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test test test test test test test test test test >> GOOD AFTERNOON. FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY OF
CONGRESS, STUDENTS, STAFF, EVERYONE WHO IS JOINING US LIVE
ON THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL, I'M KAREN
LLOYD, DIRECTOR OF THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT HERE AT THE
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF
YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE TO COME SEE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING
AUTHOR, LIZA MUNDY, WHO IS GOING TO DISCUSS HER BOOK, "CODE
GIRLS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN WOMEN CODE BREAKERS OF
WORLD WAR II" WE WERE PLANNING TO HOLD THE EVENT AT THE
BEGINNING OF THE MONTH. MOTHER NATURE INTERVENED.
SO WE'RE HERE A FEW WEEKS LATER AND MORE DETERMINED THAN EVER TO
SHINE THE SPOTLIGHT ON WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO
OUR SOCIETY. WE KNOW IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO
CELEBRATE THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF WOMEN, AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK
THE LIBRARIAN OF COPPING DR. CARLA HADEN AND HER
LEADERSHIP TEAM FOR THEIR COMMITMENT TO HELPING US WITH
THIS EPIDEFER. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK DOUG
BENNETT RETURNING TO WASHINGTON TO BE WITH US TODAY.
TODAY'S EVENTS WILL FOCUS NOT JUST ON WOMEN BUT ON WOMEN
VETERANS, WHO RAISED THEIR RIGHT HAND, TOOK AN OATH TO SUPPORT
AND DEFEND OUR COUNTRY, PUT ON A UNIFORM AND ACHIEVED AMAZING
ACCOMPLISHMENTS WHILE ENDURING MANY SACRIFICES.
YOU'RE GOING THE HEAR THEIR STORIES TODAY AND HOPEFULLY YOU
WILL LEARN ABOUT OTHERS IN YOUR STUDY OR THROUGH THE MANY
RESOURCES WE HAVE HERE AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
AS YOU DO, KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE ARE THOUSANDS MORE WOMEN
VETERANS WHOSE NAMES AND STORIES MAY NEVER BE HER.
UNLESS YOU REACH OUT TO THE VETERANS IN YOUR LIVES AND YOUR
COMMUNITIES TO LISTEN, REALLY LISTEN TO THEIR STORY AND DONATE
IT TO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT
WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK OUR CO-SPONSOR, THE LIBRARIES YOUNG
READERS CENTER, DEVOTED TO READING INTERESTS ISES OF
CHILDREN AND TEENS THE YOUNG READERS SENTE OFFERS YOUNG
PEOPLE AND FAMILIES THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THE
WONDERS AND RESOURCES OF THE NATION'S LIBRARY TO ONGOING
PROGRAMS AND SPECIAL EVENTS. THEY WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN
HELPING US REACH TOUT SCHOOLS SO -- OUT TO SCHOOLS SO THEIR
SCHOOLS WILL BENEFIT FROM TODAY'S TALK AND TO DEVELOP A
DEEPER APPRECIATION FOR PRIMARY SOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO
THEM HERE AT LIBRARY BUT ESPECIALLY THE VETERANS HISTORY
PROJECT. WITH MORE THAN 105,000
COLLECTIONS IN OUR ARCHIVES, THE VETERAN HISTORY PROJECT
COLLECTS, PRESERVES AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, MAKES ACCESSIBLE
THE STORY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY VETERANS WHO SERVED IN
WORLD WAR I THROUGH THE CURRENT CONFLICTS.
SO THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS MAY HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THOSE
VETERANS AND BETTER UNDERSTAND THEIR SELFLESS SERVICE.
OUR COLLECTIONS INCLUDE VIDEO AND AUDIO ORAL HISTORY
INTERVIEWS ALONG WITH ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS, LETTERS, MILITARY
DOCUMENTS, DIARIES, YOURNAL -- YOUR
HONORNALS AND TWO DIMENSION -- JOURNALS AND TWO DIMENSIONAL
ART. WE CONTINUE TO SOLICIT
VOLUNTEERS LIKE YOU FROM ACROSS THE NATION TO GATHER THEIR
STORIES OF VETERANS IN THEIR LIVES SO THAT THEIR FIRST PERSON
RECOMMENDSISES, -- REMINISCES, PERSONAL PHILOSOPHIES ARE
PRESERVED FOR POSTERITY. IN DOING SO WE ALL BETTER
UNDERSTAND HISTORY. TODAY'S GUEST PRESENTER CAN I A
TEST TO THE VALUE OF OUR COLLECTIONS BECAUSE SHE USED
THEM WHEN CONDUCTING RESEARCH FOR HER BOOK.
AS A FORMER LONG TIME REPORTER AT THE WASHINGTON POST, LIZA
MUNDY IS NO STRANGER TO RESEARCH.
A SENIOR FELLOW AT NEW AMERICA, HER EXPLORATION OF ISSUES
RELATED TO WOMEN IN WAR RESULTED IN HER EMERGE MERGING AS ONE OF
THE NATION'S FOR MOST EXPERTS ON THE SUBJECT.
SHE'S A FREQUENT COMMENTATOR ON PROMINENT NATIONAL TELEVISION
SHOW, RADIO AND ONLINE NEWS OUTLETS.
SHE HAS CONTRIBUTED TO NUMEROUS PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING THE
ATLANTIC, TIME, NEW REPUBLIC, SLATE, MOTHER JONES, AND
POLITICO. THERE'S A RANGE.
IN ADDITION TO "CODE GIRLS" SHE'S OS AUTHOR OF THE RICHER
SEX HOW FEMALE BREADWINNERS IS TRANSFORMING SEX LOVE AND ALSO
BIOGRAPHY. AFTER HER PRESENTATION SHE'S
GRACIOUS HI AGREED TO STAY WITH US A WHILE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
FROM THE AUDIENCE AND TO SIGN COPIES OF HER BOOK WHICH ARE
AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE OUTSIDE THIS ROOM.
NOW PLEASE JOIN ME IN WELCOMING TO THE PODIUM OUR SPECIAL GUEST
LIZA MUNDY. [APPLAUSE] >> THANK YOU SO MUCH, WENDY FOR
THAT GREAT INTRODUCTION. THANK YOU, EVERYBODY WHO CAME
FOR THE RESCHEDULED EVENT. THANK YOU, LISA TAYLOR, YOU HAVE
BEEN INCREDIBLY HOSPITABLE AND ORGANIZED IN HELPING WITH MY
RESEARCH AND THIS EVENT. IT'S A THRILL TO SPEAK AT THE
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THE GREAT RESEARCH
INSTITUTIONS IN THE WORLD. PARTICULARLY BECAUSE THE
VETERANS HISTORY COLLECTION HERE WAS SO FUNDAMENTALLY CRUCIAL TO
MY RESEARCH. WHEN I WAS GETTING STARTED,
RESEARCHING CODE GIRLS AND WHEN I WAS IN FACT SHOPPING THE BOOK
PROPOSAL, TO EDITORS IN NEW YORK, APPARENTLY ONE OF THE
EDITORS SAID THAT HE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS A GREAT STORY BUT
FELT IT MIGHT BE THIN BEER BECAUSE SO MUCH TIME PASSED
SINCE WORLD WAR II, IF THERE WERE ANY WOMEN CODE BREAKERS OUT
THERE THEY WOULD BE IN MID '90s, MAYBE WOULDN'T REMEMBER
MUCH, WOULDN'T BE MUCH RECORD SINCE IT WAS TOP SECRET WORK.
SO I GOT UP EVERY DAY DURING RESEARCH AND SAID I A HE I'LL
SHOW YOU. I HAVE THE HELP OF ALLIES LIKE
THE VETERANS HISTORY COLLECTION HERE, I LITERALLY EMAILED
THROUGH THE WEBSITE SAYING I'M WORKING ON THIS BOOK, DO YOU
HAVE ANYTHING, ININSTANTLY GOT A REPLY FROM MEGAN HARRIS SAYING
YES, WE HAVE WONDERFUL RECORDS, WE HAVE ORAL HISTORIES, WE HAVE
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS, SHE PROVIDED ME WITH A LIST OF THE
NAMES OF WOMEN THEY TAKEN ORAL HISTORIES FROM, INCREDIBLY WELL
ORGANIZED, I CAME HERE FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND LISTENED AND
READ TO THE WOMEN'S WHO TOLD THEIR STORIES, MANY NO LONGER
WITH US BUT FORT FORTUNATELY STORIES
ARE COLLECTED AND RESIDE HERE DIGITALLY SO IN THE END I WAS
ABLE TO COLLECT ALMOST MORE MATERIAL THAN I COULD COPE WITH
IN REPORTING THIS BOOK. FOR LIVING WOMEN AND FROM
WONDERFUL ARCHIVAL RESOURCES LIKE THIS COLLECTION AND ABLE TO
SUBSTANDIATE THE RECOLLECTIONS OF WOMEN WHO ARE STILL ALIVE
WITH THE PAPER RECORD, WITH ORAL HISTORY AND OTHER SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION SO I'M SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS INSTITUTION FOR MAKING
AMERICAN HISTORY ACCESSIBLE TO RESEARCHERS, TO CITIZENS, TO
EVERYBODY AND FOR HOLDING EVENTS LIKE THIS WHERE WE CAN CONTINUE
GET THE MESSAGE OUT AND SUPPORTK AUTHORINGS WHICH IS VERY
IMPORTANT: SO IT'S THRILLING TO BE HERE.
IT'S ALSO THRILL TO BE HERE DURING WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH.
ORIGINALLY I WAS GOING TO BE SPEAKING AT THE BEGINNING OF
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH AND NOW WE HAVE MANAGED TO SNEAK IN THE
RESCHEDULED EVENT WHEN IT'S STILL MARCH, THAT'S MEANINGFUL
BECAUSE WE'RE T A WATER SHED MOMENT IN TERMS OF RECEPTIVITY
TO WOMEN WITH'S'S HISTORY. IT SHOULD BE EVERYBODY'S HISTORY
MONTH BUT THIS MONTH HAS SPECIAL MEANING AND I THINK WE'RE IN A
GREAT MOMENT. BOOK LIKES HIDDEN FIGURES SO
SUCCESSFUL IN OPENING UP THE CONTRIBUTIONS THAT WOMEN HAVE
MADE TO AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY, TO AMERICAN SCIENCE,
HAVE REALLY PERSUADE PUBLISHERS THAT THERE'S AN AUDIENCE FOR
THESE BOOKS, PEOPLE RECEPTIVE TO THESE STORIES.
YOU NAY KNOW THE NEW YORK TIMES START AD SERIES CALLED
OVERLOOKED GOING BACK TO ARCHIVAL RECORD AND REALIZING
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT WOMEN PASSED FROM THE SCENE AND DIDN'T
GET OBITUARIES INCLUDING CHARLOTTE BRANTE, WOMEN OF THAT
STATURE WEREN'T RECOGNIZED DURING THAT U TIME SO THE NEW
YORK TIME HAD A NEW SERIES WHICH THEY'RE GOING BACK AND PROVIDING
OBITUARIES OF WOMEN WHO SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN RECOGNITION IN THEIR
TIME. AND I FEEL THE PUBLISHING
INDUSTRY IS DOING THE SAME THING TODAY, SO IS IT'S THRILLING TO
BE PART OF IT. SO WHEN TALKING ABOUT CODE
GIRLS, ABOUT THESE THOUSANDS OF WOMEN WHO CAME TO WASHINGTON TO
JOIN THE U.S. MILITARY AND SUPPORT THE WAR EFFORT, I LIKE
TO START WITH THIS SLIDE, BECAUSE IT REALLY ILLUSTRATES
THE PLIGHT OF THE EDUCATED WOMAN IN 1942.
THIS PHOTO SHOWS THE MAY COURT AT GOWNER COLLEGE IN THE SPRING
OF 1942, SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW GOUCHER COLLEGE THEN WAS AND ALL
GIRLS SCHOOL, THE WOMEN WHO WENT THERE WERE CALLED GOUCHER GIRLS,
LOCATED IN DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE, D. CM, IT'S A CO-EDUCATIONAL
UNIVERSITY BUT AT THE TIME IT WAS A CITY SCHOOL, MANY YOUNG
WOMEN WHO ATTENDED THERE WERE CITY GIRLS WHO GREW UP IN
BALTIMORE, WHO WALKED TO CLASSES, IN SOME CASES COULDN'T
AFFORD TO BOARD BECAUSE THEY HAD GROWN UP DURING THE DEPRESSION
AND WERE VERY DEVOTED AND MOTIVATED TO GET A GREAT LIBERAL
ARTS EDUCATION. GOUCHER WAS A WELL RESPECTED
UNIVERSITY, ITS DEAN DOROTHY STIPSON WAS A NOTED EXPERT ON
COPERNICUS, THE FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN TO WIN PULL LESSER TOP NOTCH SCHOOL.
