Begin Again women


Clothing store advertisement, Bath, ca. 1886

Clothing store advertisement, Bath, ca. 1886
Item 1136   info
Maine Historical Society

Advertisement for the Henry E. Palmer & Co. clothing store in Bath. It features pictures of stockings and a whale-bone corset.

Julia Clapp Carroll, ca. 1855

Julia Clapp Carroll, ca. 1855
Item 103638   info
Maine Historical Society

Julia Elizabeth Dearborn (Clapp) Carroll was the subject of a mid-nineteenth century painting, which was later photographed as an ambrotype. A member of a leading 19th century Portland family, she was the daughter of real-estate developer Charles Quincy Clapp and his wife Julia Wingate, and grand-daughter of famed businessman Asa Clapp. Julia Clapp married tobacco merchant John Bryce Carroll in 1843. The couple were the namesake for Portland's Carroll Mansion.

Join the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, World War II poster, ca. 1943

Join the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, World War II poster, ca. 1943
Item 104320   info
Maine Historical Society

The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WACC) was established in May 1942, but did not take on active duty until July 1, 1943. It's first director, Ovete Culp Hobby (1905-95), was from Texas. The force was comprised of volunteer citizens in support functions, or additional personnel participating in police and military duties, usually part-time. The WAAC was disbanded in 1978, and integrated with male units.

With men fighting on the frontlines of the war, factories, military units, and other male-dominated industries were desperate for labor. Advertising propaganda— think Rosie the Riveter—encouraged women to leave their homes and join the World War II effort.

After the war, the same propaganda machines worked to force women back into domestic roles.

The poster reads, "Together: Serve with our fighting army. Join the WAAC. Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, U.S. Army."

Patricia Paré Camire, Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, Fort Oglethorpe, GA, 1943

Patricia Paré Camire, Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, Fort Oglethorpe, GA, 1943
Item 98865   info
Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine Libraries

Patricia Paré Camire (left) with friends in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, 1943.

Patricia Paré, an Auburn native, married fellow Aurburnite Albert "Buck" Camire in 1942, shortly after Buck was drafted into the Army to serve in World War Two. When Buck was sent to the Philippines, Patricia enlisted in the WAAC. She finished her basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and then chose to serve at Fort Grenier Field, NH. She worked as an administrator in the legal office until Buck was discharged at the end of the War.

Patricia later described her experience in the service as enjoyable: "I would have liked to have stayed in...I liked the discipline...I'm still that way."

The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was created in 1942 in order to free up men to serve on the front lines by recruiting women to take their place in support roles. At the time, the organization was controversial - men in the army resented being pushed into combat roles by the WAACs, while more generally, the idea of allowing women to travel and pursue an independent career was not widely accepted by their fathers, brothers and husbands. Nonetheless, the WAAC proved indispensable to the greater war effort, and General Douglass MacArthur called its members his "best soldiers."

Farmington State College Cheerleaders, 1952

Farmington State College Cheerleaders, 1952
Item 105633   info
Mantor Library at UMF

Athletics were a vital part of college life in the 1950s and Farmington State Teachers College had a variety of sports teams for men and women.

Basketball was particularly popular, with its long history at the college, and cheerleaders played their part in the basketball season. The students on the 1952 squad pictured here include: Joan Huston, Margie Colby, Greta Lundin, Geraldine ("Jerry") Nelson, Lil Munn, Madeline Levasseur.

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