Yeoman (F) Uniform
name: label: wearer
content: Howalt, Gertrude S. French
notes: label: Description
content: Physical Description
label: Description
content: "Norfolk"-style jacket of navy blue with gold buttons and navy A-line cloth skirt. Wide-brimmed, flat-crowned, "sailor"-style hat of navy blue felt.
label: Description
content: Specific History
label: Description
content: Donated by Gertrude French Howalt, who is believed to have worn the uniform while serving as a yeoman in World War I.
label: Description
content: General History
label: Description
content: In 1917 as the United States prepared for World War I, the navy faced a crisis: skilled clerks and secretaries were desperately needed, but men didn't possess these skills in the numbers required. Secretary of the navy Josephus Daniels asked his staff "Is there any law that says a yeoman must be a man?" The Naval Reserve Act of 1916 did not specify gender for members of the Naval Coast Defense Reserve, and the navy began enlisting women in March. While most women were in secretarial or clerical jobs, other skills needed included telegrapher, draftsman, translator, mess attendant, ship camouflage designer, and recruiting agent. The women were only permitted to serve at shore stations, but confusion occurred when some of the women were given orders for sea duty. To avoid this error the navy added the suffix (F) for female after yeoman to make it easier to separate the women from the men. The work done by about 11,000 women in the navy was highly regarded, but all women were discharged by July 1919 as the navy returned to peacetime activities. To compensate for the sudden loss of administrative talent, the navy got special permission to expedite hiring of some women veterans through the Civil Service. The navy nurses, who were employed as civilians with the navy, continued to serve during the period between the two world wars. Women were not "in" the navy again until World War II.
place: label: associated place
content: United States
topic: label: related event
content: World War I
label: related event
content: The Emergence of Modern America
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Naval
label: See more items in
content: Military
label: See more items in
content: ThinkFinity
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gertrude S. French Howalt
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1983.0159.03
label: accession number
content: 1983.0159
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0159.03
objectType: label: Object Name
content: jacket
label: Other Terms
content: jacket; Woman; Naval Reserve; Chief Yeoman
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wool (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (buttons material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 31 in x 17 in x 20 in; 78.74 cm x 43.18 cm x 50.8 cm