In July 1944, a curious sight greeted pedestrians at the corner of State and Madison streets in Downtown Chicago. Sticking out from the Mandel Brothers department store was a military transport aircraft nose. It got there on purpose, carefully and deliberately, as part of a recruitment drive for the Women’s Army Corps. The exhibit helped the War Effort and proved to be a fun summer attraction for Chicagoans.
The Women’s Army Corps
When the United States officially entered World War II in December 1941, women had few job opportunities in the military. They were limited to serve in the Nurse Corps of the Army or the Navy. Before the Attack on Pearl Harbor, however, preparations for the largescale military recruitment of women began.
Congresswoman Edith Rogers of Massachusetts introduced a bill for the creation of a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in May 1941. The bill sought the expansion of non-combat jobs available to women in the Army, outside the Nurse Corps, while simultaneously providing them the same legal protection and benefits as their male counterparts. Herself having volunteered overseas in World War I, Rogers wanted to improve the conditions of another generation of women if called upon to serve.
It took a year for the WAAC to come into existence on May 14, 1942. There was still public debate about the role of women in the military. Nonetheless, women took up clerical and other non-combat jobs, freeing up more men to go overseas. WAACs received official status and a salary but compared to male soldiers, less pay and benefits- much to the dismay of Congresswoman Rogers.
Female soldiers received full benefits only in July 1943. At that time, the Army dropped the auxiliary status and created the Women’s Army Corps (WAC).
More than 150,000 women served as WACs during the war. They filled over 400 jobs in both the United States and overseas, where they played an important role in the Pacific and European Theaters. Their ranks included Nisei and African-American women. A total of 657 WACs received medals and citations, amongst them ten recipients of the Soldier’s Medal- awarded for heroic actions outside combat. Sixteen women received the Purple Heart for injuries due to enemy action. Most abundant were 565 Bronze Stars awarded for meritorious service.1
Given the radical change in Army policy and society still adhering to the traditional role of women, as passive sweethearts, wives, or sex objects, WACs often faced disdain even at home. It took time for society to accept military service as a respectable profession for women.
A WAC recruitment drive comes to Chicago
At noon on July 7, 1944, a crowd of pedestrians thronged the intersection of State and Madison streets in Downtown Chicago. They faced the south-west corner of the Mandel Brothers department store. What brought them together was the opening of a highly anticipated public exhibit apart of a WAC recruitment drive. Officiating the gala ceremony from a platform was Mayor Edward J. Kelly, joined by several military officials including Lt. Col. Leon Mandel. The special attraction: a real-life Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane nose installed inside the store.2
A joint effort made the exhibit possible. Providing the airplane nose was the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Orchard Place, near Park Ridge. Space to display it was graciously provided by Mandel Brothers. Manning the exhibit was a select group of twelve WACs who, after attending a four-day training course at the Douglas plant, could answer many questions about the C-54 Skymaster.
Transporting the airplane nose was no easy task. The organizers carefully planned the route from Orchard Place to the Mandel Brothers store, which stretched over sixteen miles. It had to pass across bridges, and underneath viaducts and elevated structures, with only two inches of clearance at some places. Similarly, careful planning also went to the twenty-eight Wisconsin built submarines that went up the Chicago River.
Once delivered, police roped off the area. Four Chicago Police Department traffic officers and two plant protection guards kept curious onlookers at bay.
Installing the whole thing went smoothly. The store removed two converging glass pane windows from its ground floor, opening up the space to the outside. A slew crane then set the nose section onto a special platform made of heavy planks. This platform prevented the nose from falling down into the store’s lingerie section. Afterwards, the nose wheel was set into place.
At a height of seventeen feet, the aircraft section protruded out onto the State Street sidewalk. Visitors could get up close by walking up a circular stairway and then descend into the WAC information center, on Madison Street. Murals of the C-54 in action and a full eight-foot scale model filled the center.
Ultimately the exhibit proved to be popular summer attraction. It drew some 200,000 visitors until its closing day on July 31, 1944. More importantly, the WAC information center interviewed over 300 potential enlistees.3
Sources
- Judith Bellafaire, The Women’s Army Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service (Washinton, D.C.: Government Publishing Office, 1993), p.25.
- Details of the opening gala ceremony are provided in the ‘WAC Souvenir Edition’ of the Douglas Airview News, employee newspaper of the Chicago Douglas Aircraft plant, dated July 1944. Scans of the newspaper are provided at the bottom of the article.
- Dorothy Johnson, ‘Women in War Work’, Chicago Daily Tribune, August 1, 1944, p.11. Retrieved from ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune. https://www.proquest.com/hnpchicagotribune/docview/176964422/A6438C7FCE024735PQ/4 (accessed 3 April 2023).