THESE WOMEN WERE MORE UNUSUAL THAN THEY WOULD HAVE KNOWN AT
THIS TIME IN AMERICAN LIFE 4% OF AMERICAN WOMEN ATTAINED A FOUR
YEAR COLLEGE DEGREE. THE REASON THAT PERCENTAGE WAS
SO SMALL WAS IN PART BECAUSE SO MANY SCHOOLS WERE SO CLOSED TO
WOMEN, SO MANY CAMPUSES DIDN'T ADMIT WOMEN, THE IVY LEAGUE FOR
MOST PART WAS CLOSED TO WOMEN, MANY, MANY PRIVATE UNIVERSITS,
MANY STATE UNIVERSITIES AND MY HOME STATE OF VIRGINIA, THE
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA DID NOT GIVE FULL DEGREES TO WOMEN UNTIL
THE 1960s AND SO THERE WERE NOT A LOT OF INSTITUTIONS TO
CHOOSE FROM AND OF COURSE THESE WONDERFUL WOMEN'S COLLEGES HAD
BEEN FOUNDED IN LATE 19th CENTURY AT A TIME WHEN MANY
BELIEVED HIGHER EDUCATION WAS BAD FOR WOMEN, IT MADE WOMEN
SORT OF UPPITY AND OBNOXIOUS AND THERE WAS ACTUALLY A BELIEF THAT
EDUCATION WASN'T GOOD FOR WOMEN, TOO MUCH LEARNING WASN'T GOOD
FOR WOMEN. THERE WAS A HARVARD PHYSICIAN
WHO ARGUED THAT TOO MUCH EDUCATION MADE WOMEN INFER
UNTIL, THAT IT SWELLED THEIR BRAINS AT THE EXPENSE OF THEIR
WOMBS, HE ARGUED THAT AND PEOPLE BELIEVED IT.
SO THESE WOMEN COLLEGES HAD BEEN CREATED AT A TIME WHEN THEY HAD
SOMETHING TO PROVE, THAT WOMEN DO STERVED EDUCATION, IT WAS
WORTH EDUCATEK WOMEN AND IT WAS GOOD FOR WOMEN TO BE EDUCATED.
ANOTHER REASON THE NUMBERS WERE SO SMALL IS FAMILIES REALIZED
THIS THERE WAS NOT ECONOMIC PAY OFF TO EDUCATING DAUGHTER THE
WAY THERE WAS FOR A SON BECAUSE PROFESSIONAL FIELDS OPENED TO
EDUCATED WOMEN WERE SO LIMITED. IF YOU WERE A WOMAN MOTIVATED TO
BECOME A DOCTOR OR LAWYER OR ARCHITECT OR BUSINESSWOMAN OR
ENGINEER OR SCIENTIST, YOU WOULD BE LUCKY THE FIND A SPOT IN A
GRADUATE SCHOOL. MANY, MANY GRADUATE SCHOOLS WERE
CLOSED TO WOMEN, MANY FIELDS WERE VIRTUALLY CLOSED TO WOMEN,
SO THE ONLY JOB YOU COULD EXPECT GRADUATING FROM A FINE COLLEGE
REALLY RELIABLY WAS TEACHING SCHOOL.
THAT'S GREAT IF YOU WANT TO BE A SCHOOLTEACHER BUT IF THAT'S
ANOTHER FIELD YOU'RE INTERESTED IN IT PRESENTS A NARROW FIELD OF
ENDEAVOR FOR WOMEN AND EVEN THEN ONLY UNTIL YOU GET MARRIED CAN
YOU EXPECT A SCHOOL TEACHING JOB.
BACK THEN THERE WAS A MARRIAGE BAR SO IF A WOMAN GOT MARRIED
SHE WAS REQUIRED TO QUIT TEACHING AND STAY HOME WITH HER
HODS AND FAMILY. SO THERE WAS -- HUSBAND AND
FAMILY. SO THERE WASN'T A GREAT ECONOMIC
PAY OFF TO GETTING A COLLEGE DEGREE FOR WOMEN AND PARENT
COMING OUT OF THE DEPRESSION, THEY MADE THAT CALCULATION.
OF COURSE, THE OTHER REASON FOR A WOMAN TO GO TO COLLEGE FOR
WHICH THERE MIGHT BE AN ECONOMIC PAY OFF WAS TO GET THE
PROVERBIAL MRS DEGREE. WHICH WAS A THING BACK THEN, THE
IDEA THAT IF YOU WENT TO COLLEGE THEN YOU COULD DATE MEN, AT
NEIGHBORING MEN'S SCHOOL, MARRY A MAN FROM A GOOD FAMILY OR WITH
GOOD PROSPECTS AND YOU CAN GET YOURSELF SITUATED IN LIFE, MAYBE
TEACH A COUPLE OF YEARS, PUT HIM THROUGH LAW SCHOOL OR WHATEVER
BUT THERE WOULD BE AN ECONOMIC PAY OFF TO MARRIAGE.
SO THESE YOUNG WOMEN WHO WERE ACADEMICALLY MOTIVATED,
CHALLENGED BY THEIR CLASSESES WERE PRESSURED PARTICULARLY IN
SENIOR YEAR TO GET ENGAGED, GET THAT RING, TO HAVE THEIR FUTURE
ASSURED. AND SO THESE SCHOOLS HAD
CEREMONIES LIKE THE MAY COURT, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, THE MAY
COURT WAS SOME REMNANT OF PAGAN FERTILITY RITUAL WHICH THE YOUNG
WOMEN SELECTIVE BECAUSE OF THEIR BEAUTY OR THEIR PERSONALITY OR
THEIR FAMILY OR THEIR ACADEMIC STANDING WOULD BE ELECTED TO THE
MAY COURT. YOU SEE THE QUEEN UP THERE IN
THE CHAIR. AND THEY WOULD BE SORT OF
SYMBOLICALLY USHERED INTO THE MARRIAGE MARKET.
ALL THE WOMEN'S COLLEGES HAD RITUALS LIKE THIS.
WELLSLY COLLEGE IN MASSACHUSETTS HAD SENIOR CLASS ROLE AND THE
LEGEND OF THE HOOP ROLL IS WINNER WOULD BE THE CLASS'S
FIRST BRIDE. SO THAT WAS A GREAT DISTINCTION.
AND SO -- AND I INTERVIEWED MANY OF THESE WOMEN AND THEY REMEMBER
THE INTENSE PRESSURE TO GET MARRIED AT THE TIME AND WELLSLY
HAD A SECTION OF THE YEARBOOK THAT LISTED WOMEN AND THEIR
ENGAGEMENTS AND WHO THEY WERE ENGAGED TO AS WELL AS WOMEN WHO
HAD GOTTEN MARRIED EVEN BEFORE GRADUATING AND HAD LEFT COLLEGE
IN MANY CASES IN ORDER TO GET MARRIED.
SO AGAIN, THAT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF HOW HARD THESE WOMEN HAD
WORKED TO GET THEIR SCHOOLING, BUT SORT OF THE VERY LIMITED
FIELD OF LIFE PROSPECTS THAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT UPON
GRADUATION. BUT WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS
PARTICULAR PHOTO IS THAT UNBEKNOWNST TO ANYBODY,
INCLUDING THEIR COLLEAGUES ON THE PLATFORM, TWO OF THESE
WOMEN, THIS IS JACQUELINE JENKINS, THAT WAS HER NAME AT
THE TIME. LATER ON WHEN SHE MARRIED SHE
WOULD BE JACQUELINE JENKINS NYE, E,
THE MOTHER OF BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY SO YOU CAN GET A
SENSE OF HER INTELLECTUAL CHOPS AS WELL AS HER FRIEND GWENNETH,
THESE TWO YOUNG WOMEN WERE SECRETLY SELECTED AND TAPPED BY
THE U.S. NAVY AND THEY WERE RECEIVING TRAINING IN CRYPT
ANALYSIS, A FIELD THEY NEVER HEARD OF, NOBODY HAD HEARD OF,
THEY WERE RECEIVING WEEKLY INSTRUCTION IN A LOCKED
CLASSROOM AT THE TOP OF GOUCHE HER
HALL, ONLY MAYBE CHAPTER AHEAD IN THE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE THE
U.S. NAVY COMPILED TO TEACH THEM THIS ARCANE FIELD, THAT HAD BEEN
AROUND SINCE TIME OF JULIUS CAESAR OR PROBABLY SINCE TIME
LEARNING TO WRITE OR COMMUNICATE AS ALL AS HUMANS BECAUSE IT IS
HUMAN INSTINCT TO SEND SECRET COMMUNICATIONS TO SOMEBODY WHO
YOU HAVE AN URGENT MESSAGE FOR AND NOT HAVE ANYBODY ELSE LISTEN
IN. SO THIS FIELD HAD BEEN AROUND
REALLY FOR CENTURYIES BUT NOT SO MUCH IN THE UNITED STATES AND
NOBODY REALLY IN THE MAINSTREAM HAD HEARD OF IT.
SO THEY WERE BEING TAUGHT ALL OF A SUDDEN IN GREAT SECRECY, THEY
COULDN'T TELL THEIR BROTHERS, BOYFRIENDS, FAMILY MEMBERS, THEY
COULDN'T TELL THEIR ROOMMATES WHAT THEY WERE DOING.
THEY WERE LEARNING HOW TO TAKE FREQUENCY COUNTS, LEARNING
BEHAVIOR OF LETTERS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND THE FRENCH
LANGUAGE, THEY WERE LEARNING HOW AL TA
ALPHABETS COULD BE SCRAMBLED TO DISGUISE SECRET COMMUNICATIONS.
THE REASON THAT WAS HAPPENING IS BECAUSE IN DECEMBER OF 1941 ON
DECEMBER 7TH THE PACIFIC FLEET WAS ATTACKED AT PARTIAL HARBOR,
IT WAS A GREAT SHOCK AND SURPRISE TO THE NEIGH, THE
WORLD, -- NATION, THE WORLD, IT WAS A SURPRISE ATTACK, WE HADN'T
SEEN IT COMING, WE LOST THOUSANDS OF YOUNG AMERICAN
SERVICEMEN. AND SO WE WERE LAUNCHED FORMALLY
INTO WORLD WAR II, IT HAD BEEN RAGING IN EUROPE FOR SEVERAL
YEARS, WE KNEW THAT WE WERE GOING TO JOIN THE FIGHTING AT
SOME POINT BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW THAT IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN
ABRUPTLY AFTER DECEMBER 7TH. THE NEXT DAY OF COURSE CONGRESS
DECLARES WAR ON JAPAN. THREE DAYS LATER GERMANY
DECLARES WAR ON US. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN U.S. IS
LAUNCHED INTO WHAT WAS CALLED TOTAL WAR, ALL THE YOUNG MEN
SIGNED UP TO FIGHT. JAPAN THOUGHT THE ATTACK AT
PEARL HARBOR WOULD BRING US TO YOU ARE KNEES, DEMORALIZE US, IT
WOULD ALLOW THEM TO KEEP HOLDINGS IN THE PACIFIC THEY
WERE CONQUERING EVEN IF THEY WERE BOMBING PEARL HARBOR AND IT
HAD THE OPPOSITE EFFECT ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.
WE ROSE UP IN ARMS, EVERY FAMILY WAS DETERMINED TO CONTRIBUTE TO
WAR EFFORT, EVERY YOUNG MAN WANTED TO BE IN MILITARY UNIFORM
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN ALL THE YOUNG MEN WERE SHIPPING TO THE
PACIFIC TO ISLANDS, THAT MOST AMERICANS HAD NEVER HEARD OF TO
THE EUROPEAN THEATER ON CONVOYS GOING TO EUROPE.
IT WAS EVACUATION OF THE MEN. SO AT THE SAME TIME THAT
SUDDENLY WE'RE FIGHTING THESE BATTLES, STRUNG OUT THOUSANDS OF
MILES AROUND THE WORLD, WE KNOW THAT WE HAD NO INTELLIGENCE
AGENCIES, WE HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING WHEN THERE WAS GOING TO
BE ANOTHER ENEMY ATTACK. WHERE THE ENEMY IS LOCATED.
