Women of the Greatest Generation Project
Women of the Greatest Generation: Stories of Faith, Hope, Love and Courage Series
Rev. Dr. Fran Bogle and Rev. Nancy Reed deeply believe that every person has sacred truths to share. As we visited women who lived through the time of the Second World War, we realized their stories stories of faith, hope, love, and courage would be lost if they were not recorded.
Through our book series we are sharing the scared stories of some of these amazing women. We want to preserve them for future generations so that people today can learn from their experiences.
The stories are as different as the women who shared them and we are happy to share them in their own words. Some were the first to do jobs traditionally held by men. Most simply did all they could to help their families get through a difficult and frightening time. Story tellers ranged in age during the war from six to twenty-six. We are grateful to each woman for sharing her story with us.
Participants met with us for individual interviews. We took their photos, admired their scrapbooks, and enjoyed coffee, tea, cookies, waffles and strawberry shortcake with them. We laughed, cried and shared our faith stories together.
We have been deeply inspired by these women. Their willingness to share their stories of hope and heartache, love and courage, laughter and struggle has been a gift to us. We share their stories in a series of books and our play “Women of the Greatest Generation: Stories of Faith, Hope, Love and Courage”. Invite us, and we will present the play in your community. Remember to buy our books! They are great gift.
Our Books
Women of the Greatest Generation, Volume 1
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Kitty talks about providing care to wounded soldiers returning from fighting in Africa and dancing in the evenings at USO events. Peg shares about her experiences an Army nurse living through the Battle of the Bulge. Sally raised the rats that helped doctors research penicillin. Emma made periscope mirrors for submarines in Glasgow, Scotland. Alice served in the Marines and Marguerite was one of the first women chemists to work in US industry.
Women of the Greatest Generation, Volume 2
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Rosemarie shares what it was like to growing up in Germany and living through the Allied Occupation. Dorothy remembers taming rats use a test subjects for vitamins. Jaqueline tells about being in the first Negro dance troupe that travelled to Europe after the war. Sakae remembers life in Japan during and after the war. Josephine helped her church run a Saturday night suppers and dances for soldiers and sailors in Boston.
Women of the Greatest Generation, Volume 3
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Mae recounts working as a nurse who helped administer Penicillin to the first civilians to receive it. Ruth talks about being a plane spotter while in high school. Celestine says she couldn’t find a nursing school in Michigan that would accept African America women. Lois recalls what it was like to be the only African American woman getting off the train in a new town, and that white cabbies would pick her up last or not at all. She was trying to visit her husband who was stationed at Army hospitals across the country. Helen recalled her husband coming home as a skeleton after being a POW in Germany. Lorna sang hymns to build morale with her youth choir…
Women of the Greatest Generation, Volume 4
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Ginnie remembers walking a mile with her dad to raise their Victory Garden. Norma shares about growing up on the Canal Zone. Anna tells about being forced to work for the Nazi’s in Holland and Mille tells about growing up in an occupied town in Italy. Ruth watched for submarines with her dad on the Maine coast and Gloria was a dancer with the Junior USO.