Lady in the Navy: The Extraordinary Life of Joy Bright Hancock

Joy Bright Hancock (4 May 1898 – 20 August 1986), a veteran of both the First and Second World Wars, was one of the first women officers of the United States Navy. During World War I, after attending business school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she enlisted in the Navy as a Yeoman (F), serving at Camden, New Jersey and at Naval Air Station Wildwood. During World War II, Hancock was responsible for the the Bureau of Aeronautics' public affairs activities before being commissioned as a lieutenant in the newly formed Women's Reserve, commonly known as Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). Captain Hancock guided the WAVES through the difficult years of Naval contraction in the late 1940s and the expansion of the early 1950s, a period that also saw the Navy's women achieve status as part of the Regular Navy. Hancock published her autobiography, "Lady in the Navy: A Personal Reminiscence," in 1972. She died on 20 August 1986, aged 88, in Bethesda, Maryland. She was buried with her husband, Admiral Ofstie, at Arlington National Cemetery.

Information above provided by Wikipedia.

The first women to serve in the U.S. Navy were nurses, beginning with the “Sacred Twenty” appointed after Congress established the Navy Nurse Corps on May 13, 1908. While this provided service opportunities for the trained nurses, the Navy Nurse Corps was small and nurses held no military rank. In fact, the Nurse Corps remained a separate unit outside the regular U.S. Navy. The first large-scale enlistment of women into the Navy occured in 1917, when the United States entered World War I. Women were accepted into the Naval Reserve and would carry out administrative operations which freed up able-bodied men to serve aboard ships. The new enlisted women were able to become yeomen, electricians (radio operators), or any other ratings necessary to the naval district operations. The majority became yeomen and were designated as yeomen (F) for female yeomen. None of the female yeomen were officers and none had a chance to pursue a career in the regular Navy. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Public Law 689 creating the Navy’s women reserve program on July 30, 1942, which paved the way for officer and enlisted women to enter the U.S. Navy.

After World War II, approximately 86,000 women served in the U.S. Navy as nurses or in the WAVES under the provisions of the Naval Reserve Act of 1938. In 1947, the Army-Navy Nurses Act established the Nurse Corps as permanent staff corps of the Navy and Army, granting nurses permanent commissioned rank. On June 12, 1948, President Harry Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act into law. The law granted women the right to serve as permanent members of the armed services. The number of women who could serve was capped at two percent of all personnel and prohibited their full participation in combat units and combat aircraft. Despite its limitations, this act established the right for women to serve their country in perpetuity. One Navy woman who managed to serve during the First and Second World Wars while bluntly questioning the wisdom of barring American women from naval careers was Joy Bright Hancock, a New Jersey girl with an innovative attitude. It was this innovative attitude that pushed Joy to pursue her main goal of securing a permanent place for women in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Armed Forces in general.

Joy's story, hidden history that has remained long forgotten, is the story of an American woman determined to serve her country and a nation not yet ready to permanently embrace women in the Armed Forces.

For the rest of Joy's story, please check out the audio link provided for EPISODE TWENTY-FIVE of our podcast, Hidden History: An Odyssey Through Time

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Images and Documents

Eleven year old Joy Bright and her family in the 1910 U.S. census. Joy is listed 5th from the top (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Seventeen year old Joy Bright and her family in the 1915 New Jersey state census. Joy is listed 4th from the top (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Joy Bright while serving in the Office of the Naval Superintendent of Construction, Camden, New Jersey, February 1918 (courtesy of Library of Congress).

Twenty-one year old Joy Bright and her family in the 1920 U.S. census. Joy is listed last (courtesy of familysearch.org).

A passport application filled out by Joy Bright Little in England in October 1920. On October 9, 1920, twenty-two year old Joy Bright married Lieutenant Charles G. Little of the U.S. Navy in Yorkshire, England (courtesy of familysearch.org).

On August 24, 1921, Lieutenant Charles G. Little was killed when the airship ZR-2 was destroyed by a structural failure while in flight over the city of Hull, England, and crashed. Lieutenant Little was one of 16 American servicemen who lost their lives in the disaster.

