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Summary:

Interview with Louise Pearsall Canby, Navy veteran, concerning her experiences as a member of the WAVES during World War II. Youth and education in Elgin Illinois; effects of Great Depression on Elgin and her family; community attitudes toward the role of women; high school education in Elgin Academy; brief college career at Bradley University and the University of Iowa; actuarial work in Chicago; bookkeeping work in Fresno, California, 1942; family debate concerning internationalism versus the America First Committee; shock of Pearl Harbor attack; decision to join the WAVES and process of enlisting, September, 1942; radio school in Madison, Wisconsin; assignment to Naval Intelligence, Washington, D.C., 1943; breaking German submarine codes; working with Enigma; dealing with permutations and mathematical equations; lodging and eating arrangements; social life; transfer to Dayton, Ohio, and security arrangements; German Bund; continuation of work with Enigma in Dayton at the National Cash Register plant; construction of code-breaking computers; moving the computers from Dayton to Washington; using the new computers in breaking codes; Officer Candidate School, Northampton, Massachusetts, January, 1944; transfer back to Naval Intelligence in Washington, 1944; job-related stress; her sense of accomplishments and her contributions to the war effort; adjustments to civilian life; lasting effects of her experience in the WAVES. Includes appendix that consists of various photographs and two documents, [5] leaves.

Author/Creator:

Canby, Louise Pearsall, 1920-

Contributors:

Jackson, Sarah Canby

WAVES Oral History Project

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

Oral history interview with Louise Pearsall Canby, 1997 March 17 [by Canby, L.P.]

Related Works:

University of North Texas oral history collection

Related Series:

Oral History; [volume] 1163

Subjects:

Canby, Louise Pearsall, 1920- — Oral history

World War, 1939-1945 — Personal narratives, American — Oral history

United States Navy — Women — Oral history

Women — Employment — Washington (D.C.) — Oral history

Enigma cipher system — Oral history

Genres:

Oral history — Examples

Washington (D.C.) oral history — Examples

Elgin (Ill.) oral history — Examples

General Notes:

Interview conducted in 1997 for the WAVES Oral History Project. Interviewer: Sarah Canby Jackson.

Physical Description:

128 pages, 5 unnumbered leaves ; 29 cm

Call Numbers:

OH 1163

OCLC Numbers:

259710018