Myrtle Hazard
A young white woman with short hair, wearing a US Coast Guard Uniform, from a 1918 photograph.
Myrtle Hazard in her Coast Guard uniform, 1918.
Born
Myrtle Rae Holthaus

1892
Baltimore
DiedMay 19, 1951 (aged 58–59)
Baltimore
Other namesMyrtle Gambrill (after second marriage)
OccupationElectrician's Mate
Known forFirst woman to enlist in the U. S. Coast Guard (1918)

Myrtle Rae Holthaus Hazard (1892 – May 19, 1951), later Myrtle Gambrill, was an American electrician and radio operator in the United States Coast Guard during World War I. She was the first woman to enlist in the Coast Guard.

Early life

Myrtle Rae Holthaus was from Baltimore, the daughter of Charles H. Holthaus[1] and Lillian (Lillie) Otto Holthaus.[2][3] Hazard, who survived polio as a girl,[4] learned radio and telegraph skills in an evening course offered at the YMCA in Baltimore.[5]

Career

In January 1918, during World War I, Hazard enlisted and became a radio operator for the Coast Guard.[4] As there was no official women's uniform, she chose her own ensemble, a middy blouse and a blue pleated skirt.[6] Hazard lived with her parents and son in Baltimore, and worked in Washington, D.C. until the end of the war.[7] She concluded her service in November 1919 as an Electrician's Mate 1st Class. She was the first woman to enlist in the Coast Guard,[4] and the first to hold electrician status in the Coast Guard.[5] For her service, she received the Order of St. Sava from the government of Serbia.[8] "I like to think I helped prove that women can contribute more to national defense than just waiting for the war to end," she told an interviewer in 1950.[4]

Personal life and legacy

In 1910, at age 18,[9] Myrtle Holthaus married Claude A. Hazard,[1] who worked in the Panama Canal Zone. They had a son, Claude Jack Hazard. She later remarried, to Henry Webster "Harry" Gambrill.[10][11] She died in 1951.[12]

In 2019, her name was included in J. Luis Correa's address in Congress, honoring the Coast Guard on its 229th year.[13][14]

In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the Coast Guard's most senior non-commissioned officer, proposed that all the cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who particularly distinguished themselves.[15][16][17] In May, 2020, the Coast Guard accepted the 39th cutter in the class, named USCGC Myrtle Hazard, in Hazard's honor.[5][18]

References

  1. 1 2 "Hazard-Holthaus". The Baltimore Sun. 1910-09-30. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Larson, C. Kay (2019-10-10). "The Long Blue Line: EM1 Hazard—Coast Guard's 1st female service member". Coast Guard Compass. Retrieved 2020-08-30. The entry was slim. Baltimore native, Myrtle R. Hazard, was cited as being the only woman electrician in the Coast Guard and one of the government's few female radio operators. A photograph shows her to be a serious-looking brunette with short hair and large, dark eyes. She is apparently in uniform, as she wears a sailor's collar with stripes.
  3. ↑ "Holthaus (death notice)". The Evening Sun. 1949-01-22. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-08-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Original SPAR Declares Women Have an Important Place in a War Effort". Coast Guard Bulletin. 6: 26–28. September 1950.
  5. 1 2 3 "Coast Guard takes delivery of Fast Response Cutter Myrtle Hazard". Coast Guard News. May 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  6. ↑ Randolph, Ted (1945-08-09). "Coast Guard 'For Men Only' Tradition Broken 27 Years Ago By Accident". The Alexander City Outlook. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-08-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "She is Only 'Engineeress' in U. S. Coast Guard". The Washington Times. 1918-01-12. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-08-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Wells, William R. II. "Hazard of Radio: The Coast Guard's First Female Radio Electrician" Simply Forgot Us (July 9, 2019).
  9. ↑ "Marriage Licenses". The Baltimore Sun. 1910-09-29. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-08-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Gambrill (death notice)". The Baltimore Sun. 1958-03-16. p. 127. Retrieved 2020-08-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Gambrill Rites Set". The Baltimore Sun. 1958-03-17. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-08-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Gambrill (death notice)". The Baltimore Sun. 1951-05-21. p. 19. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  13. ↑ Correa, J. Luis. "Recognizing the Contributions of Diverse U. S. Coast Guard Service Members on the U. S. Coast Guard's 229th Birthday" an address in the United States Congress (July 26, 2019).
  14. ↑ "U.S. Coast Guard Celebrates 229 Years". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  15. ↑ Susan Schept (2010-03-22). "Enlisted heroes honored". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2011-12-03. Retrieved 2013-02-01. After the passing of several well-known Coast Guard heroes last year, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" Bowen mentioned in his blog that the Coast Guard does not do enough to honor its fallen heroes.
  16. ↑ "U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". 2010-03-22. Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2013-02-01. Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service's new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
  17. ↑ "FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class". Defense Industry Daily. 2014-05-02. Archived from the original on 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-04-03. All of these boats will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes, who distinguished themselves in USCG or military service. The first 25 have been named, but only 8 have been commissioned...
  18. ↑ Wyatt Olson (2020-09-24). "Guam Coast Guard receives first of three fast-response cutters planned for the island". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 2020-09-24. The crew of the Myrtle Hazard sailed from Key West, Fla., to the cutter's new homeport in Santa Rita, the Coast Guard said in a statement Thursday.
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