Home > World War II > Oveta Culp Hobby Biography

Born January 5, 1905
Killeen, Texas
Died August 1995

Director of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and
first secretary of the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare

Women have played a role in every war in American history, usually as nurses or in other supportive positions. World War II marked the first time, however, that women other than nurses served within the ranks of the U.S. Army. The original purpose of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), which later became the Women's Army Corps, was to "free men for combat" by having women perform many of the military's noncombat duties. But it also allowed women to demonstrate their loyalty to their country while showing that they could perform as well as men did in the same positions. Oveta Culp Hobby had already achieved much in her life by the time she became the WAC's first director, and she went on to manage the...