A newspaper clip from the Trenton Evening Times, August 26, 1921, mentioning that Joy had received a telegram of condolence from President Warren G. Harding, among others, after the death of her husband Lieutenant Charles G. Little.

In June 1924, Joy married Lieutenant Commander Lewis Hancock, Jr., a World War I veteran & active member of the U.S. Navy. On September 3, 1925, Lieutenant Commander Lewis Hancock, Jr. was killed in the destruction of the Navy airship USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) during a test flight over Ohio. Once again, twenty-seven year old Joy was a widow.

Joy Bright Hancock in the 1930 U.S. census (courtesy of familysearch.org).

Joy Bright Hancock in the 1940 U.S. census (courtesy of familysearch.org).

After being presented with the World War I service ribbon by Admiral Ernest J. King at the Navy Department, Washington, D.C., circa October 1942. She had served as a Yeoman First Class (F) during World War I (courtesy of the U.S. National Archives).

On August 1, 1943, Lieutenant Joy Bright Hancock was present for the launching ceremonies of the USS Lewis Hancock, a Navy ship named in honor of Joy's second husband, Lieutenant Commander Lewis Hancock, Jr. That day Joy made history as the first WAVE officer to christen a U.S. combatant ship (courtesy of U.S. National Archives).

Lieutenant Joy Bright Hancock and Lieutenant (j.g.) Eunice Whyte, both of the USNR, pose for a photo in September 1943. They were the only WAVES entitled to wear the Victory Medal of World War I. They had both served as Yeomen (F)s (courtesy of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command).

Secretary of Defense James Forrestal (center) with (left to right) Colonels Geraldine May & Mary A. Hallaren of the U.S. Army, Capt. Joy Bright Hancock of the U.S. Navy, & Maj. Julia E. Hamblet of the U.S. Marine Corps, after the passage of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, 1948 (courtesy of National Museum of the U.S. Army).

First six enlisted women are sworn into the regular Navy by Rear Admiral George L. Russell, Judge Advocate General of the Navy, witnessed by the Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan (far left) and Captain Joy B. Hancock (far right), July 7, 1948. Front Row (left to right): Chief Yeoman Wilma J. Marchal; Yeoman Second Class Edna E. Young; and Hospital Corpsman First Class Ruth Flora. Second Row (left to right): Aviation Storekeeper First Class Kay L. Langen; Storekeeper Second Class Frances T. Devaney; and Teleman Doris R. Robertson (courtesy of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command).

Lt. Cdr. Ellen V. Littlejohn, Director of Women's Reserve, Ninth Naval District; Lt. Rayma Wilson, Battalion Commander; Lt. Kathryn Dougherty, Officer in Charge; and Captain Joy Bright Hancock, c. late 1948 (courtesy of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command).

Assistant Chief of Naval Personnel for Women Captain Joy Bright Hancock, c. 1951 (courtesy of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command).

Accompanied by Captain Frederick Wolsieffer, USN, 97th Graduation Review, Hancock's last official appearance before retirement in June 1953 (courtesy of Lady in the Navy: A Personal Reminiscence by Joy Bright Hancock).

Portrait of Joy Bright Hancock by David Komuro, c. 1953 (courtesy of the Navy Art Collection via U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command).

Vice Admiral Ralph A. Ofstie, USN, Joy's third & final husband, c. 1955. Joy and Ralph first met in 1925 in Egypt. They remained in contact throughout the years and got married in August 1954. On November 18, 1956, Vice Admiral Ralph A. Ofstie passed away from an undisclosed illness (courtesy of U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command).

Captain Joy Bright Hancock, USN (Retired), as she appeared in the 1974 U.S. Navy film, Ladies Wear the Blue (courtesy of C-SPAN).

Captain Joy Bright Hancock, USN (Retired), c. 1979-80 (courtesy of U.S. National Archives).

Captain Joy Bright Hancock passed away on August 20, 1986 and was buried with her third husband in Arlington National Cemetery.

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Reading Material

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Learn more about the participation of women during WWI:

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Resources

• Hancock, Joy B. Lady in the Navy: A Personal Reminiscence. (Annapolis, Md., Naval Institute Press, 1972).
• https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/
• https://www.history.com/
• https://www.history.navy.mil/
• https://news.va.gov/
• https://www.loc.gov/