Photo Album of a Women’s Air Force Airman Training with the Newly Racially Integrated 3345th Technical Training Squadron During the Korean War.
Texas, Illinois, and California: 1950–1954. Spiral bound photo album measuring 9 ½ x 11 inches, containing 139 affixed and 15 loose photographs generally 3 x 5 with some larger and a few smaller. Affixed photos captioned on pages. Album cover detached; pages delicate with some damage and chipping to edges. Photos excellent. Overall very good plus. Item #List38134 In 1948, the US military both desegregated and allowed women to enlist—the 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act authorized women to serve permanently in the military, though at a cap of 2% of its total numbers. In the Korean War, nurses were the only women allowed in combat zones, generally working in mobile hospitals or MEDEVAC. WAFs—Women’s Air Force airmen—had support roles at bases in Japan, including air traffic control, radar operation, and weather observation. Offered here is a 1950–1954 photo album belonging to airman Clara M. Groff from her time training in the US at Lackland, Chanute, and March Air Force Bases. Her photos document the activities of the women, newly allowed in the military; her unit also included several Black women who, in addition to being among the first few cohorts of women to enlist, were also among the first African Americans to serve alongside whites in racially integrated units. Groff underwent basic training at Lackland AFB in Bexar County, Texas. Her photos from this time are mostly informal portraits of fellow trainees standing outside their barracks or at their various recreational activities: going to the Sunken Gardens and La Villita in San Antonio, swimming at the pool, picnicking, and touring an alligator farm. The women are mostly in uniform—a button-up and long skirt—but often in their shirtsleeves, wearing flannels and blue jeans. Some of the recreation involves the men as well. At Chanute, WAFs have snowball fights and march in lines to class. Several pose outside a building bearing the sign “DEPARTMENT OF WEATHER / 3345TH TECHNICAL TRAINING GROUP”, indicating Groff’s likely assignment. At Chanute, we also see shots of Groff’s friend and fellow WAF Lillian Mondore, an African American woman. Photographs from March AFB find the women apparently preparing to ship out; they pose in uniforms with trousers (more practical, though often appearing at least a size too large), helmets, and occasionally gas masks. However, most of the photos show their softball games, including a championship win and subsequent parade and party at the officers’ swimming pool. The softball team had at least one Black player, Mary Smith, who played leftfield. Overall the album documents the stateside activities, particularly recreation, of the newly-minted and racially integrated Women’s Air Force.
Price: $850.00