by Mari K Eder | Jun 4, 2024 | Newsletters
The morale-boosting ‘donut dollies got their start in the trenches of World War I. Beginning in 1917, women volunteered to deploy with the Salvation Army to the battlefields of France, giving American soldiers a taste of home. . In World War II, they volunteered for... 
by Mari K Eder | May 2, 2024 | Newsletters
In November 2021, I was invited to participate in the American Veterans Center (AVC) Veterans Conference & Honors. This was the 24th annual event, which is comprised of a conference, a youth leadership summit, and a major event to commemorate Veteran’s Day.... 
by Mari K Eder | Apr 2, 2024 | Newsletters
In perhaps the most dangerous assignment of her career with the New York Police Department, Mae Foley was assigned to go undercover and pretend to be a Nazi sympathizer. She reluctantly agreed. After all, she’d just spent two years babysitting the 40+ unwilling... 
by Mari K Eder | Mar 5, 2024 | Newsletters
“Guilty, guilty, guilty!” In thirty minutes the defendants in the “Lucky” Luciano mob trial, all nine of them, heard those words 549 times. They were all going to prison. Mae Foley, NYPD policewoman seconded to the District Attorney’s office... 
by Mari K Eder | Feb 6, 2024 | Newsletters
In 1943, Betty McIntosh (then Betty MacDonald) joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and began to learn what her duties would be in the Morale Operations Division. A former newspaper reporter, she thought she would be well-suited to serve in an organization... 
by Mari K Eder | Jan 3, 2024 | Newsletters
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) stood up in June 1942, a free-wheeling organization that had two main branches – operations and intelligence. By November 1944, ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan’s organization was robust, with 13,000 members assigned, some military, some... 
by Mari K Eder | Dec 7, 2023 | Newsletters
A dark holiday season arrived early in New York City that year. It was December 1941, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had just occurred three weeks earlier. Everyone was on edge. Even Mae Foley, a New York Policewoman and mother of two grown... 
by Mari K Eder | Nov 2, 2023 | Newsletters
From my November 2023 Newsletter: In September I was watching commentary on the U.S. Open when a broadcaster repeated a quote from tennis great Billie Jean King. He said she often remarked, “Pressure is a privilege.” I was immediately struck by those words... 
by Mari K Eder | Oct 3, 2023 | Newsletters
From my October 2023 Newsletter: In just two weeks, I’ll be in Phoenix, Arizona, where I will be privileged to receive the Historian of the Year Award for 2023 from Historic Hotels of America, part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Historic Hotels... 
by Mari K Eder | Sep 5, 2023 | Newsletters
August 26th is nationally recognized as Women’s Equality Day, recalling that day in 1920 when the 19th amendment was certified to the Constitution, recognizing women’s right to vote. In 1920, Mae Foley was thirty-four years old, married, with two young children, and...