BREMERTON — As the United States plunged into the Great War (later to be known as World War I), America’s women stood and acted with all of the fervor and dedication of their male counterparts.
With German atrocities threatening Europe and the American public sentiment galvanizing behind the British and French efforts to stave off German advances, America finally jumped into the war effort behind the British and French in April 1917.
In doing so, the United States (with the reluctant approval of President Woodrow Wilson) committed itself to a war that would cost thousands of U.S. lives and cause many overly-optimistic observers to call this the Great War — which it was, until 1945. After that, it was known as World War I.
And in Bremerton, with a Naval shipyard serving as one of the most important military installations in the American arsenal, it became necessary to make some changes in the U.S. Navy’s hiring practices. Women became fair game.
When the United States entered World War I, more than 250 women registered to join the Navy at the USN recruiting office in Bremerton. They became known as “yeomanettes.”
These yeomanettes usually were assigned to clerical jobs in the United States, and only a few were assigned to posts in Europe.
Lettie Gavin, a journalist based in Seattle, wrote that the yeomanettes worked as radio draftsmen, accountants and telephone operators — all critical functions, to be sure, but situated safely away from the dangers and rigors of combat.
Eighteen-year-old Gertrude McGowan registered in Oct. 17, 1917. In doing so, she became possibly the youngest woman ever to volunteer for the Navy. This was not a minor gesture — her father was Michael F. McGowan, the superintendent of PSNY, a former Bremerton mayor and a contractor to the government. But for Gertrude, this was not window dressing. She served for 22 months as the secretary to the chief draftsman and ultimately achieved the rank of petty officer, second class.
For the yeomanettes who worked to support the war effort, the days and nights were busy, indeed. It fell to the socially-adept yeomanettes to organize activities, welcoming evening events, house parties, etc., to welcome the young men home and support them. Gertrude McGowan met her husband, Joseph Madden, at one of these dances.
In the autumn of 1918, the yeomanettes were presented with the grim opportunity to show their mettle, dedication and heroism. When the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 struck the United States in the fall of that year, Bremerton was hit hard. The female Navy staff stepped up. They had to petition to be granted the right to care for the many local victims of the scourge.
And while it didn’t happen in Bremerton, another item worth noting helped create the legend of the World War I-era yeomanette.
In 1917, the renowned poster artist, Howard Chandler Christy, was sitting in a Los Angeles recruiting office when a young woman named Bernice Smith, 20, walked in. Seeing all the young men standing in line to sign up, she enthusiastically asked to volunteer. Struck by her appearance and her chutzpah, Christy said he could turn the United States on its head if he could paint her.
“If I was a man, I would join the Navy,” said the young woman. Christy reached for his paint pallette, and an indelible legend was born. A knee-weakening challenge to a young boy’s burgeoning manhood leapt out. “Be a man and do it,” commands the lovely young woman wearing some lucky guy’s borrowed Cracker Jack uniform.
The yeomanettes of the Bremerton Navy Shipyard were revered in the same light.
