LTJG Ann S. Hill, USN Ret. Oral History

title:

LTJG Ann S. Hill, USN Ret. Oral History

creator:

Hill, Ann (Stahlman) (1921 Apr 14 - )

subject:

Navy WAVES

description:

Ann Hill (formerly Stahlman) was born on April 15, 1921 in Nashville, Tennessee. After attending and graduating from local schools, she went to Vanderbilt University. Her father had been in the Navy Reserve and volunteered for service before the attack on Pearl Harbor. During spring break of her senior year at Vanderbilt, she and her sister visited him in New Orleans, Louisiana where he was a recruiter and he told them about the new Navy WAVES program that allowed women into the Navy. Getting sworn in in March 1943, Hill was the first woman to join the program while still enrolled in college. She went to officer’s training at Smith College for one month and transferred to Mount Holyoke for her second month of training at Communications School. After finishing with training, her first assignment was in communications at the 8th Naval District in New Orleans. For her first four or five months there, she distributed classified publications to everyone in the office, then moved into the publications department where they distributed all publications to all the incoming and outgoing ships. In that department, she was in charge of making corrections to publications as they came in from Washington, DC. Although she applied to transfer to San Francisco, California, she remained in New Orleans for the entirety of her service. After World War II ended, Hill was discharged from her position the day before Mardi Gras, so she went to several Mardi Gras balls and dances with friends and family. She then returned to Nashville, where she met her husband in 1946 and they married in 1947. After leaving the service, she was greatly involved in the Nashville Children’s Theater, filling roles from costumer and set painter to administrator and American Theater Association president. When she left the service, Hill had reach the rank of lieutenant junior grade and for her service she received an American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Peay, Sarah Parker

date:

1989-11-27

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

134; 1989.134

source:

NSCD | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

291308

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1943-46

rights:

Unrestricted