Women in the U.S. Coast Guard

Information on the History of Women in the Coast Guard
and Its Predecessor Services

The all-female crew of a Yerba Buena Island 41-footer

The all-female crew of a Yerba Buena Island 41-footer; left to right: BM1 Jane Piereth, BM3 Gail Wheeler, MK1 Esther Lieberman, BM1 Becky Post, BM3 Adele Fiorillo; April, 1989. Photo by PA1 Ron Cabral

Overviews & Chronologies:

A History of Women in the Coast Guard: An article by Dr. John A. Tilley

Women in the Coast Guard: A Historical Chronology

Women in the United States Coast Guard

Women in the Coast Guard: A Historical Bibliography

Women in the Coast Guard's OCS Program

Women Lighthouse Keepers

"Woman's Work: Female Lighthouse Keepers in the Early Republic, 1820-1859"; a Master of Arts' Thesis by Virginia Neal Thomas.

"Women Find Favor with Coast Guard Fashion," Women's Uniform Changes in 1974

Women at the Coast Guard Academy: A Historical Timeline of the Early Years

SPARS: The Coast Guard Women's Reserve:

SPARS: An Illustrated History of the Coast Guard Women's Reserve in World War II

U. S. Coast Guard, Public Information Division. The Coast Guard at War: Women's Reserve. Vol. XII. Washington, DC: US Coast Guard, 1946 (The official history of the SPARs during World War II).

SPAR Uniforms: A Historical Photograph Gallery, 1942-1974

Historic Documents, Reports & Studies:

U.S. Department of the Navy's 1974 report of the evaluation of "Women Aboard USS SANCTUARY (AG 17)" in 1973. This report was utilized by the Coast Guard as they prepared to integrate women on board cutters.

"Women in the Coast Guard Study," Commandant Publication 5312.17, 1990 (Advance Copy).

Notable Coast Guard Women:

Deborah Atkin, USCG
Maria Bray, USLHS
Jody A. Breckenridge, USCG
Sally Brice-O'Hara, USCG
Diane Bucci, USCG
Abbie Burgess (Grant), USLHS
Cynthia A. Coogan, USCG
Vivien Crea, USCG
Marlene DeTienne, USCG
Pearl E. Faurie, USCGR (W)
Florence Ebersole Finch (Smith) USCGR (W)
Elizebeth Smith Friedman (Treasury Department, USCG)
Holly Harrison, USCG
Olivia Hooker, USCGR (W)
Beverly G. Kelley, USCG
Eleanor C. L'Ecuyer, USCGR
Mary E. Landry, USCG
Kelly (Mogk) Larson, USCG
Ida Lewis, USLHS
Barbara Mabrity, USLHS
Edith Munro, USCGR (W)
Fanny May Salter, USCG
Patricia Stolle, USCG
Sandra Stosz, USCG
Barbara Sutton, USCGR
Dorothy C. Stratton, USCGR (W)
Cari B. Thomas, USCG
Katherine Walker, USLHS

Oral Histories & Other First-Person Accounts:

SPAR Florence Finch was the only SPAR decorated for combat during World War II. Florence Finch was a decorated SPAR who saw action in enemy-occupied territory and was the only woman decorated with the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon.

SPAR Lillian Vasilas' oral history. Ms. Vasilas describes her career in the Coast Guard during World War II. She attended basic training at West Palm Beach and then served first as a driver and then as a radio operator in the Washington, D.C. area.

SPAR LTJG Harriet Writer's oral history. LTJG Writer became the first female Quartermaster in either the Navy or the Coast Guard and after earning her commission saw duty with the Aids to Navigation Office in Boston.

SPAR Donna Ione Smith and Coast Guardsmen Robert Smith; both were veterans of World War II.

PSC Sandy "Grandma Gunner" Mitten, a Coast Guard veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm who served with PSU-303. She describes her experiences in the Coast Guard Reserve and her time in Saudi Arabia as a patrol boat coxswain during Operation DS/DS.

TWA Fight 800 Recovery Efforts: A first-person account by CWO Patricia Golden

Egypt Air Flight 990 Recovery Efforts: A first-person account by CWO Patricia Golden

The oral history of LCDR Andrea Sacchetti. LCDR Sacchetti served as the Air Operations Officer during the 2008 "Concept of Operations" deployment to Barrow, Alaska.

A SPARs recruiting poster from World War II