User:Ladygodiva59/Mildred H. McAfee

Early life

Mildred H. McAfee was born in Parkville, Missouri, the daughter of the Rev. Cleland Boyd McAfee and Harriet Brown. Her Presbyterian family emphasized and helped to nurture a strong faith and a high expectation of achievement. She graduated from Vassar College in 1920 and received her master's degree in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1928. She briefly taught at Tusculum College in Greenville, Tennessee. McAfee was the dean of women at Centre College in 1926 before becoming dean of women at Oberlin College two years later. In 1936 she became president of Wellesley College at the age of 36, making her one of the country's youngest college presidents. McAfee retired from her position as President of Wellesley College in 1948.

McAfee is unique in the history of women leaders in the church, since she was already a young adult before the Presbyterian Church began ordaining women as elders. In fact, she had already served as vice-president of the National Council of Churches for a number of years before the first woman was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1956. Unlike her female contemporaries, McAfee's significance to the church, as well as her service to her country, did not come through women's organizations, Christian education, or missionary work.

Outline - Changes to McAfee early life page with more diverse sources and detailed information. Specifically dates for Vassar and her graduate university.

Early Life sections uses only 1 source for multiple facts. Find other sources and diversify reference list and add information for early life.

Add/Edit early life: She graduated from Vassar College in 1920, and later received her master's degree in sociology from the University of Chicago in 1928. She briefly taught at Tusculum College in Greenville, Tennessee before becoming Dean of Women at Centre College in 1926. McAfee retired from her position as President of Wellesley College in 1948.

31 honorary degrees were awarded to McAfee throughout her lifetime.

Diversified and updated sources: https://www.worldcat.org/title/reminiscences-of-mildred-mcafee-horton-oral-history-1982/oclc/122632107 (religious affiliations and early life source)

ttps://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-people/m/mcafee-mildred-h-horton.html (add source to military section).

http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/alumni/mildred-mcafee.html sourced from Vassar archives

https://www.wellesley.edu/news/stories/node/31305

Source for JFK appointment of McAfee in 1936 on National Women's Committee on Civil Rights: Outstanding Women in Public Administration: Leaders, Mentors, and Pioneers By Claire L. Felbinger, Wendy A Haynes (page 125).

Laura Leal

1st change - delete part of the section that overly describes WAVES and link the WAVES' wikipedia page.

2nd change - add a picture for the military section.

During World War II, McAfee took a leave of absence from Wellesley to direct the newly formed WAVES, a force that eventually numbered more than 80,000 women, both enlisted and officer. McAfee was commissioned 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". With others, she campaigned for WAVES to have the same pay and benefits as their male counterparts. These efforts resulted in Public Law 183, effective on November 9, 1943, which entitled all Women's Reserve personnel the allowances and benefits available to men. It also provided for one captain in the Women's Reserve; Lieutenant Commander McAfee was promoted to captain later that same month. She succeeded in integrating women of color into the U.S. Naval Reserve Officer Corps and enabled them to serve in many areas and capacities while their male counterparts were limited to serving as cooks and bakers. She ensured that women of color would be treated like any of the other WAVES and assigned as officers in various companies. During the peak of World War II, Captain McAfee commanded 82,000 women.

In 1945, McAfee was featured on the cover of Time for a job "well done".

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. She also received the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

Lieutenant Commander Mildred H. McAfee celebrating the First Anniversary of the Women's Reserve of the Navy in Washington D.C., 1943.

Photos of McAfee in the military (if other members wish to include it as well): https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/naval-subjects-collection/l38-personnel/l38-56-06-01-captain-mildred-h--mcafee.html, https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/search.html?q=mcafee

updated link to time magazine cover in "further reading" section: http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19450312,00.html

Jami

-plan to pull how she contributed from a variety of the newspaper clippings/correspondences

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