus commonly known as the Iberian Lynx is the most endangered feline species in the world only found on the Iberian Peninsula and rare cases in Ireland with only about 450 individuals left. The Iberian Lynx is usually described to have tawny colored fur with black and dark brown spots with the distinct feature of the tufted ears and whiskers known as a ruff infamously known in different species of felines and lynxes. Many factors have led to the endangerment of the Iberian Lynx such as habitat loss, poaching, competition with other predators, and the epidemic of its main source. Love and support these poor creatures!

Sources I used:

https://www.hedylamarr.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr

I used my biology report for the Iberian lynx information and here is a video of the top ten performances of Hedy Lamarr in her movies. Beware the beginning is really loud. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVsheO9YO0Q

Thanks! hope you enjoyed!

[worldwar2feminist]

Veronica Foster AKA The Bren Gun Girl

Let's start with a badass of a woman! Veronica Foster more known for her nickname "Ronnie, the Bren Gun Girl" who was a huge role model an icon for women during the second world war in Canada. Born on January 2, 1922, she was basically the Canadian version of Rosie the Riveter but definitely had a stronger and less girly image to her especially since her most popular propaganda pictures are of her with a huge Bren gun and smoking. 

She actually was the inspiration for Rosie's character because America saw the impact that a strong women character did for the war efforts. Rosie who? 

 No wonder she became the face of the Canadian working Woman; she was not only beautiful but a strong independent woman; her family was also the role model family because her three brothers went to fight in the war while she worked in the factories. She represented one million Canadian women at the time who were working in the factories especially in the machinery factories.  Foster worked in John Inglis Co. Ltd factory and produced - you guessed it, Bren light machine guns in Toronto, Ontario. However, the surprising part of her propaganda pictures was that many of them were not of her working in the factory. Many were taken at parties or in more casual settings like shopping, attending a baseball game or fixing her hat in a mirror. Whether this is for the womanly image society wanted to keep for women...duh or to show how any woman no matter their status in society, it is irrefutable that Veronica Foster made an impact with her existence enough.

 After her propaganda in the factories, she became a singer and a model and had a huge following from her war efforts. Her image in Canadian propaganda and her fame in the modeling/singing world motivated women all over the United States that they could be beautiful and strong. Her impact brought us Rosie the Riveter and a more optimistic attitude about the war for not only women but men as well. Sadly just like everything with women's movement, it was short-lived since women had to return to their feminine jobs once the men came back from winning the war. Even if this was the case, Veronica Foster's impact is still known in Canadian history just like Rosie the Riveter is known for America. I wanted to bring light to her beautiful face since she gets looked over so many times in World War 2 propaganda just like Canada is ignored altogether. I hope you learned something new today. I also will attach a Youtube video so you can see more pictures of her and hear her amazing singing voice. 

The first endangered animal we are going to discuss today is the sea otter! The sea otter is one of my favorite animals and it breaks my heart to know that they are being threatened by so many different factors. They have been endangered since the 1700s and the 1800s when they were hunted for their soft fur. They finally received some protection in 1911 with the International Fur Seal Treaty but still were listed under the Marine Mammal Protection and Endangered Species Acts in the 1970s. Some of the factors that affect them are oil spills, shark attacks, human conflict, and habitat degradation. Even though their number shave slowly increased over the years, they are still at a huge risk. Love and support these cute little critters. Fun (maybe not so fun) fact: The rarest otter species is the Hairy-nosed otter thought to be extinct before they found a small population of them in Malaysia in 2010. 

All sources used: 

https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/military-war/the-bren-gun-girl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_Foster

https://defenders.org/sea-otter/threats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E0KvWve-9g

[worldwar2feminist]

Hello Everyone!

So I love women empowerment! I also love history! I want people to love women and history too so I will be starting a blog showing some strong women in history. Since the most interesting era for me is World War 2, I wanted to bring light to women who made an impact during the war that many people are not familiar with. I will talk about women in various types of jobs such as factory workers, pilots, spies, actresses, and so on and so forth. I hope you enjoy!

P.S. I am an environmental science major in my third year of university so I wanted to incorporate my love of animals so I am going to include an endangered animal that needs love and support.