WE WANT TO ATTACK. IT'S VERY HARD TO SORT OF
BELIEVE THIS IN THE DAY IN TIME WE HAVE 17 INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
IN WASHINGTON D.C., WE HAD NONE OF THOSE WHEN ENTERED WORLD WAR
II, WHEN WE NEEDED INTELLIGENCE MORE THAN WE EVER HAD WE DIDN'T
HAVE A CIA AN NSA, WE DIDN'T HAVE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE, WE HAVE INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES NOW WHOSE
JOB IS TO OVERSEE OTHER INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES. WE DEN
HAVE THAT THEN. WE FORM THE OSS QUICKLY TO BEGIN
TO BUILD A SPY NETWORK OVERSEAS BUT ONE THING WE COULD DO RIGHT
AWAY IS RAMP UP OUR ABILITY TO INTERCEPT THE RADIO SIGNALS THE
ENCRYPTED ENCODED RADIO SIGNALINGS THAT MILITARY
COMMANDERS THAT POLITICIANS THAT DIP MATS WERE SENDING THROUGH
THE AIRWAVES THOUSANDS OF MESSAGES ON A DAILY BASIS,
ANNOUNCING THEIR WHEREABOUTS AND ANNOUNCING THEIR PLANS,
DISCUSSING THEIR STRATEGY, ALL OF THIS WAS TRAVELING THROUGH
THE AIRWAVES, RADIOS SOMETIMES BY TELEGRAPH, SEND BY MORSE CODE
AND ENCRYPTED SUCH AS LIKE OUR TEXT EMAILS, INSTAGRAMS, OUR
TWEETS, ARE ALL ENCRYPTED, THAT WAS WHAT WAS HAPPENING AS ALL
THESE MILITARIES WERE STRUNG OUT ALL OVER THE WORLD SO ADMIRAL
DONITS COMMANDING THE U BOAT LEAGUE COMMANDING EACH U BOAT,
IS SENDING MESSAGES EVERY DAY. WE WANTED TO KNOW HOW TO BREAK
THOSE CODE BREAKING. THE U.S. ARM MY AND NAVY BEFORE
THE WAR WE NEEDED TO SCALE UP BASICALLY, WE NEED TO SCALE
THOSE OPERATIONS IN A MASSIVE WAY, AND EXACTLY THE TIME THE
EDUCATED YOUNG MEN THAT THE MILITARY NORMALLY WOULD HAVE
TURNED TO TO DO THIS WORK WERE SUDDENLY UNAVAILABLE BECAUSE
THEY WERE FIGHTING. SO THE U.S. MILITARY MAKES A
DECISION, IF THE EDUCATED YOUNG MEN ARE UNAVAILABLE TO US LET'S
GIVE THE WOMEN A CHANCE. LET'S OPEN UP SOME FIELDS OF
ENDEAVOR TO SMART MOTIVATED WOMEN.
SO WHEN I WAS DOING MY WORK ALSO AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IN
COLLEGE PARK WHICH IS A WONDERFUL RESEARCH FACILITY, AND
IT'S THE OPPOSITE OF -- THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF
RECORDS AT NATIONAL ARCHIVES. I FOUND THIS, WITH SOME
BUREAUCRAT AT THE U.S. NAVY GOT THE BRIGHT IDEA THE NAVY HAD A
SMALL CORRESPONDENCE COURSE GOING ON FOR YEARS WHICH THEY
WOULD RECRUIT DABBLERS IN CRYPTOLOGY, THEY WOULD TRY TO
BRING IN HOBBIESTISTS, PEOPLE WHO MIGHT JOIN CIVILIAN CODE
BREAKING FORCE IN THE '30s SO THEY HAD A COURSE ALREADY AND
THEY PERIODICALLY PRODUCE MEMOS SAYING WHERE THEY WERE LOOKING
FOR THESE KINDS OF PEOPLE, THESE PARTICULAR KINDS OF BRAINS, THEY
WANTED. SO YOU CAN SEE THIS MEMO SAYS
NEW SOURCE WOMEN'S COLLEGES. SO THOUGH THE LIGHT BULB WENT ON
AND SOMEBODY SAID LET'S SEE WHAT THE WOMEN CAN DO.
AND IF THEY CAN DO THIS WORK. AND THE RESULT OF THIS MEMO AND
THE DECISION AND THE FEAR IN THE U.S. NAVY THAT ANOTHER ATTACK
WOULD HAPPEN LIKE PEARL HARBOR, THIS WAS A GREAT INTELLIGENCE
FAILURE, THE NAVY KNEW THAT, CAREERS WERE ENDED.
PEOPLE FELT ENORMOUS GUILT, THEY COULDN'T LET THIS HAPPEN.
SO IN A MOMENT OF DESPERATION AND CRISIS, LET'S BE INCLUSIVE.
LET'S BRING IN THE WOMEN. SO AS A RESULT OF THIS, WOMEN
NOT ONLY AT GOUCHER BUT AT THE SEVEN SISTERS COLLEGES ON THE
EASTERN SEA BOARD, ELITE WOMEN'S COLLEGES SEEN BY NAVY AS COUNTER
PART TO THE MALE IVY LEAGUE, SENIOR WOMEN WHO WERE IDENTIFIED
BY THEIR DEANS AND PROFESSORS OFTEN MATH PROFESSOR AND
ASTRONOMY PROFESSORS IDENTIFY YOUNG WOMEN TALENTED AT MATH
SCIENCE AND LAINGIAN ALSO SHOWED GRIT, PERSISTENCE, SHOWED
WILLINGNESS TO OVERCOME FRUSTRATION, THEY WOULD SECRETLY
TAP THESE WOMEN, WOULD BE CALLED IN TO THEIR GREAT SURPRISE AND
ASKED TWO QUESTIONS. DO YOU LIKE CROSS WORD PUDDLES
AND ARE YOU ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED?
IF THEY ANSWERED YES TO THE FIRST AND NO TO THE SECOND, THEY
WOULD BE INVITED TO TAKE THIS SECRET NAVAL CRYPT ANALYTIC
TRAINING COURSE IN SECRECY ADULTER COURSE OF THEIR SECRET DURING
THE SENIOR YEAR. MEN WERE SHIPPING OUT WAY WANTED
SOMEBODY WAITING AT HOME AND SOMEBODY TO WRITE TO SO A LOT OF
WOMEN LIED AND THOUGH THEY WERE ENGAGED, WHATEVER THEY WERE
BEING INVITED TO DO SOUNDED MORE INTERESTING THAN SITTING AROUND
WAITING TO SEE IF THEIR BROTHERS WOULD BE OKAY OR BOYFRIENDS
WOULD BE OKAY, THEY WANTED TO JOIN THE WAR EFFORT.
SO THEY LIED SAID THEY WEREN'T ENGAGED, TOOK COURSE AND CAME TO
WASHINGTON D.C. TO WORK IN JUNE 1942 AT THE TIME THE PADDLE
OF MIDWAY, ONE OF THE GREAT -- BATTLE OF MIDWAY, GREAT SEA
BATTLE, THE FIRST PAY BACK FOR PEARL HARBOR, SHOWED THE U.S.
MILITARY SECRETLY, BECAUSE THE PUBLIC DIDN'T KNOW OR SHOULDN'T
KNOW, HOW IMPORTANT CODE BREAKING WAS GOING TO BE TO THE
WAR EFFORT. THIS WAS A TIME WHEN WE DID NOT
KNOW THAT WE WERE GOING TO WIN WOULD WAR II, IT WAS NOT A
CONCLUSION. THERE WAS ENORMOUS CONCERN WE
MIGHT NOT PREVAIL, THE ATLANTIC COAST WAS BESIEGED BY U BOATS,
THERE WAS FEAR IN THE AMERICAN PUBLIC BUT THE BATTLE OF THE
MIDWAY WAS THE TURNING POINT AND TURNED ON BRILLIANT CODE
BREAKING THAT WARNED US THE JAPANESE WERE EN ROUTE TO AMBUSH
AND FINISH US OFF AND INSTEAD WE AMBUSHED THE JAPANESE FLEET AND
WON THAT BATTLE SO THAT SIGNAL PEOPLE NEEDED TO KNOW CODE
BREAKING WAS IMPORTANT AND THE WOMEN STARTED POURING IN AT THE
MOMENT WHEN YOU KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS WAS GOING TO BE.
MEANWHILE THE U.S. ARMY ALSO NEEDS TO COMPETE FOR EDUCATED
WOMEN. BECAUSE THE SET UP AT OUR ENTRY
INTO THE WAR IS THAT THE UK HAS LEAD CODE BREAKING
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND THE EUROPEAN THEATER.
SO IF YOU HAVE SEEN THE IMITATION GAME YOU HEARD THE
OTHER GREAT CODE BREAKING SUCCESS WHICH IS OUR BREAKING OF
THE ENIGMA CIPHER, ENGLAND BREAKING OF THE ENIGMA CIPHER
AND THE ABILITY TO READ THE GERMAN MESSAGES THAT WERE
CONTROLLING THE U BOATS AS WELL AS MOVEMENT.
S OF THE AIR FORCE AND ARMY. WHEN WE ENTER THE WERE WAR WE
HAVE A VESTED STAKE AS WELL BECAUSE WE'RE SENDING OUR BOYS
TO THE ATLANTIC WHICH IS RIDDLED WITH U BOATS SO WE CARE, BUT
WE'RE GOING TO BE THE JUNIOR PARTNER IN THAT CODE BREAKING
EFFORT BUT MEANWHILE WE HAVE LEAD AND REALLY SOLE CODE
BREAKING RESPONSIBILITY IN THE VAST, VAST PACIFIC OCEAN.
SO THE U.S. NAVY JUST RECRUITED THE WOMEN FROM THE SEVEN SISTERS
SCHOOL IS GOING TO BE WORKING PRIMARILY JAPANESE NAVAL FLEET
CODE, WITH MAJOR CODE SYSTEM THAT IS BEING USED BY THE
JAPANESE NAVY. BUT THE JAPANESE ARMY HAD A
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SYSTEM AND THEY'RE SPREAD OUT ALL OVER THE
PACIFIC, THEY HAVE TAKEN THE FILL PHILIPPINES, ISLANDS AROUND
THE PACIFIC, LAND MASSES AND AGAIN, THEY'RE COMMUNICATING
THROUGH SIGNALS. OUR U.S. ARMY HAS RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THOSE SIGNAL SIGNAL SYSTEMS AND
THEY NEED TO RECRUIT WOMEN AS WELL SO THEY FIGURE THEY MAKE A
DIFFERENT CALCULATION. OKAY, OUR COMPETITORS IN THE
U.S. NAVY HAVE THE EASTERN SEA BOARD AND SO WE'RE GOING TO
COMPETE FOR SCHOOLTEACHERS, TURN TO TEACHING COLLEGES.
WHICH WERE THE OTHER INSTITUTIONS THAT EXISTED TO
EDUCATE WOMEN. FOR EXAMPLE, DOROTHY RAMALI I
INTERVIEWED FOR MY BOOK WAS AT INDIANA STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
IN PENNSYLVANIA, SHE HAD GROWN UP IN RURAL PENNSYLVANIA, SHE
WANTED TO BE A MATH TEACHER, THAT WAS A AMBITIOUS ASPIRATION
FOR A WOMAN BECAUSE WOMEN WERE NOT ENCOURAGED TO GO INTO MATH,
THEY WERE SOMETIMES NOT HIRED AS TEACHERS BUT THAT'S WHAT SHE
WANTED TO DO, THAT WAS HER PASSION AND SHE WAS CALLED IN BY
THE DEAN OF WOMEN AND INVITED THE TAKE THE ARMY SECRET CRYPT
ANALYTIC TRAINING COURSE. BUT EVEN WOMEN IN TEACHERS
COLLEGES WEREN'T ENOUGH FOR THE ENORMOUS CODE BREAKING
OPERATIONS THAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE TO ESTABLISH.
SO THE ARMY DECIDED TO ALSO GO AFTER SCHOOLTEACHERS YOUNG WOMEN
WHO WERE ACTUALLY TEACHING SCHOOL.
THEY WERE GOING TO BE YOUNG, HARD WORKING, THEY WERE GOING TO
BE SINGLE, THEY WERE GOING TO BE WELL EDUCATE AND THEY WERE GOING
TO BE UNDERPAID. SO THEY WERE GOING TOABLE
BE EXTREMELY MOTIVATED TO TAKE
BETTER PAY WORK WITH THE WAR DEPARTMENT SO THE ARMY STRATEGY
WAS TO -- AND I LITERALLY FOUND ORAL HISTORY, WHICH COMMANDERS
CONGRATULATED THEMSELVES FOR THEIR STRATEGY, THEY WERE THINK
THINKING THAT THEY DECIDE TO SEND THEIR HANDSOMEST YOUNG ARMY
OFFICERS OUT TO LURK IN HOTELS AND POST OFFICES, RECRUITING
STATIONS PARTICULARLY AROUND THE AMERICAN SOUND.
THEY WERE RECRUITING WOMEN AS CIVILIANS AND THE BUREAUCRATIC
RULES CONFINE TO NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA WEST VIRGINIA,
THINKING WAS SOUTHERN WOMEN WERE PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE
CHARMS OF A HANDS SOME MAN AND THAT ALL THESE HARD WORKING
SMART YOUNG SCHOOLTEACHERS WOULD BE MOTIVATED TO COME TO
WASHINGTON TO DO SECRET WAR WORK THINKING THEY WOULD MARRY A MAN
WHO LOOKED LIKE RECRUITING OFFICER.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT SINKING ABOUT WOMEN'S MOTIVATION IS MY CENTRAL
CHARACTER WHO IS STILL ALIVE AND GOING STRONG, REPRESENTS JUST
SORT OF HOW WRONG HEADED THAT STRATEGY WAS.
