Hampton Roads Wartime Women

10/08/2025

We had such a wonderful time representing the WACs and WASP at the this weekend! Even without the air show it was a fantastic time! Can’t wait for the next event!

10/08/2025

WASP Jane Dunbar waited 68 years to meet a Tuskegee Airman. As a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) in 1944, Jane and other WASPs based at Craig Army Air Field ferried planes to a group of the Tuskegee Airmen who were stationed close by in Mobile, Alabama. Although she did not meet any airmen at the time, Jane heard a lot about them and “admired them for their flying capabilities and their fierce determination.”

Jane did manage to meet Elder James H. Brown sixty-eight years later. James knew very little about the WASPs existence and had “always wondered who bought the airplanes to the base of operations.” Jane described the meeting with James as “wonderful” and enjoyed discussing the parallels in their lives: their love of flying, their determination to prove their critics wrong, and the lack of recognition they received for their role in the war.

Fellow WASP Elaine Harmon never lost her love for aviation or commitment to securing recognition for WASPs as veterans and, in later life, served as a board member at our museum where she hoped to place a memorial to Maryland WASPs.

For seven years, she contacted other women Maryland WASP pilots and asked them to write an account of their lives, including their time as a WASP. She generously donated her records to the museum and it is through her hard work that we have learned about the thirteen other courageous and impressive Maryland WASPs, including Jane Dunbar Tedeschi.
Photo credit: David McSwain via Findagrave

09/01/2025

We are gearing up for Army Expo 2025 at in Carlisle, PA Sept 13-14. We had an AMAZING time last year, and can’t wait to attend this fantastic event again. If you’re in the area, come check it out!!! We guarantee a great time!

08/24/2025

We’ll be at USAHEC Army Expo 2025, Sept 13-14 in Carlisle PA! Come see us if you’re in the area!

06/27/2025

06/20/2025

06/15/2025

Good News Everyone! New information reveals that while the US Women’s Army Museum may be closing as a stand alone museum, it will be consolidated into a new, larger museum on base. And this change will likely happen in the next two years. While we love the Women’s Army Museum as it is, it is wonderful to hear that the collections will still be displayed at the consolidated museum.

06/12/2025

June 12th is National Women Veterans Recognition Day. Today we thank all women who served or are currently serving in the military for their service.

06/11/2025

We are devastated to learn that not only does the Army plan to close more than 20 base museums, but that the U.S. Army Women’s Museum at Fort Gregg-Adams is one of the museums that will be closed. The Army Women’s Museum has long been a favorite museum of HRWW’s. They have supported us in research on WACs many times, and held many events highlighting women’s military history from the revolutionary war to the present. We hope that U.S. Army museums will continue to share women’s history in the military, and support women veterans.

05/19/2025

Margaret Gee was one of two Chinese American women accepted into the WASP. She grew up in San Francisco CA, and grew up idolizing Amelia Earhart. When the US joined the war, Gee left college to work at a shipyard with her mother, and used her savings to pay for flying lessons. With her pilot license secured, she joined the WASP.

After the war, Gee returned to her education culminating in a MSc in Physics. She later researched weapons systems during the Cold War, and consulted on nuclear and magnetic fusion programs. Find out more about her life in the link in our bio!

05/15/2025

Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese American women to earn a pilots license and served as a WASP during WWII. Before the war, Lee went to China with the goal of flying for the Chinese Airforce, but was denied entry as a pilot because she was a woman. In 1938, she returned to the US in hopes of flying for the war effort in the states. Lee was part of the fourth WASP class. She quickly made her mark as a leader among the WASP, know for being calm and fearless. She very popular and known for making traditional Chinese meals to share her culture with her fellow WASP. Tragically, Lee died while transporting a P-63 from New York to Montana. There was confusion from the control tower during landing, resulting in Lee’s plane colliding with another P-63. We thank Hazel Ying Lee for her service, sacrifice, and bravery.

05/02/2025

Julia Parsons, a U.S. Navy code breaker during World War II who was among the last survivors of a top-secret team of women that unscrambled messages to and from German U-boats, died on April 18 in Aspinwall. She was 104. Read more: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2025/04/30/julia-parsons-u-s-navy-code-breaker-world-war-ii-aspinwall/stories/202504300071