March is Women’s History Month. Clara Zetkin is credited for organizing the first International Women’s Day March 19, 1911. Interest in International Women’s Day was low until the 1960s, when the women’s civil rights movement began. In the beginning of the decade, numerous bills and amendments were signed such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, barring discrimination in employment on the basis of race or sex. The act also established the Equal Opportunity Commission to investigate complaints and impose penalties. In 1978, a California school board district started Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history, and in 1981, Congress passed a resolution making the week a celebration for the entire country. In 1987, a group of women campaigned with representatives from museums, schools and libraries to expand the celebration, and Congress responded by declaring the month of March as “National Women’s History Month.”
Women have always played a vital role in the U.S. armed forces. Dating back to the Civil War in 1861, women acted as nurses and helped with sanitation. In August, 1942, women were formally accepted into the armed forces, forming the naval group WAVES, “Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.” The military used the word “emergency” to imply that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and they would not be allowed to continue in Navy careers at the end of the war.
The first female commissioned officer in U.S. Navy history and the first director of the WAVES was Mildred H. McAfee. She assumed the position two months after the WACS (Women’s Army Corps) was established, and Eleanor Roosevelt convinced Congress to authorize a women’s component of the Navy –– the WAVES. Within a year, the WAVES were 27,000 strong. Most WAVES did clerical work, but some took positions in the aviation community, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, medical professions, communications, intelligence, storekeeper, science and technology.
It wasn’t until June 12, 1948, that women gained permanent status in the armed services with the passage of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act (Public Law 625). This law enabled women to serve as permanent, regular members of the armed forces.