LIKE MANY YOUNG AMERICAN WOMEN, SHE WAS ENGAGED BUT UNWILLINGLY
SO, HER COLLEGE BOYFRIEND SENT HER A RING FROM TRAINING CAMP IN
CALIFORNIA, WOMEN WERE TOLL NOT TO UPSET MORALE OF THE TROOPS,
SHE DIDN'T WANT THE GET MARRIED, SHE DIDN'T WANT TO MARRY OUT OF
COLLEGE, SHE LIKED THIS GUY BUT DIDN'T ENVISION SPENDING HER
LIFE WITH HIM. SHE WANTED AND AN EXCUSE NOT TO
HAVE TO GET MARRIED AND GO TO THIS
TRAINING CAMP IN CALIFORNIA SO PROS SPECK OF WAR WORK IN
WASHINGTON GAVE HER AN OUT FROM WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HER FOUR OR
DANEED LIFE TRAJECTORY, IT GAVE HER AN EXCUSE NOT TO GO TO
CALIFORNIA. SHE WAS ALSO MOTIVATED BECAUSE
SHE WAS THE OLDEST DAUGHTER IN A FAMILY OF FOUR, SHE HAD TWO
YOUNGER BROTHERS ALREADY IN THE U.S. ARMY, ONE RIGHT OUT OF HIGH
SCHOOL, LITERALLY THE DAY HE GRADUATED SO LICK ALL AMERICAN
FAMILY SHE IS HAD A PERSONAL INTEREST IN THE OUTCOME OF THE
WAR. THE FAMILY WAS TYPICAL, THEY
WERE VOLUNTEERING EVERYTHING TO THE WAR EFFORT.
PEOPLE WERE DONATES POTTS AND PANS, PICKING UP RUBBER BANDS
FROM THE STREET. THE FAMILY TRIED TO DONATE THEIR
FAMILY DOGTY TRAIN TO BECOME A WAR DOG.
SHE STILL HAS A SINGLE SPACE LETTER FROM THE ARMY WAR DOG
TRAINING CENTER SAYING THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION OR FOR
YOUR OFFER, WE HAVE AN AGE CAP ON OUR WAR DOGS AND SHE WAS TOO
OLD. SO SHE HAD TO STAY HOME BUT
THAT'S HOW MOTIVATED PEOPLE WERE TO JOIN THE WAR EFFORT.
SO DOT WAS ALSO IN HER FIRST YEAR OF TEACHING AT THE HIGH
SCHOOL, ALL THE MALE TEACHERS LEFT, MANY FEMALE TEACHERS HAD
LEFT TO MARRY THE MEN. SO SHE WAS TEACHING ENGLISH,
FRENCH, LATIN, PHYSICS, SOMETHING CALLED HYGIENE, SHE
WAS INCREDIBLY BURDENED BY THE LOAD, SHE WAS MAKING $900 A
MONTH TEACHING SCHOOL IN CHATHAM, SHE CAME HOME THE MOM
IN LYNCHBERG AND SAID I CAN'T DO THAT ANY MORE.
THERE'S RECRUITERS IN THIS HOTEL IN LYNCH BERK, SEE WHAT THEY
WANT. >> DO SO WHEN SHE CAME THROUGH
THE DOOR SHE DIDN'T CARE IF THE RECRUITER WAS GOOD LOOKING, SHE
KNEW IT WAS WAR WORK, IT WAS IMPORTANT, LYNCH BESTING WAS
THREE HOURS FROM D.C, SHE HAD NEVER BEEN THERE, SHE GREW UP
DURING THE DEPRESSION, NEVER SEEN A BIG CITY, THIS IS AN
OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN WAR EFFORT TO HELP HER BROTHERS AND TO MAKE
1,660-DOLLARS WORKING FOR THE WAR DEPARTMENT, ALMOST TWICE
WHAT SHE MADE AT A TEACHER. SO LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHERS
SOUTHERN SCHOOLTEACHERS DOT GOT ON THE TRAIN ONE MORNING AND
CAME TO WASHINGTON D.C. AND FOUND HERSELF AT UNION STATION
WITH A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY IN HER POCKET BOOK AND NO IDEA WHAT
SHE HAD SIGNED UP TO DO. BECAUSE THIS RECRUITING
SCHOOLTEACHERS WAS TAKING PLACE IN PUBLIC, THEY COULDN'T ETCH
TELL THE WOMEN WHAT THEY HAD SIGNED UP FOR.
SHE TOOK A CAB TO ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA AND FOUND HERSELF WHAT
HAD BEEN A JUNIOR COLLEGE AND JUNIOR COLLEGES WERE A THING
BACK THEN, THEY WERE A WAY TO GIVE WOMEN SOME EDUCATION
WITHOUT GIVING THEM TOO MUCH EDUCATION SO THEY BASICALLY
AMENDED TO TWO YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL, TWO OF COLLEGEND, WOMEN
GET ENGLISH MATH, SOME FRENCH, TYPING, HORSE BACK RIDING, THE
KINDS OF THINGS THAT PREPARE THEM FOR ADULTHOOD SO ARMY
NEEDED A BIG SECURE OFF THE BEATEN PATH COMPOUND FOR CODE
BREAKING EFFORT SO IT KICKED THE GIRLS OUT AND REQUISITIONED
ARLINGTON HALL, IT BUILDS ENORMOUS TEMPORARY BUILDINGS
WHERE THE WRITING PATHS -- RIDING PATHS HAD BEEN AND IT
ROUTED THESE SOUTHERN SCHOOLTEACHERS INTO THESE
MASSIVE HOT TEMPORARY BUILDINGS, THERE WAS THE FIRST DAY IN
WASHINGTON DOT HAD NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS SIGNING UP TO DO BUT HAD
TO SIGN A LOYALTY OATH TO THE US GOVERNMENT, SIGN A SECRECY OATH
AGREEING SHE WOULD NEVER TALK ABOUT IT, IT WAS WARTIME,
PENALTY FOR REVEALING TOP SECRET WORK WAS DEATH.
SO SHE KNEW THAT WHATEVER SHE WAS GOING TO BE DOING SHE WOULD
BE SHOT IF SHE TOLD ANYBODY ABOUT IT.
SO THAT WAS HER WELCOME TO WASHINGTON.
ALL OF THE WOMEN WHO CAME TO DO THIS WORK WOULD BE TOLD IF
ANYBODY ASKED THEM WHAT THEY WERE DOING IN THESE COMPOUNDS
THEY WERE TO SAY THEY WERE SECRETARIES.
THAT THEY SHARPEN PENCILS EMPTY WASTE BASKET, UNIMPORTANT WORK.
SOME SAID THEY SAT ON THE LAPS OF THEIR COMMANDING OFFICERS,
EVERYBODY BELIEVED THAT BECAUSE THEY WERE WOMEN, THE WORK THEY
WERE DOING HAD TO BE TRIVIAL. SO IN THAT WAY THEY WERE THE
IDEAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS OF THE TIME BUT PEOPLE JUST ASSUMED
THAT WHATEVER THEY WERE DOING INSIDE THESE TOP SECRET
COMPOUNDS, COULDN'T BE IMPORTANT TO THE WAR EFFORT.
BUT INSTEAD, DOT JOINS CLASSROOMS SCHOOLTEACHERS WERE
HASTE HI INSTRUCTED, IN THIS CASE IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA,
THESE ARE WOMEN WHO WOULD BE RECEIVING THE MESSAGES THAT WE
INTERCEPTED FROM THE PACIFIC, WE WOULD ENCRYPT WITH OUR OWN
ENCRYPTION, SEND THEM TO ARLINGTON HALL, WE STRIP OUT THE
AMERICAN ENCRYPTION AND THEN SCHOOLTEACHERS LIKE DOT WOULD
GET STARTED ON MESSAGES. THIS IS THE ROOM DOT WOULD HAVE
WORKED IN, YOU CAN SEE ALL THESE YOUNG WOMEN WORKING AT TABLES.
SHE STILL HAS A HARD TIME BELIEVING THAT SHE HAD JOINED
WHAT WOULD BE THE THIRD OF THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT CODE
BREAKING TRIUMPHS OF WORLD WAR II.
ONE WAS BATTLE OF MIDWAY, ONE WAS BREAKING ENIGMA CIPHER, THE
THIRD NOT AS MUCH ATTENTION BECAUSE IT'S NOT A DRAMATIC
MOMENT WAS RELENTLESS SINKING OF THE SHIP THAT WAS SUPPLYING THE
JAPANESE ARMY ALL AROUND THE PACIFIC.
THE JAPANESE WERE ON ISLANDS FOR THE MOST PART, THEY HAD TO BE
REGULARLY SUPPLIED WITH WATER, WITH FOOD, WITH FUEL, WITH
MEDICINE, WITH SPARE AIRPLANE PARTS, WITH REINFORCEMENT
TROOPS, ALL THAT WAS BROUGHT BY SHIP, THOSE SHIPS WERE SENDING
MESSAGES EVERY DAY SAYING WHERE THEY WERE COMING FROM, WHERE
THEY WERE GOING TO, IT WAS A COMPLICATED SYSTEM CALLED AN
ENCIPHERED CODE SYSTEM, A WORLD LIKE MORE ROW FOR SUPPLY SHIP IS
A FOUR DIGIT CODE GROUP, ANOTHER WOULD BE ADDED TO THAT TO CHANGE
THE NUMBERS THAT WAS AN EARLY FORM OF ENCRYPTION.
SENT MY MORSE CODE, WE SNATCH IT OUT OF THE AIR, THE
SCHOOLTEACHERS WOULD STRIP OUT THAT ENCRYPTION, STRIPPING OUT
THE EXTRANEOUS NUMBERS TO GET TO CODE GROUP AND TRYING TO FIGURE
OUT WHAT THEY MEANT. BECAUSE THEY DID IT SO WELL AND
RAPIDLY, DOT REMEMBERS RUNNING TO GET THE MESSAGES TO THE NEXT
STAGE, WE WERE ABLE TO SAVE THOUSANDS OF SUPPLY SHIPS, THE
INFORMATION THE MESSAGES WOULD BE SENT TO AMERICAN SUBMARINE
COMMANDERS WHO WOULD BE WAITING WHEN THE SHIPS APPEARED, THEY
WERE RELENTLESSLY SUNK AND THE RESULT WAS MOST JAPANESE A ARMY
DEATHS WERE RESULT OF STARVATION AND DISEASE.
THAT'S HOW WELL THE SCHOOLTEACHERS DID THEIR JOB.
DOT REMEMBERS SHE WOULD GET THE MESSAGE FARCE AND TAKE IT TO THE
OVERLAPPER AND SHE WAS VERY NERVOUS ABOUT SPEAKING THAT WORD
BECAUSE WOMEN WERE TOLL NEVER TO UTTER CERTAIN WORDS ON THE
STREETS OF WASHINGTON, OVERLAP WAS A TERM OF ART AND IF THEY
SPOKE IT ON THE STREET SOMEBODY WOULD OVERHEAR SO WHEN I DID MY
INTERVIEW WITH HER, MANY INTERVIEWS WITH HER, SHE HAD
NEVER USED THE WORD OVERLAPPER, SHE FELT UNEASY SAYING IT EVEN
NOW. WHAT SHE REMEMBERED, ONE OF MY
FAVORITE PARTS, THE OVERLAPPER WAS A WOMAN NAMED MIRIAM FROM
NEW YORK CITY. BECAUSE THERE WERE WOMEN
RECRUITED FROM NORTHERN COLLEGES AS WELL.
AND DOT REMEMBERS MIRIAM BEING THE MOST CONDESCENDING
NORTHERNER EVER MET AND I'M FROM THE SAME PART OF VIRGINIA DOT IS
SO I SOMEWHAT IDENTIFY WITH THIS PART OF THE STORY.
AND SHE RECALLED THAT MIRIAM WOULD MAKE FUN OF HER SEWN
ACCENT AND IT'S -- SOUTHERN ACCENT.
EVEN AS AMERICAN GIS WERE ALL OVER THE WORLD, AT GREAT PEARL
AN RISK TO THEIR LIVES, THEIR STAYING IN SOUTH PACIFIC AND
PARIS, THESE WOMEN WERE COMING TOGETHER AND MANY WOMEN ARE FROM
OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY BUT THEY WERE ALSO HAVING TO
FUNCTION WITH THEM IN A WORKPLACE AND IT WAS INCREDIBLY
IMPORTANT WORK BUT ALSO A GOVERNMENT WORKPLACE.
