Our War Too: Women in Service

On Veterans Day 2023, a new exhibit opened at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. “Our War Too: Women in Service” was a remarkable tribute to the over 350,000 women who served in uniform during World War II. This major exhibit recognizes the contributions of servicewomen to the war effort and celebrates their accomplishments.

I was thrilled to be able to visit this exhibit at the museum last February when they held a day-long Women’s History Symposium featuring a number of renowned historians and researchers.

Retired Army Colonel Edna Cummings keynoted the conference the evening before. Many of those presentations, including those on women in science, nurses in WWII, and the adventures of war correspondent Maggie Higgins, are still available for streaming on the Museum’s website.

The exhibit itself features many unique items from the Museum’s collection, some on display for the first time, including a wedding dress made from a silk parachute and a variety of uniforms, the items nurses carried and used on a daily basis, and more.

Visitors were especially intrigued by the interactive scrapbook that allows visitors to explore hundreds of items that come from many veteran’s own scrapbooks. It is an exploration that technology has make possible.

Another gift of technology is the ability to hear from several women veterans in their own words. Their interactive biographies and holograms invite visitors to speak with these trailblazers and ask them questions about their service time.

There is also a section on the now well-known 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female unit to deploy overseas in World War II. Given an impossible mission, the 855 women of this unit came together to get the mail moving to front-line troops.

Led by Major Charity Adams, the story of this unit is one that young visitors find both remarkable and inspirational.

 This major temporary exhibit left the World War II Museum in July 2024. But the good news is that it is now traveling the U.S. for the next two years. Those hoping to see this exhibit can take a peek via one of the WWII Museum’s videos about this extraordinary presentation of so many untold stories.
Here are some of the upcoming dates and venues

• California Museum, Sacramento CA – Feb. 4 2025 – May 4, 2025
• The Henry Ford, Dearborn, MI – May 24, 2025 – Sep. 7, 2025
• Atlanta History Center, Atlanta GA – Oct. 25 2025 – Mar. 15, 2026

This exhibit presents a wonderful opportunity to learn and appreciate more of the remarkable history of women in WWII. Come out to see it and be prepared to immerse yourself in their memories.