Edith Yantis
After graudating from the Unversity of Tennessee in August, 1943, with a Master’s Degree in Home Economics, Edith May Yantis (née Crisman) tried unsuccessfully to find employment as a teacher.
Her father, himself a former member of the Navy, encouraged her to apply for a commission in the WAVES. Yantis was accepted for officer’s training and reported to Smith College in Northampton, New York for basic training. After completing two months of training, Yantis was sent to communications school at Mount Holyoke College.
Yantis spent two months in communications school learning typing skills and radio coding. She was then sent to work in the Navy Department in Washington, D.C. she said because “They were trying to replace the men and send them out.” Yantis was responsible for copying and delivering decoded messages within the Navy Department office. Occassionally, Yantis would have a Marine escort drive her around Washington to deliver messages to personnel outside of the Navy Department. Days off allowed Yantis and her friends a respite from the communications office. They visited Congress, the Supreme Court, Virginia, and New York.
Yantis continued to work in the Navy Department until she was relieved from active duty in May, 1946. After the war she married and started a family. She remained in the Navy Reserve until her discharge in 1951.
Edith Yantis Collection (AFC/2001/001/19981)
Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
