It was located near: Elizabeth Allen Butler, Navy Waves (Charlottesville, VA: Wayside Press, 1988), 38.
When Elizabeth Bigelow showed up: Elizabeth Bigelow Stewart, essay of reminiscence, shared with the author by her daughter Cam Weber.
On rainy days, the women code breakers took off: Tuttle interview.
When she went in and out: Seeley interview.
One day, Jane Case, the former debutante: Tuttle interview.
After arriving in Washington: Ruth Rather Vaden reminiscence; Jennifer Wilcox archives.
At Mount Vernon the work remained the same: A description of the modifications of the Mount Vernon campus and the increasingly female makeup of most units is in RG 38, Box 110, “A Historical Review of OP-20-G.”
As it happened, Elizebeth Friedman also moved: RG 0457, 9002 (A1), Box 79, SRH 270, Robert L. Benson, “The Army-Navy-FBI Comint Agreements of 1942,” explains the complex system by which the Coast Guard since 1940 had been intercepting and processing German intelligence covert traffic to and from Germany and the Western Hemisphere, passing it to the FBI as well as other entities, including the British. In March 1942 this operation was merged into OP-20-G.
The publishing world was represented: Stewart, essay of reminiscence.
The women called it the Booby Hatch: Kirkpatrick, oral history.
Suzanne Harpole, recruited from Wellesley: Suzanne Harpole Embree, interview with the author.
When Ensign Marjorie Faeder reported for duty: Marjorie E. Faeder, “A Wave on Nebraska Avenue,” Naval Intelligence Professionals Quarterly 8, no. 4 (October 1992): 7–10.
Yeoman Ruth Schoen was put to work: Ruth Schoen Mirsky, interviews with the author.
Jaenn Coz one day was whistling: WV0141 Jaenn Coz Bailey papers.
He liked to publish a little mimeographed broadsheet: “Packard, Wyman (Capt, USN), Naval Code Room (OP-19C) Watch 3,” in folder “Packard, Wyman Papers of Capt USN 1944–1945,” Ready Reference Section, Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C.
Jane Case—told, growing up, that she was: Tuttle interview.
On May 25, 1943, the Naval Annex additive recovery room: RG 38, Box 119, “Daily Log of Room 1219 (Additive Recovery) 1 Apr–23 June 1943.”
They had not only exceeded 2,500; they had broken: Ibid.
“Please convey to all hands my congratulations:” Ibid.
Before long, she had clearance to go in almost any room: Caccavale, oral history.
Betty Hyatt was on duty in 1944 when a naval: Caccavale, Sing On Mama, Sing On, and WV0095 Betty Hyatt Caccavale papers.
Ruth Schoen was the only Jewish member: Descriptions of Ruth’s background, and the friendship group, are from Mirsky interviews and from Butler, Navy Waves.
Georgia O’Connor was next in the group to marry: This description is from Butler, Navy Waves, and Bill Ludington (Georgia’s son), telephone interview with the author.
“The history of the Navy in the Pacific is the history”: Francis Raven, oral history interview on January 24, 1983, NSA-OH-1980-03, 79–81.
One enlisted member of the WAVES “had such a knack for running”: RG 38, Box 116, “CNSG-OP20-GYP History for WWII Era (3 of 3).”
Every year, Suzanne Harpole got a standard form: Embree interview.
Might women officers be taught to shoot?: Staff meetings regarding teaching WAVES to shoot, women not being saluted, and the need to come up with a consistent cover story for the Q rating are in RG 38, Box 81, “CSNG Staff Conference Notes, Jul–Dec 1943.”
Jelleff’s department store had a fashion show: Mirsky interview.
Vi Moore heard the Budapest String Quartet: Many of the details about life in Washington are from Viola Moore Blount, correspondence with the author.
The women visited a roadside joint: Kirkpatrick, oral history.
Jaenn Coz, whose mother had been a flapper: WV0141 Jaenn Coz Bailey papers.
A group of WAVES officers lived in a house: Titcomb interview.
Ida Mae Olson invited her friend Mary Lou: Bruske interview.
When Jane Case learned that her father was dying: Tuttle interview.
The war, for her, was “this period of very”: Embree interview.
In 1944, Eleanor Roosevelt and: Campbell, “Fighting with the Navy,” 351.
In a June 1945 memo: J. N. Wenger, “Memorandum for Op-20-1,” June 26, 1945, Wilcox archives.
As hard as the women worked, there were lighthearted moments: Tuttle interview.
Edith Reynolds, from Vassar, found herself: White interview.
One code breaker was standing in a movie line: Lyn Ramsdell Stewart (who was not the WAVES member in question), telephone interview with the author on October 27, 2015.
“I hesitate to write this letter”: RG 38, Box 1, “CNSG-General Personnel, 5 Dec 1940–31 Jan 1944.”
In late 1943, Wellesley’s Bea Norton, now married: Carpenter, underlying notes for Carpenter and Dowse, “Code Breakers of 1942.” Her resignation is recorded in RG 38, Box 1, “COMNAVSECGRU-OP-20G Headquarters Personnel Rosters & Statistics” (3 of 4).
She conceived on her honeymoon: Scott, Saga of Myself, 167, and Library of Congress oral history interview.
Dorothy Ramale, the would-be math teacher: Dorothy Ramale, interviews with the author.
It was a WAVES officer, Ensign Janet Burchell: RG 38, Box 91, “CNSG-COMNAVSECGRU Joint Army-Navy Liaison.”
The Navy women had just missed taking part: Details about the Yamamoto message breaking are in RG 38, Box 138, files marked “Yamamoto Shootdown, 1–4.” That the minor cipher JN-20 “carried further details” of Admiral Yamamoto’s last tour of inspection is in RG 38, Box 116, “CNSG-OP20-GYP History for WWII Era (3 of 3)” and “CNSG History of OP-20-GYP-1 WWII (1 of 2).” Bea Norton Binns, in a September 27, 1998, letter to her class secretary, said that the inter-island cipher led “to many opportunities for our forces, including the shooting down of Admiral Yamamoto’s plane taking him on an inspection tour.” Carpenter, underlying notes for Carpenter and Dowse, “Code Breakers of 1942.” Fran Steen talks about taking part in the Yamamoto effort in her interview with South Carolina ETV. In her Library of Congress oral history, Ann Ellicott Madeira mentions being excited “when the work we did ensured that our flyers were able to shoot down Yamamoto.”
“The day his plane went down”: Hanke, oral history.
Chapter Eight: “Hell’s Half-Acre”
Young Annie Caracristi washed her hair with laundry soap: Wilma Berryman Davis, oral history interview, December 3, 1982, NSA-OH-25-82, 39.
One of the bookish men, a New York editor: Robert L. Benson, former NSA historian, interview with the author in The Plains, Virginia, in June 2015.
At Arlington Hall there also were “BIJs”: Ann Caracristi, interview, undated, Library of Congress Veterans History Project, https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.30844/transcript?ID=mv0001; Stuart H. Buck, “The Way It Was: Arlington Hall in the 1950s,” Phoenician (Summer 88): 3–11.