Mildred H. McAfee
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Mildred Helen McAfee Horton (May 12, 1900 - September 2, 1994) was an American academic who served during World War II as first director of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in the United States Navy.
McAfee was born in Parkville, Missouri, the daughter of the Rev. Cleland Boyd McAfee and Harriet Brown. She graduated from Vassar College and received her Master's degree from the University of Chicago. She was dean of women at Centre College and then dean of women at Oberlin College. In 1936 she became president of Wellesley College.
During World War II she took a leave of absence from Wellesley to head the newly formed WAVES, a force that eventually numbered more than 80,000 women. She began with the initial rank of lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve, and was promoted to captain in 1943.
After the war, McAfee resigned from the Naval Reserve. She was the first woman to receive the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. She also received the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
In 1946, she married the Reverend Dr. Douglas Horton (d. 1968), the dean of the divinity school at Harvard University.
McAfee Hall at Wellesley is named in her honor, as is Horton Hall at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). She was President of the UNH Board of Trustees, serving on the Board from 1963 to 1974.
She died in Randolph, New Hampshire at the age of 94.
[edit] References
- Obituary, Boston Globe, September 3, 1994
[edit] External links
- Brief biography and some photographs
- Time magazine cover 1945
- Time magazine articles: 1936 and 1945
Categories: 1900 births | 1994 deaths | American military personnel of World War II | United States Navy officers | Women in World War II | People from Kansas City | American academics | University and college presidents | Vassar College alumni | Women in the United States military | University of Chicago alumni
