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xi Preface This book is the product of two great things: professional historical inquiry and gratitude. The U.S. Army Women’s Museum, located at Fort Lee, Virginia, is the repository of over 1.5 million documents pertaining to the contributions of women to the U.S. Army from 1775 to the present . When the museum was established in 1955 at Fort McClellan, Alabama, its curators set out to collect as much material as possible in order to ensure the archives and artifacts were preserved. A large majority of the museum’s holdings are from the World War II period. Sitting in several dozen boxes is the collection of Capt. Charlotte T. McGraw, a World War II photographer for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s Army Corps. Her collection consists of over five thousand photographs, many of her official army papers, her uniform, and her army-issued maps and cultural books, orders, citations, insignia, letters, and other documents. These are her memorabilia , preserved with professional care and accessible to the public. This project was designed to comprehensively bring to light the phenomenal work of Captain McGraw. The primary and secondary documents in Captain McGraw’s collection do not tell her whole story; however, from what is available we were able to weave together enough information to produce this book. We are grateful to Captain McGraw’s close friend, who donated this wonderful collection to the museum in 1972. We are grateful to the staff of the U.S. Army Women’s Museum for maintaining the collection and giving the public the opportunity to view Captain McGraw’s work. Our thanks in particular to Robynne Dexter, the museum archivist during the first part of the project, who helped us sort through the materials and give the project direction. We are also grateful to Amanda Strickland, the museum archivist who scanned hundreds of images and helped us to organize the material, and Tracy Bradford, who edited the manuscript. Finally, we would like to thank the tens of thousands of women who served in World War II whose work and adventures are captured in Captain McGraw’s photographs. Françoise B. Bonnell and Ronald K. Bullis ...

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