Artifact Friday: W.A.V.E Uniforms

WAVES, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, was established in July 21,

1942. The purpose of this program was to allow the Navy to accept women into commissioned

officer and enlisted positions within the Naval Reserve. Women in this program filled the roles

of their male counterparts so that more men would be available for service aboard Navy ships

in the ever-raging Pacific Theatre. It took until 1942 to create WAVES due to the controversial

decision of the time to allow women into the armed forces. Thanks to pressure from Margaret

Jesse Chung, a well-respected Chinese-American women’s physician, and Eleanor Roosevelt, the

First Lady of the United States, Public Law 689 was passed. Law 689 officially permitted women

to serve in the US Navy. Eventually, 72 African-American women also served through WAVES.

WAVES served in over 900 locations in the United States as well as Hawaii which was not a state

at the time, technically classifying it as an overseas post.