AND MIRIAM GOT ON DOT'S NERVES. BECAUSE THE WOMEN CLASHED, THEY
WERE DIFFERENT PARTS OF COUNTRY, THE NORTHERNERS SEE THE SOUTHERN
WOMEN BEING LESS WELL EDUCATED, ALSO MEN WORKING AT THE FACILITY
TOO OLD FOR FIGHTING SO THERE WERE MANY DISTINGUISHED MEN FROM
PUBLISHKING CIRCLES WHO CAME DOWN TO WORK IN THE CODE
BREAKING OPERATION AND ONE OF THEM REFERRED TO SOUTHERN WOMEN
AS JEWELS BECAUSE HE FELT SO MANY SOUTHERN WOMEN WERE NAMED O
PAL OR PEARL OR RUBY OR EMERALD. I HAVE TO A MITT WHEN I WENT
THROUGH THE ROSTERS A T THE ARCHIVES THERE WERE A LOT OF
WOMEN NAMED RUBY AND EMERALD AND PEARL AND THEY WERE JEWELS, ONE
WOMAN I INTERVIEWED FOR THIS BOOKER, JEWEL FROM SOUTH
CAROLINA WAS A GRADUATE OF WINTHROP COLLEGE IN SOUTH
CAROLINA; SHE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL BAND DIRECTOR WHEN RECRUITED AND
MUSICAL TALENT IS A MARK FOR CODE BREAKING ABILITY BECAUSE IT
HAS THE ABILITY TO FOLLOW PATTERNS SO I HAVE TO GRANT
THERE WERE A FAIR AMOUNT OF SOUTHERN WOMEN WHO HAD JEWEL
LIKE NAMES. I LOVE THIS PHOTO BECAUSE THE
WOMEN THAT YOU SEE LAUGHING DOWN AT HER WORK SITTING NEXT TO THE
DEAD PLANT, SHE HAS BEEN RECRUITED ADS ENGLISH MAJOR FROM
A COLLEGE OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK AND SHE WORKING WITH A WEST
VIRGINIA SCHOOLTEACHER NAMED WILMA, THEY BROKE A SEPARATE
CODE SYSTEM THAT APPENDED EVERY JAPANESE ARMY MESSAGE, IT WAS
THE ADDRESS OF WHERE IT WAS COMING TO, AND WHERE IT WAS
DESTINED FOR THE PERSON SENDING IT, THE RANK OF THE PERSON
SENDING IT, THE PERSON RECEIVING IT, THE RANK OF THAT PERSON.
VAST AM OF USEFUL INFORMATION FOR OUR MILITARY TO HAVE BECAUSE
WE WANT KNOW WHERE JAPANESE ARE, WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO, WHO
THEY'RE COMMUNICATING WITH, FLURRY OF MESSAGES, MAYBE
SOMETHING IS BEING PLANNED, SO THANKS TO THEIR BREAKING OF THAT
PARTICULAR MESSAGE SYSTEM, WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE
PENTAGON EVERY DAY WITH SOMETHING CALLED ORDER OF BALLET
THAT SHOWED BATTLE, WHERE NEW MESSAGES WERE
BEING SENT TO SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT INTELLIGENCE, THE
WOMEN WAS GENERATING INTELLIGENCE, THE PENTAGON WAS
BREATHING DOWN THEIR NECK TO GET THIS REPORT EVERY DAY.
TO GIVE A SENSE HOW MANY CODE ENSYVER SYSTEMS WERE IN PLAY,
THE JANUARY NEEDS DIP MATS STATIONED IN EUROPE IN ALL THE
OCCUPIED COUNTRIES ALL THE THE AXIS
COUNTRIES, THEY WERE TALKING TO TOKYO IN A -- IT WAS A SCREEN
ROMANIZED JAPANESE INTO UN UNINTELLIGIBLE GIBBERISH, WE HAD
BROKEN THAT MACHINE SYSTEM BEFORE THE WAR THANKS TO A WOMAN
NAMED JENEVIEVE, WE WERE READING ALL THOSE COMMUNICATIONS ONE OF
THE MOST IMPORTANT BITS WE GOT FROM THE JAPANESE DIP MATS ABOUT
EUROPE WAS WHEN THEY WERE INVITED TO TOUR THE COAST OF
FRANCE, BEFORE D DAY, THEY WERE DUTIFULLY REPORTED BACK TO TOKYO
WHERE THE COST OF FRANCE WAS FORTIFIED AND WHERE IT WASN'T SO
WE KNEW WHEN WE WERE PLANNING THE ALLIED LANDING THAT NORMANDY
WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE TO LAND THAN OTHER PARTS OF THE FRENCH
CODE SO THAT'S THE INFORMATION WE WERE GETTING FROM THE CODE
BREAKING OPERATIONS. THIS GIVES YOU SENSE OF THE
NUMBER OF WOMEN DOING THIS WORK. THERE WAS ALSO AN AFRICAN
AMERICAN CODE BREAKING UNIT AT ARLINGTON HALL, THE U.S. ARMY
WAS SEGREGATED DURING THE WORLD WAR II SO THE CODE BREAKING
OPERATION WAS SEGREGATED AS WELL, THIS WAS A SECRET UNIT, A
LOT OF WHITE WORKERS DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT BUT THIS GROUP OF WELL
EDUCATED VERY DEDICATED PROBABLY FORMER SCHOOLTEACHERS WHO ATTAIN
THEIR EDUCATION IN A SEGREGATED U.S. EDUCATION SYSTEM, LENDING
THEIR TALENTS TO BREAKING THE CODES AND CIPHERS OF THE PRIVATE
SECTOR. SO JUST AS BANKS AND COMPANIES
ENCRYPT FINANCIAL COMMUNICATION WHEN THEY SEND IT OVER THE
INTERNET, SO TOO WHEN ARE THEY DOING THAT BACK THEN, THIS YOU
WANTIA WAS READING THE CODES AND CIPHERS OF BANKS AND COMPANIES
TO SEE WHO WAS DOING BUSINESS WITH HITLER, WHO WAS DOING
BUSINESS WITH JAPANESE COMPANIES LIKES MITSUBISHI, BECAUSE THEY
WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE DOING THAT SO THIS WAS VERY IMPORTANT
WORK AND VERY UNSUNG UNIT. THEY WERE ALSO DOING EARLY CYBER
SECURITY LOOKING FOR IS TO MAKE SURE OUR EPICRIPPED TRAFFIC THAT
WE WERE -- P ENCRYPTED TRAFFIC WAS MORE SKEWER THAN THE CODE.
SUBPOENAS WE WERE READING. ALSO PLANNING DECEPTION PROGRAMS
CALLED DUMB MY TRAFFIC TO PERSUADE THE ENEMY BECAUSE OF
THE THE SIGNALS WE WERE SENDING PERSUADE THE ENEMY WE HAD
STATIONS WHERE NONE EXISTED. BEFORE THE D DAY LANDINGS, THIS
DUMMY TRAFFIC PERSUADED GERMANS THE ALLYIED TROOPS WAS GOING TO
LAND IN CAAY. SO MEANTIME THIS IS THE TIPPING
POINT, REALLY FIRST MAJOR EXPERIMENT WITH ADMITTING WOMEN
INTO THE MILITARY AND THE DECISION WAS MADE IN 1942 TO
ADMIT WOMEN INTO THE ARMY, AND ALSO TO ADMIT WOMEN INTO THE
NAVY, IT WAS A HARD FOUGHT BATTLE, MANY DEANS AND PROFESSOR
AS T THE WOMEN COLLEGES REALLY PRESSED THE NAVY TO ADMIT YOUNG
WOMEN, THEY SAW THIS AS A OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEIR GRADUATES, SO THE WOMEN WHO CAME
TO WASHINGTON YOU SAW THEM IN THIS REALLY -- FRILLY DRESSES AT
THE BEGINNING, THEY ALLOT ITALY -- THEY WANTED FEMALE CODE
BREAKERS TO BE SUBJECT TO MILITARY DISCIPLINE AND
HIERARCHY SO THEY WERE TRAINED TO BECOME NAVAL OFFICERS.
SO YOU CAN SEE THEM HERE, ACTUALLY CROSSING NEBRASKA
AVENUE, THE NAVY ALSO GAVE MORE SPACE THAN IT HAD DOWNTOWN SO IT
COMMANDEERED SEMINARY ON NEBRASKA AVENUE WHERE DEPARTMENT
OF HOMELAND SECURITY IS NOW. KICKED THOSE GIRLS OUT, THE
GIRLS HAD TO TAKE CLASSES AT A DEPARTMENT STORE WHILE FINDING A
PLACE TO STUDY. THEY SET UP A MASSIVE CODE
BREAKING OPERATION, THE WOMEN WERE HELD IN BARRACKS NEAR
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY YOU CAN SEE THEM CROSSING THE STREET.
THIS IS A GREAT MOMENT FOR WOMEN TO JOIN MILITARY, ALSO A MOMENT
WHEN WOMEN WHO DIDN'T HAVE COLLEGE EDUCATION COULD ENLIST
AS ORDINARY SEAMEN, WHEN THEY TOOK THE APTITUDE TESTS IF
TESTED HIGH FOR ABILITY AND THE RIGHT INTELLECTUAL SKILLS LIKE
MATH AND LANGUAGE, THEY WOULD BE SECRETLY ROUTED TO THE CODE
BREAKING OPERATION SO THIS WAS A GREAT COMING TOGETHER OF WOMEN
FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, WOMEN FROM COLORADO, NAVY LOOKING FOR
LIBRARIAN, PEOPLE WHO KNEW HOW TO KEEP GREAT RECORDS, THEY CAME
FROM COLORADO, OKLAHOMA, CALIFORNIA, THEY GOT ON TRAINS
AND TRAVELED FOR DAYS, WENT TO BOOT CAMP AND OFFICER TRAINING
CAMP AND THEY CAME TOGETHER THOUSANDS OF WOMEN WORKING AT
THESE COMPOUNDS, ONE OF MY FAVORITE ANECDOTES ABOUT COMING
TOGETHER OF THESE WOMEN, ONE WOMAN I INTERVIEWED FOR THIS
BOOK, JANE KATE ACTUALLY CAME FROM AFFLUENT FAMILY IN NEW YORK
CITY, SHE GREW UP IN AUBURN, NEW YORK AND ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE
OF THE NEW YORK CITY, A VERY SORT OF DEBUTANTE KIND OF
SOCIETY SHE WAS EXPECTING TO HAVE TO BE PART OF.
WHEN THE WAR STARTED SHE WANTED TO DO WHAT SHE COULD.
SHE DESPERATELY WANTEDDED TO ENLIST IN THE U.S. NAVY, HER
PARENTS DIDN'T WANT HER TO, THERE WAS STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH
THESE WOMEN, THEY WERE CONSIDERED TO BE BAD WOMEN,
THERE WERE WHISPER CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THEM, THINKING WAS THEY
WERE PUT IN THE MILITARY TO SERVICE THE MEN SEXUALLY SO SOME
PARENTS DIDN'T WANT DAUGHTER JOINING UP BUT SHE WAS
DETERMINED SO SHE TO BE THE SUBWAY TO WALL STREET WHERE
THERE WAS A RECRUITING STATION, SHE EXPECTED TO GO IN AS OFFICER
BECAUSE SHE CAME FROM UPPER CLASS FAMILY AND SHE KNEW SHE
HAD TO PASS AN EYE EXAM SO SHE -- SHE WAS VERY, VERY
NEARSIGHTED. SHE MEMORIZED THE EYE CHART IN
ORDER TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE EYE EXAM, SHE SLIPPED THE SPECTACLES
IN IN HER POCKET. SHE DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE GOING
TO BE OTHER MEDICAL STATIONS INCLUDING A GYNECOLOGICAL EXAM
WHICH WAS A SHOCK FOR A LOT OF THE WOMEN.
BUT THERE WAS ALSO A PHYSICAL EXAM AND MEN AT THE TIME WERE
FORCED TO UNDERGO A GROUP NAKED PHYSICAL TO JOIN THE NAVY.
THE NAVY WAS TRY TO FIGURE OUT IF THEY SHOULD DO THE SAME FOR
WOMEN AS MEN SO THEY HAD A GROUP -- JANE REMEMBERS THE SHOCK AT
BEING TOLL TO DISROBE. THE PETTY OFFICER PUT A NINE ON
HER BREAST AND SHE SAID GO STAND NEXT TO 8 AND 10.
BECAUSE SHE WAS SO NEAR SIGHINGED WED HAD TO REALLY PEER
IN ORDER TO FIGURE WHERE SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO STAND SO SHE
REMEMBERS THAT FONDLY. AND SORT OF YOU'RE IN THE NAVY
NOW. AND THIS WAS SOMETHING QUITE
DIFFERENT THAN THE DEBUTANTE SOCIETY SHE WAS RAIDED TO.
WHEN SHE -- SHE ALSO FOUND THAT SHE HAD GONE TO MUSIC SCHOOL
AFTER GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL, THE NAVY DIDN'T CONSIDER
THAT EQUIVALENT OF TWO YEARS OF COLLEGE SO SHE WENT IN AS
ORDINARY SEAMAN, SHE WENT ADS ENLISTED WOMAN AND BECAUSE OF
HER ABILITY WITH MATH, HER DAD WAS A PHYSICIST AND BECAUSE OF
HER CHOP SHE WAS ROUTED TO THE CODE BREAKING OPERATION AS WELL
ANDS LOVED I. HER FIRST -- LOVED IT.
