Bernice Tongate

Bernice Tongate
Tongate depicted in a 1917 poster illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy
Born
Bernice Duncan Smith

14 December 1897
Pueblo, Colorado, US
Died16 January 1990(1990-01-16) (aged 92)
AllegianceUnited States
Branch
Service years1917–1920 (Navy)
RankChief petty officer

Bernice Duncan Smith Tongate[1][2] (14 December 1897 – January 16, 1990[3][4]) was an American yeomanette who 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, overheard this interaction and asked her to pose for a poster in a sailor's uniform.[4] She was then allowed to enlist as a yeoman ten days later, becoming the first Californian woman to do so.[5][6][7][8]

Early life

Bernice Smith was born on December 14, 1897, in Pueblo, Colorado.[9] She had an older sister named Lucile and a younger sister named Damaris. Their father died of pleurisy in 1915.[10]

Career

In 1917, at the beginning of the United States' involvement in World War I, Smith, aged twenty,[11] was employed as an office worker in Los Angeles. Hearing of the war and that the Navy had opened up recruitment to women,[11] 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 did not accept women. Smith questioned him, declaring that the newspapers said Washington was accepting women and further saying:[12][11]

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 lent a white hat, middy blouse, and neckerchief; he sketched her; that sketch later formed the part of the basis of a recruiting poster that became symbolic of the war effort.[13][7] Blazoned with the words "Gee!! I wish I were a man. I'd join the Navy", the poster depicts a woman wearing a sailor outfit. Though the model's exact identity is unknown, according to US Navy records, the woman on the poster is a composite of three women: Smith, E. Leroy Finch, and Christy's wife, but, in the words of a Navy Recruiting Command spokesperson, "[u]ndoubtedly, Mrs. Tongate is probably a primary model for that poster".[7] It was common for wartime propaganda during this era to encourage men to enlist through featuring "alluring and romanticized images of women".[5] The poster is widely considered to be one of the most well-known recruiting posters of the era;[14][15] M. Margaret McKeown described Tongate as "perhaps the most famous WWI poster girl".[1]

Tongate was allowed to enlist as a Yeoman ten days later[5] alongside Amy F. M. Norberg and Merlee Adams.[12] Their applications were accepted by the government on May 14.[16] The first Californian woman to join,[5] Smith was initially assigned to the recruiting station.[11] After a few weeks she was re-assigned to do clerical work[17] at the Naval Base San Pedro.[12] 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[17] 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.[18]

Smith was discharged in February 1920,[11] having acquired the rank of chief petty officer.[6] 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.[11][6] She was assigned to work as a postal clerk on bases in California and Michigan,[6][18] but also worked alongside nurses in the amputee hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan.[18] After the war's end, she worked in veteran's hospitals in California.[18]

Later life

Tongate had two grandsons who served in the Vietnam War.[4] She died at the age of 92 on January 16, 1990.[9]

See also

References

Citations

  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. ^ "Bernice Smith Tongate (1897-1990) - Find a Grave..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c "Bernice Tongate; Navy's First Recruiting Poster Pin-Up Girl". Los Angeles Times. January 27, 1990. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d Gross, Rebecca (September 6, 2013). "Petticoats in the Navy". Cooper Hewitt. Archived from the original on April 25, 2025. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d "She was 1st Navy pinup". The Columbian. Associated Press. July 4, 1977. p. 4. Retrieved April 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c Landau, Steve (November 20, 1978). "That Navy poster: The model mystery lingers on". Kitsap Sun. p. 13. Retrieved April 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Vet changes her mind about military service". The News Tribune. Associated Press. November 12, 1985. p. 8. Retrieved April 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b "Navy poster subject, Bernice Tongate, dies". The Columbian. Associated Press. January 26, 1990. p. 19. Archived from the original on December 13, 2025. Retrieved April 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Blevins Ford 2019, p. 11-13
  11. ^ a b c d e f Gavin 2006, p. 14
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Dowling, Timothy C., ed. (2005). Personal perspectives: World War I. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-85109-565-0.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Large quarters for Navy recruiting here". Morning Tribune. May 15, 1917. p. 2. Retrieved April 25, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b Pritchett 1984, p. 1
  18. ^ a b c d Pritchett 1984, p. 4

Bibliography

  • Media related to Bernice Tongate at Wikimedia Commons
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