Citation: United States Army. (1943). We're In The Army Now. Internet Archive. Retrieved April 7, 2023, from https://archive.org/details/WereInTheArmyNow.
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
With war looming, U.S. Rep. Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts introduced a bill for the creation of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in May 1941. Having been a witness to the status of women in World War I, Rogers vowed that if American women served in support of the Army, they would do so with all the rights and benefits afforded to Soldiers.
Spurred on by the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Congress approved the creation of WAAC on May 14, 1942. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill into law on May 15, and on May 16, Oveta Culp Hobby was sworn in as the first director. WAAC was established "for the purpose of making available to the national defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of women of the nation."
Citation: Creation of the Women's Army Corps. Women in the Army | The United States Army. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2023, from https://www.army.mil/women/history/wac.html
Citation: Greenville Army Air Base WACs on parade. (2008). Greenville County Library, South Carolina Room Archives. photograph, Greenville. Retrieved from https://greenvillelibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p17168coll3/id/18/rec/42.
The following object description information includes basic elements from the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). An additional notes field is included to list dates from the actual letter, envelope postmark locations, and any other identifying details.
Notes – Handwritten letter dated June 7, 1943, two pages. Includes envelope, postmarked June 8, 1943, 11AM, from Dale Mabry Field, Fla.
Zoot Suit Riots took place in and around Los Angeles during the first weeks of June 1943. On May 31st, a clash between uniformed servicemen and Mexican American youths resulted in the beating of a U.S. sailor. The riots that followed were partially in reaction to this encounter and partially because the Zoot Suit wearing crowd was painted as hoodlums. The riot consisted of a series of violent clashes between servicemen (Army, Navy, & Marines), off-duty police, and civilian youth (wearing the popular baggy Zoot Suit hence the name). As retaliation, about 50 sailors from the local U.S. Naval Reserve Armory marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying clubs and other crude weapons, attacking anyone seen wearing a zoot suit or other racially identified clothing. These kids who were frequenting dance halls and clubs were thought of as draft dodgers and un-American; most were Latinos and other minorities, and many were too young to serve. This was just one of many places where racial tension boiled out of control in America.
The tension between the Latino community and the whites began to build after the Sleepy Lagoon Murder case. This case was the death of a young man in August of 1942, where 17 young Latino boys were found guilty of assault and murder. The case was sensationalized by the media whom painted ALL Chicano Zoot Suiters as dangerous and lawless.
A group of Latino boys wearing Zoot Suits
The weeklong race riots ceased when servicemen were confined to their bases and more than 500 Mexican youth were arrested. Smaller clashes continued shortly thereafter, and the L.A. City Council made wearing a zoot suit on Los Angeles streets punishable by a 30-day jail sentence. The riots were arguably the first fashion movement to cause mass civil unrest in American history.
Citations:
“A Brief History of the Zoot Suit.” Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, April 1, 2016. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/brief-history-zoot-suit-180958507/.
Fichter, Angela. “Zoot Suits: A Fashion Movement That Sparked Mexican American Resistance.” Portside, June 10, 2017. https://portside.org/2017-06-10/zoot-suits-fashion-movement-sparked-mexican-american-resistance.
“Zoot Suit Riots: Causes, Facts & Photos - History.” History.com. A&E Television Networks. Accessed April 19, 2023. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/zoot-suit-riots.