The special exhibit “Our War Too: Women in Service” at the National WWII Museum through July 21, 2024, rewards patient and focused museumgoing. As I noted in a July 7 introduction to the exhibit in the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper, touches small and large in the exhibit underscore that the women participants in our great crusade were real people.
To discover some of those touches, I toured the exhibition with Kimberly Guise, the exhibit’s curator and the museum’s senior curator and director for curatorial affairs.
A recording of our walk-and-talk is here:
And below are some images to go with the talking, with timecode notations and a few navigation notes. This conversation admittedly jumps around a little bit. It was my first time trying this. Send me your thoughts at the email address at the bottom. With a few revisions – an intro, a little music and an outro – could the audio interview be a podcast? Maybe, I think. Tell me what you think! Also, follow the_museum_goer on Instagram! Also, apologies in advance for the audio quality. I will endeavor to improve my multimedia skills! Thanks!
Title walls
These are worth appreciating for a couple of reasons. The wall on the right transforms as you walk past it, the servicewomen appearing as the flag and title fade. Cool! Dynamic and (as far as I can tell) not digital!
The wall on the left (seen directly above) sets the mission for the exhibit and recognizes its national presenting sponsor, the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation.
Trailblazers
As noted at 10:16 in our conversation, Guise and her collaborators open the exhibit with a recognition of the women who’d served prior to World War II. “You know, women were always there in wartime and they played important roles but maybe were not part of the official forces,” Guise said. “And so I wanted to make sure that we mention that and talk about some of those important figures and the roles that women played in American history in wartime.”
Introductory film
Here’s your first overview of the citizens-to-servicewomen journeys of the approximately 350,000 women who served the United States in World War II. It’s short (there is no seating) and succinct and sets the stage for the stories you’re about to explore.
Recruiting wall
At 11:56, Guise explains that recruiting efforts extended beyond the potential servicemembers themselves. “It was selling service, in a way, to the general public, making it more palatable, perhaps, because the idea of a woman in uniform wasn’t acceptable to most at the time.”
To further that point, a display case at the end of poster wall contains a Junior WAC uniform for girls, books, and a Little Army Nurse Kit from 1940.
Dress uniforms
As I explained in my piece for the Times-Picayune, at the center of “Our War Too: Women in Service,” which opened at the museum on Veterans Day 2023 and which will tour to other museums once it closes in New Orleans, is a display of uniforms representing the acronym-identified outfits (WAC, WAVES, WASP, etc.) in which American women served. A description of each branch’s duties is matched with the service history of the woman who wore the uniform. “This, I think, is my parade formation of women,” Guise said.
The uniform of Women’s Army Corps Corporal Theresa Bell represents the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and Women’s Army Corps (WAC). As Guise explains at 15:23, Bell was a member of the segregated 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. There’s some great background on Bell and her postwar legacy in this section of our talk.
Virtual scrapbook
Another must-see display is this clever digital interactive that consolidates some of the many scrapbooks in the museum’s collection. Guise discusses it at 25:36. On the left side of the second page of the “Rest and Recreation” section of the “Our Time in Service” virtual scrapbook, guests can see a 1943 photo of U.S. Navy WAVES relaxing on the roof of New Orleans’ Lafayette Hotel, then the WAVES’ barracks.
WAC Charlene G. Cunningham’s Army Medical Department robe
Guise discusses details about the robe at 26:01, including the specific place on the robe reserved for enemy patches.
WAC Louise Anderson’s material from the Casablanca Conference
Guise tells a wonderful story about Anderson at 28:12. The display items are hotel stationary, notes and a floorplan, but the story behind them – and Anderson’s service – infuses the papers with cinematic drama.
“Code Girls” desk
As explained in the exhibit, more than 10,000 women were recruited by the Navy and Army to serve as cryptanalysts (code breakers) and cryptographers (code makers). This desk, among other objects, recognizes their service. Guise discusses this at 31:16.
Voices from the Front
A digital interactive allows guests to learn more about three specific servicewomen. One of the veterans featured in the display, Romay Johnson Davis (picture at right above), died June 21 at age 104.
Legacy
A final video and display bring the women-in-service story into the present. Guise discusses some of the video’s components at 37:03.
“Our War Too” is “pretty groundbreaking” for the WWII Museum, Guise says way back at 03:55. “We’ve had some smaller exhibits that have highlighted women’s service and we do have material from servicewomen in our other galleries, but that doesn’t really tell their story — how they got there, how they fought to get there and … how that affected servicewomen today.”
A concluding reminder that the National WWII Museum is offering half-off general admission to Louisiana residents for the month of July, 2024. For locals, this is a great opportunity to see “Our War Too” as well as the new(ish) Liberation Pavilion, which completes the museum’s war narrative. Final note for locals: The museum is noted for its world-class air conditioning.
Comments, questions, corrections: [email protected].
Special thanks to Kim Guise (below) and Keith Darcey of the National WWII Museum.
