In honor of Veterans Day, we’re talking about the women who served in World War II in a Navy outfit called the WAVES. Specifically, their commanding officer, Mildred McAfee (later Mildred McAfee Horton). When the war started, she was president of Wellesley College, but before it was over, she would be the first woman to become a commissioned officer in the US Navy, commanding a force of nearly 100,000 people.
Miss Mack, from Wellesley to the WAVES
- 1969 audio interview with Mildred McAfee Horton
- “Mildred McAfee Horton (1900—1994): Portrait of a Pathbreaking Christian Leader“, by Elizabeth G. Hendricks
- An article in Time Magazine introduces Professor McAfee to Boston academia (we misattributed a quote in the podcast from this article to the Crimson).
- Miss Mack faces down the Senate Naval Affairs Committee
- A recruiting video
- Miss Mack’s 1994 New York Times obituary
- Mildred McAfee (Horton)’s entry in the Vassar Alumnae Encyclopedia
Featured Historic Site
As part of the nearly two century long effort to locate sufficient drinking water to sustain the city of Boston, an aqueduct was built from the Sudbury River in Framingham to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in the late 1870s. Part of that aqueduct runs through the town of Wellesley, and a small part of it runs through the campus of Wellesley College.
Just as the Sudbury Aqueduct crosses the town line from Natick to Wellesley, it also has to cross Waban Brook. To carry the Sudbury water across the valley of the Waban, engineers designed an elegant, nine arch bridge. It was built of granite and bricks, with a horseshoe shaped, brick lined pipe to carry the water.
Today, the Waban Arches are part of a network of aqueduct trails in Newton and Wellesley. Visit the bridge as part of a hike or long run, or view it from below on a kayak trip on the Charles.
Upcoming Event
Are you ready to learn about pirates? C’mon, we know you love pirates, because our most downloaded show of all times is our pirate special. On November 19th, the Massachusetts Historical Society is hosting author Eric Jay Dolan. Dolan wrote a definitive history of the golden age of piracy called Black Flags, Blue Waters. He covers the same era that our podcast did, but his book goes beyond just Boston. Oh… and he’s an actual expert, unlike us.
Here’s what MHS says you can expect at the event:
Set against the backdrop of the Age of Exploration, Black Flags, Blue Waters reveals the dramatic history of American piracy’s “Golden Age”—spanning the late 1600s through the early 1700s—when lawless pirates plied the coastal waters of North America and beyond. Eric Jay Dolin illustrates how American colonists at first supported these outrageous pirates in an early display of solidarity against the Crown, and then violently opposed them.
The talk will be held at 6pm on Monday, November 19, with a reception beginning at 5:30. There is a $10 fee and advanced registration is required.