Mildred Helen McAfee Horton (May 12, 1900 - September 2, 1994) was an American academic who served during World War II as first director of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in the United States Navy. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The WAVES were a World War II -era division of the US Navy that consisted entirely of women
McAfee was born in Parkville, Missouri, the daughter of the Rev. Parkville is a city in Platte County, Missouri, United States. Cleland Boyd McAfee and Harriet Brown. She graduated from Vassar College and received her Master's degree from the University of Chicago. Vassar College is a private Coeducational, liberal arts college situated in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. The University of Chicago is a Private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. She was dean of women at Centre College and then dean of women at Oberlin College. Oberlin College is a private Liberal arts college in Oberlin Ohio. In 1936 she became president of Wellesley College at the age of 36. Wellesley College is a women's liberal arts college, in Wellesley Massachusetts, that opened in 1875 founded by Henry Fowle Durant
During World War II, McAfee took a leave of absence from Wellesley to head the newly formed WAVES, a force that eventually numbered more than 80,000 women. The Women's Reserve had been created when President Roosevelt signed the authorizing legislation into law on July 30, 1942. McAfee was sworn in as a lieutenant commander the following week, on August 3, and quickly set down rules for enlisted women, including that they use only enough make-up "to look human". [1]. She was promoted to captain in November 1943. During the peak of World War II, Captain McAfee commanded 82,000 women [2]
After the war, McAfee resigned from the Naval Reserve. She was the first woman to receive the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, presented to her by Navy Secretary Forrestal on November 7, 1945 [3]. The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919 She also received the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. The American Campaign Medal was a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by The World War II Victory Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created by an act of Congress in July 1945.
In 1946, she married the Reverend Dr. Douglas Horton (d. Douglas Horton ( July 27, 1891, Brooklyn New York – August 21, 1968, Randolph New Hampshire) was an American Protestant 1968), the dean of the divinity school at Harvard University. Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge Massachusetts, in the United States.
McAfee Hall at Wellesley is named in her honor, as is Horton Hall at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). University of New Hampshire ( UNH) is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire (USNH United States. She was President of the UNH Board of Trustees, serving on the Board from 1963 to 1974.
She died in Randolph, New Hampshire at the age of 94. Randolph is a heavily forested town in Coos County, New Hampshire, U
References
- ^ Current Biography 1941, pp539-41
- ^ "Deaths," Ironwood Daily Globe, September 6, 1994, p11
- ^ "WAVE Director Presented Award", Reno Evening Gazette, November 7, 1945, p1
- Obituary, Boston Globe, September 3, 1994
- Notable American women : a biographical dictionary completing the twentieth century . Susan Ware, editor ; Stacy Braukman, assistant editor, Harvard University Press, 2004, 768 pages. Harvard University Press ( HUP) is a Publishing house, a division of Harvard University, that is highly respected in Academic publishing. ISBN 978-0674014886 .
External links
- Brief biography and some photographs
- Records of the Bureau of Personnel Special Assistant for Women's Policy (PERS-00W),1947-1991
- Time magazine cover 1945
- Time magazine articles: 1936 and 1945
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