HER ROOMMATE WAS FROM THE MIDWEST AND SO THAT WAS JANE'S
INTRODUCTION TO OTHER AMERICAN DECORATING SCHEMES SHE HAD NOT
GROWN UP WITH. SO THE NAVY WOMEN WORKED AT THIS
HUGE COMPOUND, I FOUND THESE PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE NATIONAL
ARCHIVES, JUST SWIMMING AROUND AND FILES YOU CAN SEE I HAD TO
GET IT DECLASSIFIED BUT WONDERFUL PHOTO TOES OF THE
ENTERER -- PHOTOS OF THE INTERIOR OF THE CODE BREAKING
JUNE. THEY HAVE WORKING THE JAPANESE
NAVAL FLEET CODE. YOU CAN SEE MASSIVE SETS OF
JAPANESE MESSAGES JANE REMEMBERS WE CAN TELL WHAT WAS HAPPENING
IN THE PACIFIC BECAUSE THE STAFF WOULD GET LARGER.
THEY HAD THE PUSH THEM ALONG AS FAST AS THEY CAN.
THEY HAD TO STRIP OUT NUMERICAL AND CIPHER CALLED ADDITIVES TO
GET TO TO THE CODE GROUPS. THEY WERE UNDER INCREDIBLE
PRESSURE, THEY WERE SOMETIMES BREAKS MESSAGES THAT TOLD
LOCATION AND WHEREABOUTS OF BROTHERS AND BOYFRIENDS SHIPS
THEY KNEW THE STATION. I STAKES.
I FOUND MEMOS WHICH OFFICERS WOULD SAY Y'ALL RECOVERED 2,000
ADDITIVES LAST MONTH WE NEED MORE THIS MONTH.
WE'RE PLANNING TO PUSH BACK ACROSS THE PACIFIC, WE WANT TO
RETAKE THE PHILIPPINE, THIS WORK IS INC ABLY IMPORTANT.
WE NEED TO KNOW WHERE THE ENEMY IS.
SO WE NEED YOU ALL TO WORK HARDER AND FASTER AND I SEE MEMO
CONGRATULATING THEM FOR MEETING THE QUOTA AND EXCEEDING IT.
SO THIS IS ONE OF THE WORK SHEETS THE JAPANESE NAVAL FLEET
CODE WAS A FIVE DIGIT ENSYVERRED CODE SYSTEM.
I LOVE THESE WORK SHEETS, THEY'RE SWIMMING IN FILES NOR
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES BUT THEY GIVE YOU A SENSE OF THE BRAIN
WORK THE WOMEN HAD THE DO TO RECOVER THESE ADDITIVES.
I ALSO THIS TABLE, AGAIN IT SHOWS YOU HOW MANY DIFFERENT
CODE SYSTEMS THERE WERE, THIS WAS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
SYSTEM, IT WAS A LESSER SYSTEM, THAT THE JAPANESE NAVY AD HOC
SYSTEM, THEY SET UP, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, IT WAS LETTER, NOT
NUMBERS. THERE WAS A GROUP OF WOMEN FROM
WELLSLY WHO WERE ASSIGNED TO WORK THE INTERISLAND CIPHER, IT
HAD A KEY THAT CHANGE EVERY MONTH AND THEY HAD TO BREAK THAT
INTO THE SYSTEM, THEY HAD TO DETERMINE THE NEW KEY THAT WAS
BEING USED, TO THE CONTROL THE SYSTEM EVERY MONTH.
AND THEY GOT SO GOOD AT THAT, I GOT RECORDS HOW GOOD THEY WERE,
THEY CAN WORK HARD FOUR OR FIVE DAY AND GO AUTO PILOT THE REST
OF THE MONTH. YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THESE WOMEN
WERE LIVING UNCHAPERONED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES.
THERE WAS A LOT OF ALCOHOL IN WASHINGTON DURING THE WORLD WAR
II AND IF THE WOMEN WERE NAVAL OFFICERS THEY COULD LIVE IF
GROUP HOUSE, NOT BARRACKS SO THEY COULD HAVE PARTIES AND THE
WOMEN HAD BIG BLOW OUTS. I FOUND AN ORAL HISTORY OF THEIR
COMMANDING OFFICER WHO VERY MUCH ADMIRED THEIR INTELLIGENCE BUT
ALSO ADMIRED THEIR PARTYING SPIRITS.
HE REMEMBERED ONE OF THE MATHEMATICIANS IN PARTICULAR A
MATH MAJOR COME AND ASK WHEN SHE COULD HAVE HER NEXT BIG PARTY,
HE WOULD LOOK AT THE MAP AND SAY THE KEY WILL CHANGE THE X DAY OF
THE MONTH, YOU CAN HAVE THE PARTY TWO DAYS BEFORE THAT
BECAUSE YOU CAN RECOVER FROM HANG OVERS FOR TWO WEEKS BEFORE
YOU APPLY INTELLECT. BUT A SENSE OF THE STATION IN
APRIL OF 1942 WE RECEIVED MESSAGES IN THE PACIFIC SAYING
ADMIRAL YAMOMOMOTO WHO COMMANDED THE JAPANESE FLEET AND MASTER
MIND OF PEARL HARBOR WOULD BE MAKING INSPECTION TOWARD THE SOL
MAN ISLANDS, THE CIPHER WAS PART OF THIS SET OF COMMUNICATIONS.
MANY IN THE PACIFIC, AMERICAN MEN IN THE PACIFIC GOT PIZZA ON
THE FLEET CODE MESSAGES, THESE WOMEN GOT BUSY ON THE
INTERISLAND CIPHER, PUT EXACT SIGH TEN RARE DOWN TO THE MINUTE
SO WE COULD SEND PLANES UP AND SHOOT HIM AND MADE THE DECISION
TO ASSASSINATE AN ENEMY COMMANDER AND THE WOMEN
REMEMBERING THAT CHEERING WENT UP IN THE NAVAL CODE BREAKING
COMPOUND WHEN THEY KNEW THE PLANE WAS SHOT DOWN.
THE AMERICAN PUBLIC AND THE JAPANESE COULDN'T KNOW THAT IT
HAPPENED AS A RESULT OF CODE BREAKING BUT THE WOMEN KNEW.
IT'S IMPORTANT I THINK TO POINT OUT THEY FELT GREAT SATISFACTION
AT THE TIME WHEN THEY NEEDED THEIR WORK HAD CONTRIBUTED TO
THE SINKING OF A CONVOY OR FLEET OR TO THE DOWNING OF AN
IMPORTANT AIRPLANE. IT WAS WAR, WE WANTED TO WIN IT.
THEY DIDN'T RENEW LIVES WERE AT STAKE, BROTHERS AND BOYFRIEND,
THEY KNEW AMERICA WAS AT STAKE AND FREEDOM SO THEY WANTED TO
WIN AND WANTED TO DO WHAT HAD TO BE DONE.
LATER IN LIVES THEY WOULD HAVE MORE COMPLEX FEELINGS ABOUT THE
LETHAL WORK THAT THEY WERE PART OF.
BUT AT THE TIME THERE WERE NO SECOND THOUGHTS.
SO JUST TO QUICKLY POINT OUT, WE EVENTUALLY BECAME THE SENIOR
PARTNER IN THE BREAKING OF THE ENIGMA CIPHER THAT WAS USING TO
COMMAND U BOATS. THE GERMANS SUSPECTED THAT WE
WERE READING THEIR CODE SYSTEM, THEY CHANGED THE MACHINE THAT
WAS BEING USED BY THE U BOATS, ADDED AN EXTRA ROTOR THAT
SCRAMBLED THE MESSAGES MORE THAN BEFORE SO THE AMERICAN
INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES HAD TO GET INVOLVED TO BUILD THESE GIANT
MACHINES THAT COULD HANDLE A FOUR ROTOR MACHINE, THE OLE ONE
WAS THREE ROTORS AND WE NEEDED MORE HEAVY DUTY FASTER MACHINES
SO THE AMERICANS DESIGNED AND BUILT THESE MACHINES THAT WERE
SECRETLY TRANSPORTED AGAIN TO THE NAVAL CODE BREAKING
COMPOUND. FOR ME ONE OF THE MOST MOVING
AND REALLY WOMEN WORKING THE GERMAN ENIGMA CIPHER SYSTEM AND
IT INVOLVED MATH, DESIGNING EARLY COMPUTER MENUS IN ORDER TO
BREAK INTO THOSE MESSAGES. ONE OF THE MOVING CHAPTERS TO ME
OF THE BOOK IS WHEN THE WOMEN JOINED THE MIDNIGHT WATCH ON THE
NIGHT OF JUNE 6, EARLY MORNING JUNE 5 AND INTO JUNE 6.
THEY KNEW THE LANDINGS WERE GOING TO P HA, THEY DIDN'T KNOW
WHEN, IT WAS A FULL MOON, THEY ASSUMED THAT WAS NOT IDEAL FOR A
SECRET ALLIED LANDING SO THEY THOUGHT IT WASN'T GOING THE
HAPPEN ON THE 6TH. BUT THEY REMEMBER THAT ABOUT
1:30 IN THE MORNING OUR TIME THEY STARTED GETTING MESSAGES
THE MACHINES STARTED SPINNING. THE GERMANS STARTED CHATTERING
AND THEY WERE EXPERIENCING THESE WOMEN WERE EXPERIENCE
EXPERIENCINGS THE D DAY LANDINGS FROM THE GERMANS
AND THE FIRST MESSAGES WERE GERMAN OFFICERS SAYING SEEING
THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF ALLIED SHIP ONS HORIZON SAYING
MY GOD THE LANDING IS HAPPENING AND IT'S HAPPENING IN NORMANDY.
SO THE WOMEN REMEMBERED WORK FAST AS THEY COULD TO BREAK THE
GERMAN MESSAGES SO I WERE THAT IN THE UNIQUE EXPERIENCE OF --
COMMUNICATING WHAT WAS GOING ON SO THE KNEW THE LANDINGS WERE
HAPPENING, THEY HAD BROTHER AND BOYFRIENDS MAKING THE LANDING.
THEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW IT WAS GOING, THEY COULDN'T TELL FROM
THE GERMAN MESSAGE, EVERYTHING ABOUT THE D DAY INVASION SO THEY
WERE OVERWHELMEDDED BY THE E NORTY OF WHAT THEY WERE PART OF.
AT THE END OF THE SHIFT THEY REMEMBER TAKING THE BUS TO
NATIONAL CATHEDRAL AND GOING TO SAINT AL BANS CHAPEL OPEN 24/7
DURING THE WAR AND PRAYING BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT
THE OUTCOME WAS, THEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW MANY LIVES WERE LOST
AND A NUMBER HAD IN FACT LOST THEIR FIANCES IN THE INVASION,
THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT YET BECAUSE THEY HADN'T GOTTEN THE TELEGRAM.
HERE IS MY TOES OF CENTRAL CHARACTER, DOT AT THE POLL, THEY
WERE DOING SERIOUS URGENT STRESSFUL WORK THEY WERE HAVING
A GOOD TIME IN WASHINGTON WRITING LOTS OF MEN MY CENTRAL
CHARGE WAS WRITING HALF A DOZEN MEN, SHE WAS SOME WAYS MORE
RELUCTANT TO CONFESS THAT TO ME THAN TALKING ABOUT THE SECRET
CODE BREAKING WORK. SHE DISENTANGLED HERSELF FROM
ENGAGEMENT AND MARRIED ONE OF THE MEN THAT SHE WAS WRITING
TOO, HAD A VERY HAPPY MARRIAGE, BECAME BEST FRIENDS WITH A
SCHOOLTEACHER FROM MISSISSIPPI, RUTH, AN INCREDIBLE
MATHEMATICIAN, WHO WENT TO WORK FOR THE NSA.
THE WOMEN REMAINED BEST FRIENDS FOR THEIR LIVES UM YOU CAN SEE
THEM WITH THEIR HUSBANDS. THEY WERE SUCH CLOSE FRIENDS
AFTER THE WAR THEY COULD NEVER TALK TO EACH OTHER ABOUT CODE
BREAKING WORK, THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE PART OF THE SAME
CODE BREAKING EFFORT TO BREAK THE SUPPLY SHIPS.
THEY WERE TERRIFIED OF TALKING ABOUT THEIR WORK EITHER BEFORE
OR AFTER THE WAR. ALL THESE WOMEN WERE TOLD AT END
OF THE WAR THANKS FOR YOUR EFFORTS, YOU U SAVED THOUSANDS
OF LIVES YOU SHORTENED THE WAR BY A YEAR, NOW NEVER TELL
ANYBODY WHAT YOU DID. SO THEY WENT INTO LATER LIFE
NEVER TALKING ABOUT THIS WORK, DOT'S BROTHERS BOTH SURVIVED THE
WAR, BOTH HER BROTHERS WOULD TAKE JOBS AT TOP SECRET SECURITY
CLEARANCE, THEY WOULD BRAC ABOUT THE SECURITY CLEARANCE, DOT
COULD NEVER TELL THEM ABOUT THE SECURITY CLEARANCE SO THEY HAD
TO PUT UP WITH THAT FOR DECADES. BUT THEY REMAINED SO CLOSE FOR A
LISTENING TIME CHILDREN THOUGHT THEY WERE RELATED TO EACH OTHER
BECAUSE THEY KNEW THESE TWO WOMEN SHARED GREAT FRIENDSHIP AS
WELL AS SOME SECRET WHAT THEY HAD DONE DURING THE WAR.
