Helen VanGuilder WWII WAAC
Shared by Sandy Chamberlain

The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was a group of women who served in the United States Army during World War II. The WAAC was created to free up men for combat by taking on administrative duties.

Formation

The WAAC was established in 1942 in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor

The WAAC was created as an auxiliary unit, but was later converted to an active duty branch of the Army in 1943

The WAAC's first training center was located at Fort Des Moines, Iowa

Roles

WAACs performed a variety of roles, including aircraft spotting, mail sorting, and printing V-mail cards

WAACs were deployed all over the world

Challenges

The WAAC faced opposition from some quarters, including the defense industry and those who thought women shouldn't serve in uniform

Black WACs faced additional challenges, including being given menial jobs and court-martialed

Legacy

The WAAC's contributions were recognized with the passage of legislation that established a lasting presence of women in the Armed Services

The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army before 1978. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), on 15 May 1942, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States as the WAC on 1 July 1943. Its first director was Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby. The WAC was disbanded on 20 October 1978, and all WAC units were integrated with male units.

Tioga Point Museum has been gifted some letters written by Sgt. Helen Van Guilder while she served in the WAAC during WWII. Helen was from Sayre, Pennsylvania. She shared interesting thoughts and feelings as she served her country. From her excitement of entering training to her excitement about being able to come home to the U.S. again is palpable to the reader of her letters.

On March 23rd in 1943 she was “on her way”, leaving from Penn Station, NY. On March 24th her father received word that she had arrived safely at Fort Oglethorp, Georgia and would be undergoing processing for the next 2 days. After that she would be assigned to basic training and able to send her address for those 4 weeks.

In May of 1943, she wrote of having a large piece of chocolate cake but assured her mother that it was only “almost as good” as hers. She talked about celebrating her birthday and lamenting that her grades weren’t as good as she’d hoped. She said the WAAC’s couldn’t complain about food, that they ate well. She mentioned how much they enjoyed potatoes as they often had “substitutes” like rice or macaroni. She said they sure couldn’t complain because they were all putting on weight!

One letter of interest from June, 1944 shared that her boss was “in a peck of trouble.” She couldn’t elaborate but expressed her utmost sympathy for him! She also added a p.s. to this letter requesting some things from home, including Arrid, a garter belt, starch , soap and gum. She commented more than once about soap being hard to get.

By August of 1945 Helen was anxious to get home and mentioned the “red tape” of the military. A letter from September 29th, 1945 from England mentions not being sure when she would actually get to the U. S. but “will see you again. Loads of love to all. Helen”

More can be learned about Helen’s time in the WAAC by visiting Tioga Point Museum website. To view the letters on website scroll down to Virtual Collection then choose Archives and enter Helen Van Guilder.

The Tioga Point Museum is open Tuesday and Thursday all year but hours are seasonal so please check our web page or Facebook page for current hours or call at 570 888 7225.

From Our Archives - Robert Crandall

Shared by Sandy Chamberlain

Spring has sprung and with that comes thoughts of flowers and butterflies! We have a wonderful collection of butterfly specimens at Tioga Point Museum, donated by Robert Crandall. It is believed he collected these during the 1930’s, when he was in college in Arizona and locally while he was a volunteer at the museum.

Robert Heggie Crandall, born in 1915, was a prominent nature photographer and was a former Athenian. He began his career as a boy in Athens by collecting butterflies and insects while recuperating from pneumonia. According to his brother Richard, he would lie in bed, recovering, and watch a spider, becoming fascinated by it. When he was a patient in the hospital, he was encouraged by Dr. Guthrie to pursue his interest. He devoted much time to the study of animals and insects after leaving the hospital.

From an article in the LA Times, written by Berkley Hudson in 1990:

At age 75, in 1990, Mr. Crandall recalls his fascination with insects and crawly things dates from his childhood and an actual memorable bite! “I was 8, giving a black widow spider a bath”, Crandall said of his first serious nip which occurred after he decided his pet arachnid needed a “shine.”

As a precocious youngster, he gave scientific talks before community groups, prompting his hometown newspaper to label him, “The Spider Boy.” At the age of 11, he took two unusual bot flies to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. A curator cajoled him into donating them, quickly doubling the museum’s collection of the species.

According to Gordon Gordh, a UC Riverside entomologist, he (Crandall) could work in any museum. “Science is improved considerably by his immense collecting talent. He’s probably never gained the notoriety he deserves.”

From some notes acquired by Todd Babcock during an interview with Richard Crandall, Robert graduated from Arizona State University with degrees in Business, Entomology and Zoology. He was a commodity trader after WWII and earned a comfortable living enabling him to build his insect collection. He was offered a professorship teaching position, but was declined since he was not comfortable speaking in front of people.

Upon his death, he left his collection to a woman who helped him later in life. She was going to sell the collection and had an offer from a collector. Robert’s brother, Richard, matched the price and bought his brother’s collection and donated it to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

From a mini biography written by I. S. Mowis:

He was known as the “Ant Man of Altadena”. In his lifetime, he amassed a vast collection of over half a million (catalogued) insect specimens, housed in 445 drawers. An old Admiral fridge in his home contained parasitic wasps and a tub in his bathroom was home to a Gila monster. A giant toad inhabiting the toilet scared the odd visitor.

Mr. Crandall has had insects named after him, including a tiny bee Perdita crandalli.

Mr. Crandall has had much written about him, since he started photography, but in 1954 he climaxed his career by the part he played for Walt Disney as one of two photographers for the film, “The Living Desert.”

As a nature photographer, “Bob was an absolute genius at getting insects to essentially perform according to script.“said Taras Kiceniuk, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer and Caltech lecturer. In the 1950’s, Kiceniuk helped Crandall develop jury-rigged zoom lenses before they were commercially available.

At the time of the interview with Mr. Hudson, in 1990, “Crandall is working on a new short film, “Adventures of Adam Ant,” the story of one ant’s life. He is dedicating it to his only child, Robert, who committed suicide with cyanide from the lab, and to his wife, Fanny, who just after their son’s death six years ago had a fatal fall while hiking alone in the San Gabriel Mountains.”

It has been said that those who knew Crandall called him hardheaded, brilliant, yet often playful and childlike.

Crandall was quoted as saying, “I’ve heard that according to actuarial tables, entomologists live longer than any other group because, you see, they can find something new every day. Then there’s always the excitement of whether you’ve snared a yellow jacket in your net!”

Mr. Crandall died in Altadena, California on August 27th, 2006 at the age of 91.

More information is available in our archives, including several trays of butterfly and insect specimens of Mr. Crandall.

The Tioga Point Museum is open 12-8p on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the year. You are invited to come and explore!