Myrtle Otto Hanke Collection
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Myrtle O. Hanke with friend
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Myrtle O. Hanke (top right) and a fellow WAVE pose on a stairway wearing belted raincoats and issue handbags, circa 1945.
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Myrtle Otto Hanke in the snow
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Myrtle Otto Hanke poses outdoors in the snow, wearing her WAVES dress blue uniform, service hat with blue cover, and issue handbag, circa 1945.
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Myrtle Otto Hanke with her family
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Myrtle Otto Hanke (on left) poses with her mother and sister, circa 1945. She wears her WAVES gray and white seersucker dress with seersucker garrison cap.
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Oral history interview with Myrtle Hanke
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Primarily documents Myrtle Otto Hanke's early life and her experiences in the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in Washington, D.C., during World War II." Hanke discusses her family, education, and work in Massachusetts before the war, as well as her reaction to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and her reasons for joining the U.S. Navy WAVES, and her father's initial reaction." Topics related to Hanke's career as a WAVE include the train ride to basic training in Iowa; living conditions, activities, and weather; and tests to determine aptitude for various kinds of work. She also describes her experience in Washington, D.C., including working in shifts; her roommates, including Virginia Darling; the cryptography office; leaning over a hectograph and getting a top secret message stamped onto her shirt; a WAVE officer who harassed her; V-J Day celebrations and the social life, including parties and nightclubs, the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; her opinions of the Roosevelts and Harry Truman; and hitchhiking to California. " Hanke also details her family heritage; her father's career as a painter; housing an English family during World War II; having dinner on the USS New Mexico; her world travels, including trips to Russia, Morocco, and Germany; her belief that everyone should serve in the military for two years; and differences between Episcopalian and Catholic religions.
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Two WAVES in havelocks
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Myrtle Otto Hanke (left) and a fellow WAVE pose on a sidewalk, circa 1945. Hanke wears the WAVE blue service dress with winter havelock, while her friend wears the blue wool overcoat with junior grade lieutenant sleeve stripes and a havelock.
