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Draft:Bernice Tongate

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Tongate is depicted in this 1917 recruiting poster

Bernice Duncan Smith Tongate[1][2] (1897 or 1898– January 16, 1990[3]) was an American Yeomanette that served in the United States Navy during World War I. The first time Tongate tried to enlist, she was rejected, prompting her to say that she wished she was a man. Howard Chandler Christy, a portrait painter, overhead this interaction and asked her to pose for a poster in a sailor's uniform. Tongate is well-known for her depiction in the resulting poster.[3] It was common for wartime propaganda during this era to encourage men to enlist through featuring "alluring and romanticized images of women". Tongate was then allowed to enlist as a Yeoman ten days later, becoming the first Californian woman to do so.[4][5][6][7]

Career

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At the beginning of World War I, Smith, aged twenty,[8] was working as an office worker in Los Angeles. Hearing of the war and that the Navy had opened up recruitment to women,[8] and as her family "had no sons to send",[2] she made up her mind to enlist. Upon arriving at the recruiting office, she was told by an officer that they didn't accept women. Smith questioned him, declaring that the newspapers said Washington was accepting women and further saying:[9][8]

Sir, if I were a man, I would join the Navy. This is the first time in history that my family hasn't been represented in an American war, and you've just got to take me.

While at the office, she was spotted by illustrator Howard Chandler Christy. On Christy's suggestion, Smith was leant a white hat, middy blouse, and neckerchief; he sketched her, and that sketch was later turned into a poster that that became symbolic of the war effort.[10] (See Draft:Bernice Tongate § Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man)

She was allowed to enlist as a Yeoman ten days later[4] alongside Amy F.M. Norberg and Merlee Adams.[9] Their applications were accepted by the government on May 14.[11]The first Californian woman join,[4] Smith was initially assigned to the recruiting station.[8] After a few weeks she was re-assigned to do clerical work[12] at the Naval Base San Pedro.[9] While on base, the chief petty officer she worked for was resistant to the idea of women in the Navy and attempted to force her out[12] by making her, and only her, work all night at the base on Thanksgiving. Smith did as she was instructed, but was interrupted by the captain of the base. He gave her the rest of the day off and sent her home in his car; the next day he scolded the chief petty officer, who apologized to Smith. She made him cookies in return.[13]

Smith was discharged in February 2020,[8] having aquired the rank of chief petty officer herself.[5] She attempted to re-enlist in the Navy in World War II, and the marines, but was turned down by both organizations on account of her age. She was accepted by the Army.[8][5] She was assigned to work as a postal clerk on bases in California and Michigan,[5][13] but also worked alongside nurses in the amputee hospital (Percy Jones General Hospital?) in Battle Creek, Michigan.[13] After the war's end, she found work in veteran's hospitals in California.[13]

Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man

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M. Margaret McKeown described her as "perhaps the most famous WWI poster girl".[1]

One of the 'Christy girls'[14]

Said that she regretted how she wore the cap, given that its positioning "certainly was not regulation!"[10]

The poster is widely(?) considered to be one of the most well-known recruiting posters of the era.[15][16]

Personal life

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Originally from Pueblo, Colorado,[17] Bernice Smith was one of three sisters.[13]

She died at the age of 92 on January 16, 1990.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b McKeown, M. Margaret (2016). "Celebrating Women on the High Seas— In Admiralty Law and Otherwise". In Kimball, John D. (ed.). The Healy lectures on admiralty law: texts of the biennial Nicholas J. Healy lectures given at New York University Law School, 2005-2015 (2nd ed.). Abington, Oxon, United Kingdom New York, NY: Informa Law from Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-08629-3.
  2. ^ a b Gavin 2006, p. 19
  3. ^ a b c "Bernice Tongate; Navy's First Recruiting Poster Pin-Up Girl". Los Angeles Times. January 27, 1990.
  4. ^ a b c Gross, Rebecca (6 September 2013). "Petticoats in the Navy". Cooper Hewitt. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d "She was 1st Navy pinup". The Columbian. Associated Press. 1977-07-04. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Landau, Steve (1978-11-20). "That Navy poster: The model mystery lingers on". Kitsap Sun. p. 13. Retrieved 2025-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Vet changes her mind about military service". The News Tribune. Associated Press. 1985-11-12. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Gavin 2006, p. 14
  9. ^ a b c North, Diane M. T. (2018). California at war: the state and the people during World War I. University Press of Kansas. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-7006-2646-5.
  10. ^ a b Ebbert, Jean; Hall, Marie-Beth (2002). The first, the few, the forgotten: Navy and Marine Corps women in World War I. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-55750-203-2.
  11. ^ "Large quarters for Navy recruiting here". Morning Tribune. 1917-05-15. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b Pritchett 1984, p. 1
  13. ^ a b c d e Pritchett 1984, p. 4
  14. ^ "Gee!! I Wish I Were a Man, I'd Join The Navy. Be a man and do it.", Victoria and Albert Museum, retrieved 2025-04-25
  15. ^ Dowling, Timothy C., ed. (2005). Personal perspectives: World War I. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-85109-565-0.
  16. ^ Godson, Susan H. (2001). Serving proudly: a history of women in the U.S. Navy. Annapolis, Md. : Washington, D.C: Naval Institute Press ; Naval Historical Center. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-55750-317-6.
  17. ^ "Navy poster subject, Bernice Tongate, dies". The Columbian. Associated Press. 1990-01-26. p. 19. Retrieved 2025-04-25 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

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