WAVES fulfilled various positions and worked at Naval bases across the US, ranging from yeoman to chauffeur, baker to pharmacist, and artist to aircraft mechanic. Most WAVES worked in naval aviation units–maintaining aircraft, testing parachutes, and working as domestic air traffic controllers or weather specialists.

The capture of Fort Pulaski on the mouth of the Savannah River had many significant implications. When the fort surrendered on April 11, 1862, it closed the port of Savannah. Accordingly, cotton exports had to be transported to Charleston or Wilmington to reach European markets

While the military at this time was officially against allowing LGBTQ+ identifying people into the military, they also were desperate for more service members. So in some ways, there was a similar mentality to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the 1990s and 2000s.

Samuel Chapman Armstrong was the founder of Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (now Hampton University). A native of Hawaii, he fought with the Union army during the Civil War.

While the Women’s Army Corps was founded on May 15, 1942 (then the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) they did not recruit women living in Hawaii until October of 1944. This was because Hawaii was technically still a territory, and did not become a state until 1959.

William Henry Irby was born on November 6, 1819, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to Thomas W. Irby and Ona Oney E. Thurman. William was one of 11 children born to the couple. Raised on a farm, he married Phoebe Ellen Hubbard, the daughter of the Reverend Joel Hubbard, in 1858. They settled on a farm in Pittsylvania County.

Sometimes the quirks of technology can reveal something really interesting! While compiling a list of objects in our Collection related to submarines, our Collections Management System threw me a curveball.

Upon first glance, this vessel appears to be just another steamboat. But tinclad vessels? Sounds a bit wimpy to me. It turns out that Cricket has a great history, albeit not significant, in the American Civil War.