More Than a Uniform: A Navy Woman in a Navy Man's World - Softcover

Collins, Winifred Quick; Levine, Herbert M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1574410229 ISBN 13: 9781574410228

Publisher: University of North Texas Press, 1997

Synopsis

In 1942, four days after Congress passed a law allowing women to serve as commissioned officers in the military, Winifred Quick Collins joined the Navy. In her role as Personnel Director of the Midshipmen's School at Smith College, she developed procedures for the classification of the 6000 women officer candidates who reported for duty during the ensuing year. She continued to help shape the Navy's personnel policies for women during the next twenty years, working alongside such celebrated Navy leaders as Chester Nimitz, Bill Halsey, George Anderson, Arleigh Burke, and Hyman Rickover.

Overcoming a troubled and poverty-stricken childhood to eventually win top college scholarships then head a jobs program during the Depression, Collins made it to the top of every ladder she climbed. As a pioneer among female commissioned officers, she was in a unique position to observe not only how Navy women overcame discriminatory obstacles, but also how the Navy came to depend on women as an essential component of its standard operations.

About this title

About the Author:

Winifred Quick Collins was in the first group of women trained for Navy service as commissioned officers. As Chief of Naval Personnel for women, she retired in 1962 at the rank of captain, the highest rank a woman could then hold. She currently lives in Washington, D.C.
Herbert M. Levine taught political science at the University of Southwestern Louisiana and is now a freelance writer living in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Review:

Author Collins was in the first group of women trained for Navy service in 1942: her importance in developing procedures for the classification of six thousand women officer candidates and her encounters in a 'man's Navy' is revealed in a biographical account which is personal and inspiring. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: University of North Texas Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1574410229
• ISBN 13: 9781574410228
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 241