A Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES) recruiting poster encourages women to enlist. Begun in 1942 to meet the increased manpower needs of the U.S. Navy, the WAVES accepted more than 86,000 women who had served with distinction at some 900 various shore stations by the end of World War II. Initially considered a temporary wartime expedient, the WAVES laid the groundwork for the permanent presence of women in the Navy.
Poster: National Archives