THISES A GROUP OF NAVAL ENLISTED WOMEN WHO ALSO REMAINED GREAT
FRIENDS AFTER THE WAR WAS OVER. ONLY ONE OF THEM IS STILL ALIVE.
RUTH WHO YOU CAN SEE IN THE STRIPED SHIRT.
I AM HE RECOLLECTS EMAIL WHEN SHE COMMUNICATES WITH ME IS RUTH
THE WAVE. AT 95 SHE'S ON EMAIL BECAUSE
THEY WERE CODE GIRLS THEN AND THEY'RE CODE GIRLS NOW.
THIS WORK THOUGH THEY COULDN'T TALK ABOUT IT FOR 75 YEARS,
REMAINS SO IMPORTANT TO THEM, THEM,
THAT THAT -- SHE CHOSE THAT AS HER EMAILING ADDRESS.
I WANTED TO END WITH A COUPLE OF QUICK VIDEOS THAT GIVE YOU A
SENSE OF THE WOMEN, TALKING ABOUT THEIR WORK, WHAT WAS
IMPORTANT TO THEM, AND REMEMBERING SOME OTHER MOST
MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES. SO THIS IS DOT. >> MY UMBRELLA AND MY RAINCOAT,
U WENT DOWN TO THE TRAIN NEAR MY UNCLE HAD TO TAKE ME DOWN THERE.
NO CAR. AND MY MOTHER AND HER SISTER
WERE STANDING THERE CRYING WHEN I GOT ON THE TRAIN. I WAS VERY SECURE THAT
EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE JUST THAT.
WASHINGTON WOULD RECEIVE ME WITH OPEN ARMS.
>> OF COURSE THE MESSAGE SHE GOT IN WASHINGTON IS SHE WOULD BE
SHOT IF SHE TOLL ANYBODY WHAT SHE WAS DOING.
SO THE NEXT WOMAN, ANN WAS RECRUITED OUT OF SMITH COLLEGE
IN 1942, SHE WOULD WORK THE JAPANESE NAVAL FLEET CODE. >> SOMETHING YOU ASKED, YOU ADD
IT TO A FIVE DIGIT CODE GROUP. AND THE CODE GROUP HAS A MEANING
WHICH IS EITHER A WORD OR A PHRASE OR A SENTENCE OR A ROMAN
LETTER BECAUSE WE'RE DEALING IN
JAPANESE WHO DIDN'T MAKE MUCH USE OF ROMAN LETTERS BUT THEY
OFTEN DID SPELL NAMES. >> SO HER MEMORY WAS SO SHARPED
SHE NEVER TALKED ABOUT THIS IN 75 YEARS AND SHE REMEMBERED
JAPANESE HAD A DIFFERENT CODE GROUP OF EVERY LETTER OF THE
NAME ROOSEVELT BECAUSE THEY MIGHT NOT HAVE A CHARACTER THAT
STOOD FOR ROOSEVELT. SO HER MEMORY SO SO SHARP, SHE
SHOW ME THE MATH SHE HAD TO DO TO RECOVER THE ADDITIVES.
SHE GOT IRRITATED WHEN I WAS SLOW ON THE UPTAKE.
SO BECAUSE I WAS SAYING IF THEY -- SO DID YOU SUBTRACT OR ADD?
AND SHE SAID WE GENERALIZE AND ADD, HOW HARD IS THAT?
I LOVE HOW PRESIZE HER MEMORY WAS OF THIS WORK SHE HAD NEVER
TOLD ANYBODY ABOUT. THE NEXT WOMAN, BETTY WORKED
THOSE -- HELPED BUILD MACHINES THAT BROKE THE GERMAN ENIGMA
CIPHER AND REMEMBERS BASICALLY THE THANKS THEY GOT FOR THE
GREAT WORK THEY DID. >> WE BROKE THE CODE IN AUGUST
OF 1943. AND EVERYBODY SAYS WHAT DID THEY
TELL YOU? I SAID NOTHING.
ALL THAT COMMANDER -- GOOD JOB, GIRLS.
YOU DID GOOD. FROM AND THAT'S ALL THEY SAID.
>> AND THE LAST WOMAN, DOROTHY, YOU SAW HER PHOTO, RECRUITED
FROM INDIANA STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE AND SHE REMEMBERS WHY IT
WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THE WOMEN TO DO THIS WORK WHEN THEY WERE
RECRUITED. RECRUITED. >> OUR BUS CAME AND IT WAS AT
TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING TO
GET THESE -- SEEMED TO ME IT WAS ALL THERE THERE WERE NO LEFT,
THEY ALL HAD TO GO I THINK TO
PITTSBURG. I WAS -- SO GOING ON THAT BUS.
>> SOTOR THINK RAMALI WAS SUCH A SUCCESSFUL CODE BREAKER THAT THE
U.S. NAVY STOLE HER FROM THE IARMY.
SHE WAS THAT GOOD. AND WHAT I LOVE ABOUT HER IS
THAT SHE BECAME A MATH TEACHER AFTER THE WAR, SHE NEVER TOLD
ANYBODY WHAT SHE DID. SHE WOULD END UP TEACHING AT THE
PUBLIC MIDDLE SCHOOL IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, THAT MY OWN
CHILDREN WOULD ULTIMATELY ATTEND, AND THEN YORK TOWN HIGH
SCHOOL, I LOVE THE THOUGHT OF THESE MIDDLE SCHOOL KIDS TAKING
MS. RAMALI'S ALGEBRA 1 CLASS AND HAVING NO IDEA THIS SWEET WOMAN
WHO PEOPLE REMEMBER AS INCREDIBLE MATH TEACHER HAD BEEN
SUCH A BAD AS CODE BREAKER DURING WORLD WAR II.
SHE NEVER TALKED ABOUT IT UNTIL I INTERVIEWED HER.
AND SHE'S ALSO AN EXAMPLE OF THE FACT THESE WOMEN WALKED AMONG US
FOR DECADES AND IN MANY CASES STILL WALK AMONG US, THEY NEVER
EXPECTED CREDIT FOR WHAT THEY DID.
MOST CASES THEY NEVER GOT ANY CREDIT FOR WHAT THEY DID.
THEY TOOK THE SECRET TO THEIR GRAVES.
I FELT VERY FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO FIND 20 WOMEN LIVE WOMEN WHO
COULD TALK ABOUT THEIR WORK. YOU SEE HOW EXCELLENT THEIR
MEMORIES WERE AN TO BE ABLE TO TRY AND GET THEM SOME CREDIT FOR
THE INCREDIBLE CONTRIBUTION THEY MADE TO WINNING THE WAR AND TO
AMERICAN FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY. THAT'S NOT AN OVERSTATEMENT.
AND AGAIN NEVER EXPECTING CREDIT.
BY THE TIME I WAS INTERVIEWING THEM, THEY KNEW THAT THEY HAD
LEFT OUT OF HISTORY. THEY KNEW BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT
PACIFIC CODE BREAKING AND ATLANTIC CODE BREAKING HAD
PRETTY MUCH NOT TOLD THEIR STORY BECAUSE THE WOMEN HAD BEEN SO
GOOD ABOUT NOT SPEAKING UP AND ONE OF THE WOMEN I INTERVIEWED
IN AN EMERGENCY ROOM IN ATLANTA BECAUSE SHE HAD BROKEN HER WRIST
THE NIGHT BEFORE, I LEARNED EMERGENCY ROOMS ARE GOOD PLACES
TO INTERVIEW BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO WAIT A LONG TIME AND THEY CAN'T
-- THE PERSON CAN'T GO ANYWHERE. BUT SHE SAID THAT I JUST HOPE
THAT I LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE THE BOOK PUBLISHED.
I'M HAPPY TO SAY SHE DID. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING.
BEEN AN HONOR TO WORK WITH THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND TELL THE
STORY. [APPLAUSE] I THINK WE HAVE TIME FOR A FEW
QUESTIONS. >> THANK YOU, LIZA FOR BRINGING
TO LIGHT THE STORIES OF THESE INCREDIBLE WOMEN AN
CONTRIBUTIONS THEY MADE TO THE COURSE OF WAR, TECHNOLOGY, CODE
BREAKING AND CYBER SECURITY. BECAUSE OF YOUR WORK USING
PRIMARY SOURCES LIKE THOSE AT THE VETERANNEN HISTORY PRO--
VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT, STORIES LIKE THESE CANNOT BE
IGNORED. THEY WILL BE INCLUDED IN ANNULS
OF HISTORY. WE WERE THINKING HOW GREAT IT
WOULD BE TO HAVE THE CODE GIRLS WITH US TODAY BUT BECAUSE
THEY'RE GENERALLY IN THEIR 90s AND A BIT FRAIL, WE THOUGHT
LET'S GIVE NEXT BEST THING AND LIZA HELPED US REACH OUT TO
THOSE FAMILIES AND GET SOME OF THOSE COLLECTIONS WE DIDN'T HAVE
IN OUR ARCHIVES HERE. AND IN FEBRUARY WE RECEIVED A PA
CONTACT CONTAINING ORAL HISTORY -- PACKAGE CONTAINING ORAL
HISTORY INTERVIEW, PHOTOGRAPH AND MEMOIR WRITTEN BY ELIZABETH
BENNETT. HER SON WHEN HE FOUND OUT WHAT
WE WERE DOING RALLIED HIS FAMILY TO COLLECT THESE ITEMS AND SEND
THEM TO US RIGHT AWAY. AND ONE OF THE EMAILS HE SENT TO
OUR STAFF, HE WROTE MY MOTHER IS STILL ALIVE BUT HER HEALTH HAS
BEEN POOR OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, OUR FAMILY IS VERY
GRATEFUL TO LIZA FOR HER BOOK FEATURE IT IS CODE GIRLS AND YOU
AND THE VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT FOR PRESERVING THE STORY OF
THESE REMARKABLE WOMEN. FROMI'M SAD TO REPORT
MS. BENNETT BASS TON 16th OF MARCH AT THE RIPE AGE OF 96.
I COULD SUGGEST CHEVIED A GOOD LIFE.
I UNDERSTAND HER FAMILY IS WATCHING LIVE ON YOUTUBE AND HER
SON DOUG FLU IN FROM INDIANAPOLIS TO BE WITH US
TODAY. -- FLEW IN FROM INDIANAPOLIS
TODAY TO BE WITH US. SO THANK YOU, DOUG.
[APPLAUSE] >> I WANT THEM TO UNDERSTAND HOW
GRATEFUL WE ARE TO MAKE SURE THEIR MOM'S STORY WILL LIVE ON
IN PERPETUITY IN THIS LIBRARY.
IN CLOSING IF YOU ARE LIKE THE BENNETTS AND HAVE A VETERAN IN
YOUR LIFE LIVING OR DECEASED, NO MATTER BRANCH SERVICE OR
MILITARY CONSIGN. , PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING THEIR
STORY TO THE VETERAN HISTORY PROJECT.
WE HAVE A TABLE SET UP OUTSIDE WHERE YOU CAN GET OUR FIELD KIT,
GO TO OUR WEBSITE AND HEAR AMAZING STORIES.
AND THIS WAY YOU CAN PRESERVE YOU CAN ENSURE A LOVED ONE'S
STORY WILL BE PRESERVED AND NOT LOST OR FORGOTTEN.
SO AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY AND NOW WE HAVE SOME
TIME FOR QUESTIONS FOR -- WITH YOU AND WITH LIZA.
WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU. (OFF MIC) >> DID ANY OF THE WOMEN DEMAND
PROOF THAT IT WAS UNCLASSIFIED THAT THEY COULD TALK ABOUT IT OR
DID THEY JUST BELIEVE YOU? >> IT DID TAKE PERSUASION, IT
TOOK A HALF HOUR TO PERSUADE DOT SHE WOULDN'T BE PUT IN PRISON IF
SHE SPOKE. I TOLD HER IF SHE WAS IT WOULD
BE A NICE PRISON AT HER AGE. SOME DID TAKE SOME COAXING.
AND I WILL SAY THEY HAD BEEN RELEASED FROM THEIR RECEIVE OATH
OF SECRECY IN THE '90s BUT NOBODY TOLD THEM.
SO THEY WERE FREE TO SPEAK. >> YES.
YOUR PICTURES OF THE CROSSING ON WISCONSIN AVENUE, A NUMBER OF
YEARS AGO I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT SOME PHOTOGRAPHS IN
THE D DOT COLLECTION AND THE FIRST DON'T WALK PEDESTRIAN
SIGNALS WERE INSTALLED IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AT THE
SIGHT. I GUESS THEY WERE CONCERNED
ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THESE WOMEN. >> YES.
AND THEY WERE ALSO SOME NEIGHBORS WHO COMPLAINED ABOUT
NOISE AND SINGING AS WELL AS NECKING IN THE WOODS.
