Fort George G. Meade: The First 100 Years

Women Join the Cause
The concept of the Women’s Army Corps was set in
motion during WWI. In January 1917, British Lt. Gen.
Henry Merrick Lawson put forth the idea of officially
using women in France. Army Council Instruction 1069
was issued in July 1917, creating the Women’s Army
Auxiliary Corps as a formal section of the British Army.
The roles were limited to cooks, mechanical, and clerical,
with some ad hoc jobs approved if it meant a man
would move to the front. It was politically and socially
contentious, but functional, and an American woman
named Edith Nourse Rogers was in England and France,
observing all of this.
During WWI, Rogers was the wife of Congressman John
Rogers (R-MA), a member of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. Accompanying her husband in his work,
Rogers volunteered with several organizations, including
the Red Cross, in England and France. There, she formed
strong impressions about the needs of veterans, both
male and female. One of her primary observations was
the striking difference in the policies between the British
and American women's services. There were several units
of American women with very specific skills sets, such
as telephone operators, and physical and occupational
therapists. These women were contractually attached, not
enlisted, to the Army. They wore uniforms, were subject
to military discipline, and had obligated themselves
contractually, but served without the normal benefits
given to soldiers.
There were also civilian charitable organizations sending
women overseas. These efforts were not strategic, and
described by Col. Mattie Treadwell as appearing to the
Army to be "striving through competitive publicity" to
show what they had "done for the boys." In contrast with
the contracted medical and signal units' obfuscated status
and the civilian organizations' ambitions, the British
WAAC had better administration, organization, and
discipline than their American counterpart.
John Rogers passed away Mar. 28, 1925, and Edith
Rogers successfully ran for his seat, serving for 18
consecutive terms. Much of her success was rooted in her
strong stance on veterans’ issues.
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WORLD WAR I YEARS
By Robyn Dexter
(Left collage) Women signed contracts of service to the
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. They were not enlisted and
they paid for their own uniforms. The WAACs were subject
to military discipline but did not have the normal benefits
afforded to soldiers. Nursing, signal corps and other specialty
skills were eligible to women.
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