Mary Gage Dunham Oral History
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Oral history interview with Mary Gage Dunham
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Primarily documents Dunham's experiences at the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina (WC) and with the WAVES in Washington, D.C., during World War II. Topics related to World War II and the WAVES include learning about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; her reasons for joining the military; discovering an ovarian cyst during her physical examination; her family's and neighbors' reactions to Dunham joining the WAVES; basic training; leading a platoon; and living quarters at Smith College. " Dunham also discusses her time in Washington, D.C. Topics include a background check done by the FBI to clear Dunham to work with decoded messages; finding her own housing; social life in the WAVES; meeting her husband, Bob Gage, in the officers' club; rudeness toward WAVES; the danger of Washington, D.C., at night; reading decoded Japanese messages toward the end of the war and knowing that the war was winding down; and her opinion of women in combat positions.
