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Aunt Virginia Worked at Mare Island Navy Yard During WWII

My dad’s next oldest sister, Virginia, graduated from Napa Union High School in 1942 and went on to work at the Navy Yard at Mare Island in Vallejo.[1] I have no idea how she got to work, but perhaps there were buses from Napa to the base. This is something I wished I had asked, but I only learned
about my aunts working there after they had passed. I ordered her civilian personnel file from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, a branch of the National Archives, and the papers in the file tell a bit of her story.

She applied on 8 June, just days after graduation. Her sister, Lorene, and her cousin, Margaret, were already working there. She started out as a junior messenger in the Planning Division of the Industrial Department, making $600 per year. Less than a month later, she resigned from the position in order to accept a new position. On 30 June, she accepted the position of junior typist in the same department, paying $1260 per annum.

On 16 December 1942, she was promoted to CAF-2 Junior Clerk-Typist, paying $1440 per annum. A report of efficiency rating in March 1944, covering the previous year, rated Virginia as outstanding in most of the areas. Six items were underlined, probably highlighting those skills: Presentability of work, attention to pertinent detail, industry, amount of acceptable work produced, cooperativeness, and dependability. Her overall rating was excellent.

She received another promotion to clerk-typist CAF-3, making $1620 per annum on 1 Aug 1944. This was in the Industrial Department Planning Division (Estimating & Planning, Material Procurement, Control Materials Unit). She worked through the war and resigned on 13 September 1946; her reason was to attend college. Now I have something else to investigate. Where did she attend college?

#Women’sHistoryMonth. March is Women’s History Month. This is post one of the women in my ancestry. Some will be direct ancestors, and others sisters, aunts, and cousins.


[1] For graduation see “Plans Complete for 1942 Commencement at Napa High: 181 to Get Diplomas,” Napa Journal, 5 Jun 1942, pp 1 & 6. For work at Mare Island, see Official Personnel Folder (OPF), Virginia A. Hork, U.S. Navy, Mare Island; National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis.Copyright © 2023 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

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