Reservist

ISS2 2015

Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Quarterly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security

Issue link: https://uscgreservist.epubxp.com/i/498190

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 28 of 55

taking the lead to Chart a new Course with grace and determination, yn2 olivia hooker carved a path where none had been and changed the service forever story by petty ofcer 1st Class gail e. dale Where would any of us be if it weren't for those who paved the way before us? Many of us are where we are today because we followed the footsteps of a few trailblazers who were not afraid to make them. These trailblazers changed policies, procedures and created a new status quo; one of these brave people is Dr. Olivia Hooker. Hooker, who was a schoolteacher in Columbus, Ohio, made U.S. Coast Guard history on March 9, 1945, when she became the first African American woman to enlist in the service. Her path to the Coast Guard, however, began with the Navy. While in college, Hooker and her sorority joined the campaign for the assignment of African American women in the military without regard to race. Once the service was open to African American women, Hooker read the newspapers to see how many women would rush to join. "No one flocked in to join," she said. "Everyone was afraid to join because the African American men were all assigned to the stewards' branch and weren't allowed to do anything else. So, after no one joined, and we had worked so hard to get that privilege, I thought perhaps if I joined, and lived, others would be encouraged to come," she said with a slight laugh. Hooker submitted her application to the WAVES, a Navy World War II division that stood for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, but soon it was returned with a letter stating there was a technicality with her application. After she resubmitted the application a second time with the same result she wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Navy at that time, asking him about the technicality. He replied that he didn't see anything wrong and he would be glad to have her in the WAVES. Though by this time, she had already started to think about joining the Coast Guard. U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul zukunft takes a photo with dr. Olivia J. Hooker, who had a building dedicated to her at Coast Guard Sector New York in Staten island, New York, March 12, 2015. Photo by Petty Offcer 3rd Class Ali Flockerzi

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Reservist - ISS2 2015