>> 1965 I WAS SENT TO THE ARMY TO FORT MEAD AND NSA FOR EIGHT
WEEK TRAINING IN CRYPTOGRAPHY. SIX OF US, WE WALKED INTO
TRAINING THAT DAY AND WE WERE TOTALLY SURROUNDED BY WOMEN.
AND I'M WONDERING IF NSA IS LIKE THAT TODAY.
AND IF THERE WERE STUDIES THAT WOMEN ARE BETTER WIRED FOR THIS
TYPE OF WORK? >> I DON'T KNOW WHEN THAT WAS
BUT I SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT MANY OF THESE WOMEN DID STAY ON WITH
THE WORK AFTER THE WAR. WE DIDN'T ROLL UP OUR CODE
BREAKING AFTER WORLD WAR II BECAUSE THE COLD WAR STARTED SO
WE WOULD BE BREAKING EAST GERMAN, RUSSIAN, CHINESE
COMMUNIST COLD SYSTEMS AND MANY WOMEN DID STAY WITH THE WORK AND
WENT TO WORK ULTIMATELY FOR THE NSA.
SO YOU SAW -- SHE WOULD RISE TO BECOME THE FIRST FEMALE DIRECTOR
OF NSA AND IN FIRST SUPER GRADES NSA WOMEN COMING OUT OF THE WAR.
SO THERE WAS AN IMPORTANT COHORT OF WOMEN WHO HELPED ESTABLISH
THAT AGENCY. >> I'M CURIOUS, HOW DOES THE
NAVY STEAL SOMEONE FROM THE ARMY AND ALSO CORRESPONDENCE COURSE
IN CODE BREAKING NOW PUBLIC? >> YES, SO THE CORRESPONDENCE
COURSES CAN BE FOUND AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, THEY STILL
EXIST AS PAPER RECORDS, I'M SURE THERE WAS AN UPDATED MODERN
VERSION BUT YOU CAN FIND THE ONES FROM 1942.
I DID STUDY THEM WHEN I WAS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW IT
WORKED. AND THE WAY THE NAVY STOLE HER
FROM THE ARMY WAS IT PAID MORE MONEY.
BECAUSE SHE HAD A -- SHE HAD A COLLEGE DEGREE SO SHE KNEW SHE
COULD GO INTO NAVY AS OFFICER AND GET AN OFFICER'S ALLOWANCE,
IT WASN'T THE SALARY WAS MORE BUT SHE COULD GET OFFICER'S
ALLOWANCE FOR HOUSING AND THAT MORE MONEY, $50 OR WHATEVER IT
WAS ENABLED HER TO BUY A CAR. THE OTHER GOAL IN LIFE WAS TO
SEE ALL THE CONTINENTS IN THE WORLD WHICH SHE DID BUT SHE WAS
WITH HER -- ABLE TO DRIVE TO THE WEST COAST AND THAT WAS
THRILLING FOR HER. >> I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION.
WHEN AN INDIVIDUAL WAS GIVEN THE CODE TO BREAK DOWN, DID THEY
ALREADY -- WERE THEY WORKING LIKE FROM TEMPLATE SO OKAY IF
THIS IS X IT'S B, THIS IS A 4 MEANS THAT OR LITERALLY BREAKING
DOWN THE CODE ITSELF? >> THEY WERE BREAKING THE
MESSAGE SO THEY WOULD GET THE MESSAGE AND THEY WOULD SEE THE
MESSAGE, BUT THEY WERE -- SOME OF THE SYSTEMS WERE NUMERICAL
AND THEY HAD TO DO MATH, SOME OF THEM WERE THEY WOULD BE LOOKING
AT LETTERS SO THERE WAS A LOT OF VARIATION AND THEY HAD TO
UNDERSTAND THAT PARTICULAR SYSTEM AND BREAK IT IN REAL
TIME. SO THE TRAINING COURSES GOTTEN
AT COLLEGES OFTEN REALLY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ACTUAL
CODE SYSTEMS THAT THEY HAD TO WORK ON.
THEY HAD TO LEARN T ON THE JOB, THERE WAS SO MUCH INNOVATION AND
CHANGE TAKING PLACE DURING THE WAR.
>> WERE THERE ANY WOMEN YOU WANTED TO INTERVIEW OR THAT YOU
WISH YOU COULD HAVE INTERVIEWED THAT HAD ALREADY PASSED ON?
>> OH, YEAH, THAT'S WHY I WAS SO GRATEFUL FOR THE ORAL HISTORIES
AND COLLECTIONS AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
IT WAS FRUSTRATING BECAUSE SOMETIMES THE INTERVIEWER
WOULDN'T ASK THE QUESTION THAT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE KNOWN.
AND ONE OF THE WOMEN TALKED ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF LOSING
HER HUSBAND IN THE D TEHERANING. HE'S A GLIDER PILOT AND IT WAS
-- D DAY LANDING. SHE COULDN'T GO TO HIS FUNERAL
BECAUSE SHE WAS WORKING THOSE MACHINES AND THEY HAD TO
CONTINUE AFTER LANDING BECAUSE WE WERE GOING TO BE TRACING THE
GERMANS THROUGH EUROPE, THEY WOULDN'T RELEASE THE WOMEN FROM
THEIR STATIONS SO SHE COULDN'T GO TO HER HUSBAND'S FUNERAL, I
FELT LIKE THAT INTERVIEWER WAS UP COMFORTABLE TALKING TO HER
ABOUT THAT LOSS BECAUSE SHE SAID SHE LOVED HIM FOR THE REST OF
HER LIFE. SO THERE WERE MOMENTS WHEN I
WISH THAT OBVIOUSLY I COULD HAVE TALKED TO THE WOMEN IN PERSON
BUT I WAS SO GRATEFUL FOR THE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS. >> DID YOU EVER HEAR BACK FROM
THE EDITOR WHO SAID IT WAS -- >> NO, BUT I HOPE HE'S
REGRETTING THOSE WORDS. I ACTUALLY FOUND THEM VERY
MOTIVATING SO IF ANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE LISTENING OR
COLLEGE STUDENTS AND TEACHER SAYS YOU CAN'T DO THAT OR
THERE'S A YOUNG WOMAN OUT THERE WHO SAYS YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULDN'T
GO INTO STEM, DON'T LISTEN TO THEM.
AND USE IT AS A MOTIVATION BECAUSE I GOT UP EVERY MORNING
THINKING OKAY, I'LL SHOW YOU. SO THE BOOK HAS BEEN AUCTIONED
AND I'M TOLD THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF STAGES IT HAS TO GO
THROUGH BUT THERE IS, HIDDEN FIGURES HAS BEEN WONDERFUL FOR
WOMEN'S STORIES, CONVINCING PUBLISHERS AND STUDIOS THAT
THERE IS AN APPETITE FOR WOMEN'S STORIES.
WE HAVE PEOPLE LIKE REECE WITHER WITHERSPOON TALKING ABOUT WOMEN
FRONTED NARRATIVES SO I'M OPTIMISTIC.
IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE. >> I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR
PROCESS LIKE DID YOU FIND ALL THE INFO BEFORE OR DID YOU HAVE
SOME NARRATIVE THAT IT FIT INFO? >> THAT IS SUCH A GREAT
QUESTION. SO NORMALLY I WOULD HAVE SPENT
TIME READING BOOKS ABOUT CODE BREAKING, I WOULD HAVE SPENT
TIME IN THE PAPER RECORDS TO EDUCATE MYSELF AND THEN I WOULD
HAVE GONE TO THE WOMEN. WHEN I HAD A REALLY THOROUGH
GROUNDING BUT BECAUSE OF MY ACTUARIAL, BECAUSE THEY WERE IN
MID 90s, I WANTED TO BE DONE FIRST.
WHILE TALKING TO THEM I WOULD BE WONDERING IF I WOULD BE ABLE TO
FIND AN ACTUAL PRINTED RECORD THAT WOULD SUBSTANTIATE THEIR
MEMORIES. AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER IT
WOULD BE OUT THERE AND AGAIN I WAS AMAZED AT HOW MUCH THERE WAS
IN THE,NANAL ARCHIVES AND LIBRARY OF CONGRESS THAT ENABLED
ME TO SUBSTANTIATE. YOU SAW ANN STEELLY, SHE
REMEMBERED A SHOW THE WIKI MESSAGE, A NOON POSITION
MESSAGE, THE JAPANESE NAVAL CAPTAINS WOULD SEND A MESSAGE
SAYING WE'LL BE AT NOON NEXT DAY DAY, A PIECE OF INFORMATION FOR
A AMERICAN SAW MARINE COMMANDER TO HAVE.
WHEN I GOT THE FOR ARCHIVES I FOUND MESSAGES ALL OVER THE
PLACE, REMARKABLE HOW ACCURATE THEIR MEMORIES WERE.
I HAD TO DO IT BACKWARDS. >> ARE THERE LISTS OF PEOPLE WHO
WORKED IN THOSE GROUPS THAT I KNOW A NUMBER OF PEOPLE PROBABLY
WONDER AND WOULD LIKE TO LOOK UP A NAME OR SOMETHING?
>> GREAT QUESTION. THERE AREN'T GOOD -- THERE'S NOT
A SINGLE GOOD ROSTER. I WISH NSA HAD RESOURCES OR THE
CRYPT LOGIC MUSEUM HAD RESOURCES.
THEY HAVE MORE FUNDING, I'M THEY WOULD TRY TO PUT TOGETHER A
ROSTER. THEY'RE SCRAMBLE FILES I MIGHT
SEE SOME OF THE WOMEN WHO CAME DOWN IN 1942 WHERE THEY WERE
LIVING AND -- BUT THERE'S NO ONE CENTRAL PLACE THAT WE -- WHERE
YOU CAN LOOK AT THE NAMES. IF THERE'S SOMEBODY IN YOUR
FAMILY OR EVEN SOMEBODY YOU KNOW WHO MIGHT HAVE DONE THIS WORK OR
SAID SHE WAS A SECRETARY DURING THE WAR, THAT INFORMATION, THOSE
PERSONNEL RECORDS ARE PUBLIC. I HAVE A WEBSITE,
WWW.LIZAMUNDY.COM, I HAVE A TAB FOR RESOURCES FOR CODE BREAKSER
AND FAMILIES. YOU CAN REQUEST ANYBODY'S
WARTIME PERSONNEL RECORD AND FIND OUT, IF THEY WERE A
CRYPTOGRAPHER OR CRYPTOLOGIST, THAT MEANS THEY DID THIS WORK.
YOU CAN GET THEIR BACKGROUNDS RECORDS, COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS,
IT'S KIND OF REMARKABLE WHAT'S AVAILABLE AND IT'S NO HARD.
-- IT'S NOT HARD. >> WHAT WAS THE SEED OR THE IDEA
THAT DREW YOU TO WRITE THIS STORY?
>> MANY FEDERAL AGENCIES HAVE WONDERFUL HISTORY OFFICES AND
HISTORIANS THAT GENERATE AND RECORD THE HISTORY OF THEIR
AGENCY. SO THE NSA KNEW ITS ORIGIN STORY
INCLUDED THESE WARTIME WOMEN AND JUST AS NASA KNEW ITS ORIGIN
STORY INCLUDED THE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN MATHEMATICIANS.
SO I READ A DECLASSIFIED HISTORY OF SMALL CODE BREAKING PROJECT
DURING THE WAR WRITTEN BY NSA HISTORIAN, IT WAS OUT ON THE
INTERNET, IT HAD BEEN DECLASSIFIED IT MENTIONS THIS
WAS RUSSIAN COLD RUSSIAN CODE BREAKING THAT
MENTION AD LOT OF PEEP WORKING THAT PROJECT WERE WOMEN, A LOT
FORMER SCHOOLTEACHERS FROM THE SOUTH.
THAT SEEMED REALLY INTRIGUING. SO I MADE AN APPOINTMENT TO
SPEAK WITH AN NSA HISTORIAN WHO WAS EXTREMELY HELPFUL TO ME AND
A COURT RAYTOR AT THE CRYPT LOGIC MUSEUM WHICH IS ATTACHED
TO NSA AT FORT MEAD, TWO WOMEN, AND IT WAS THOUGH THEY HAD BEEN
WAITING FOR SOMEBODY TO COME ALONG WHEN WAS INTERESTED AND
THEY SAT WITH ME FOR TWO HOURS AN EXPLAINED THE LARGER STORY
THAT WAS MOSTLY WOMEN BREAKING JAPANESE AND GERMAN CODES DURING
THE WAR AND THEN I JUST HAD TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER I COULD FIND
PEOPLE AND FIND ARCHIVAL RECORDS. SO SHOUT OUT TO FEDERAL AGENCY
HISTORIANS, THEY ARE WONDERFUL. [APPLAUSE] >> SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, I THINK
WE HAVE DESCENDENTS OF CODE GIRLS IN THE AUDIENCE AS WELL
AND I WANT TO THANK THEM FOR THEIR FAMILY'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO
OUR HISTORY. [APPLAUSE]
