Capturing the Women's Army Corps: The World War II Photographs of Captain Charlotte T. McGraw

Captain McGraw’s Career

9 Charlotte McGraw was born in Texas in 1915. Not much is known about her early years when she lived in Abilene, Texas, with her parents. She attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene and then Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now known as Texas State University– San Marcos). Accounts indicate that Captain McGraw left Texas in 1940 and headed to Hollywood, California, to follow her dream of being a professional photographer. McGrawwasoneofthefirstfewwomenfromthe9thArmy area to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps. On July 10, 1942, she became an “enrollee” and reported to Fort Des Moines, Iowa, for training. Captain McGraw graduated in one of the first few classes of enlisted women, and her experience as a photographer was put to use when she became the official photographer of the WAAC training area at Fort Des Moines. The First WAAC Training Center’s photographic facility was established under her tutelage. Captain McGraw’s job was to provide the Office of the Director of the WAAC with photographs for recruiting and publicity purposes. Processing and printing the film was problematic in the beginning, so Captain McGraw arranged to use the facilities of a local newspaper. The staff of the photographic section was instructed on how to operate equipment and in a very short period, the section produced a prolific amount of photographs. After a few months, Enrollee McGraw was chosen to be part of the first class of candidates selected from the WAAC ranks to attend the WAAC Officer Candidate School. Captain McGraw was commissioned as a Third Officer (equivalent to a Second Lieutenant) on December 24, 1942. She remained at Fort Des Moines as an instructor and platoon Commander while continuing to assist the photographic section. The talent of this young officer must have been evident because within a few months, Captain McGraw Captain McGraw’s Career McGraw on a ship to North Africa. 10 • Captain McGraw’s Career was ordered to WAAC headquarters in Washington, D.C., as the official WAAC photographer. A few days after arriving at headquarters, Captain McGraw was ordered to the North African Theater of Operations to document the WAACs serving overseas. She was to be accompanied by Capt. Anne M. McIlhenney, the first WAAC public relations officer, who had worked for twenty-one years as a journalist for the Buffalo CourierExpress . Together, photographer Captain McGraw and writer Captain McIlhenney made an excellent pair for this particular assignment. Their instructions were very specific. They were to (1) record the attitude of ranking Generals toward the WAACs; (2) demonstrate that the army was taking care of America’s daughters; (3) provide evidence that overseas duty was adventurous, fun, a great opportunity, and a great experience ; and (4) persuade war correspondents to write positive stories about the WAAC—Ernie Pyle in particular, by “direct order from Colonel Hobby!” Many of the pictures in this book reflect this North African assignment. Often the WAACs are seen in comfortable , although sometimes difficult, circumstances, and they are always smiling. The photos depict their travels, sightseeing , and shopping expeditions. Captain McGraw arranged to take photos of all the high-ranking Generals; Eisenhower and Doolittle posed. The photos and captions were for General Eisenhower inspecting WAACs in Algeria. Captain McGraw’s Career • 11 future publicity efforts, so Captain McGraw and Captain McIlhenney worked diligently to record as much detail as possible on each photo they took. The trip was fraught with challenges. The work of the official WAAC photographer was a lower priority than regular army business, so Captain McGraw often had to cancel interviews, which delayed her ability to meet deadlines . Captain McGraw had passed the army’s driving test and was proud of the fact that she did not require a driver. She remarked a year later that “the Jeep is the sweetheart of every G.I. here and abroad . . . they feel that it cannot be left alone—so they make off with it.” She recounted to her audience how she was so excited when she had “found a hitching-post formula for immobilizing my Jeep that really worked.” Captain McGraw and Captain McIlhenney faced various challenges to conducting the interviews; sometimes they could not find a jeep to transport them to a location or their subjects’ work schedules made it difficult for them to be photographed or interviewed. In addition, there was resistance from the WAACs because some had low morale and did not want to be photographed...