3-5-0 Girls

10/11/2026

We had a fantastic time yesterday at the American Heritage Museum, sharing the stories of the 350,000 women who served during World War II.

We displayed uniforms representing the WAC, Marine Corps WR, WAVES, and the WASP. We always love coming to AHM, we get to meet the most incredible people and talk with everyone from veterans to Civil Air Patrol Cadets, family members of veterans, self declared history needs, and everyone in between.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our display yesterday and those who are now following us on socials, welcome! We are also self declared history nerds 😊

10/10/2026

10/09/2026

Lt Cmdr Eleanor Rigby was assigned the District Director for the 14th Naval District in October 1944. She had previously established other training facilities for the WAVES, most notably at Hunter College, where the enlisted basic training. In her history, she described all the challenges of getting the WAVES housed in Hawaii and the pace of life compared to stateside assignments. When an interviewer asked her for any fun stories from her time in Hawaii, she shot him down, saying they weren't there for fun. They were there for work, and they were there to serve their duty.

Her records from this time reflect a different perspective on women's military roles than we typically hear, but she kept a focus on the military nature of their work and their responsibilities and the missions they supported.

10/08/2026

Despite her incredible 20 years of service to the Marine Corps, no known photos of GySgt Geraldine Moran have been found. It's one of the challenges we come up against when telling these stories, and it's also shocking that despite her years of service and leadership, her story wasn't better recorded.

We know through newspaper records that then Sgt Geraldine Moran was the first WR off the ship in Hawaii in January 1945. She was one of the first women to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1943. In 1960, she was the first woman to become a Gunnery Sergeant.

And yet we have no photos of her. She would have had promotional images taken, probably publicity images, as well. But they've disappeared to history.

It's a reminder of why we do what we do. We may not have photos, but we can ensure her name, her story, aren't lost as well. When we bring out the uniforms that these women wore, we do so to represent everyone whose stories would likely otherwise be forgotten. We've heard that the absence of primary sources, imagery, or interp materials is why women's stories are often left out but we feel that it's important to speak their name and share their stories even if we don't always have a tangible object to go with it.

10/07/2026

When the Navy WAVES, Coast Guard SPARS, and Marine Corps Women’s Reserve were established, the women could not serve outside the Lower 48. The WAC and nurses had been assigned overseas as early as 1942, but the women in the WAVES, SPARS, and WRs were restricted to the American Theater.

Hawaii is often forgotten as an active part of the Pacific Theater post 1941. But Hawaii remained a critical military hub as the war moved steadily west toward the Japanese mainland. As more men were needed further in the Pacific, there was an increasing need for trained military personnel who could take over essential jobs in Hawaii and free men for those assignments.

In September 1944, new legislation allowed the WAVES, SPARS, and Women’s Reserve to serve in Hawaii, their first and only overseas assignment. The Women’s Army Corps had already arrived in March, supporting Air Transport Command.

In December 1944, leadership from the WAVES, SPARS, and Women’s Reserve arrived in Hawaii to prepare for the women who would begin arriving in January 1945. Everyone sent to Hawaii had to volunteer and complete additional training before being assigned. They served with the 14th Naval District, at Pearl Harbor, and at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, filling dozens of different jobs.

Many of these women played an important role in aviation, working as aviation machinists, communications specialists, weather observers, and in other positions that helped keep the Pacific war effort moving.

10/02/2026

We learned yesterday that Meta is now charging users to post links: $49 for up to 20 links per month, or $500 for unlimited links.

We took some time to look at our own use of links, including how frequently we share them, what types of information we link to, and how those posts perform.

We share approximately 50 links each month. These typically include educational resources such as blog posts, research, and YouTube videos; event information and registration; obituary and funeral information; and links to our website.

What stands out is how poorly links already perform. We regularly hear from supporters who did not see an event announcement, resource, or other information we shared. We have also experienced significant limitations in trying to reach people through paid promotion. We do not pay for verification, and an advertisement we attempted to run this summer was rejected because our event was classified as "political."

That makes the prospect of paying $500 per month particularly difficult to justify. There is also no guarantee that paying for unlimited links will prevent those posts from being limited by the algorithm or otherwise receiving little visibility.

For a small organization like ours, $500 per month ($6,000 a year) is a significant amount of money. That is funding that could instead support educational programs, research, travel, exhibit materials, printing, or other direct program expenses.

We are going to spend some time this week looking at ways to make our website a more effective source of information and exploring the possibility of an email newsletter. We want to make sure there are reliable ways for people to find our events, programs, research, and other resources without depending entirely on social media.

We also recognize that this change could have a much broader impact. Many small organizations, nonprofits, museums, historians, artists, and small businesses rely on social media to share registration information, ticket sales, order forms, shop links, and other resources. A significant increase in the cost of simply sharing those links creates an additional barrier for organizations that already operate with limited resources.

We will be experimenting with some alternatives and would welcome suggestions from our supporters about the best ways to stay connected, particularly for event announcements and registration information.

Thank you to everyone who continues to follow, share, attend, and support our work. We are committed to making sure you can continue to find us, even as the social media landscape continues to change.

10/01/2026

WASP screening happening now! Thank you to Bill Suchy for making it possible for us to share this story tonight!

10/01/2026

Four years ago today, on October 1, 2022, 3-5-0 Girls attended our very first event at World War II Weekend at Battleship Cove.

We started with two uniforms and a really sad website (we’ll own it). Since then, we’ve traveled to 10 states and counting, participated in major commemorations including the 250th and a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony, and shared the stories of women who served with thousands of people, from junior enlisted to politicians and everyone in between.

We are so humbled and grateful for how far we’ve come. It has been our honor and privilege to bring these stories to the community and help keep the memory, service, sacrifice, and legacies of these women alive.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way, those who have donated, shared our work, hosted us, welcomed us, volunteered, helped with research, or sent us eBay listings at 3 a.m. Every bit of your support has helped us get here, and we truly could not do this without you.

And a special thank you to all the women veterans we’ve had the honor to meet through this work, whether in person, through a loved one, or online. This is your story, and it has been the best journey being entrusted with it. ❤️

Here’s to four years of 3-5-0 Girls, and many more to come.

09/30/2026

Next week, we have an exciting announcement about an upcoming program. For now, here's a little clue.

Meet Captain Winifred “Winnie” Quick Collins.

Capt. Collins graduated with the first class of officers from Smith College on August 28, 1942. She was assigned to Washington, D.C., where she and 11 other WAVES were tasked with determining the roles and responsibilities that would be filled by the newly established WAVES

In October 1944, Collins became the first non-medical female Navy officer to serve outside the continental United States when she was sent to Hawaii as the District Personnel Officer. She was responsible for preparing for the arrival of the WAVES and ensuring they had the resources and support they needed when they arrived in January 1945. Ultimately, she would oversee the personnel needs of approximately 5,000 WAVES stationed in Hawaii.

Her work continued after the war. Collins played an important role in planning for the integration of women into the Regular Navy, work that contributed to the passage of the Women’s Armed Forces Integration Act in June 1948.

She remained in the Navy, retiring as a Captain in 1962 after 20 years of service. She continued to be active in the veteran community until her death in May 1999.

Capt. Collins’ story is an important part of our upcoming program, and we’re looking forward to sharing more about her and the women she served alongside.

More to follow soon 😊

09/29/2026

We hope you can join us next week!

Silver Wings, Flying Dreams Film Screening and Discussion
Thursday, October 1, 2026, 6:00pm to 7:30pm
Senior Center, 40 New St, Marlborough, MA 01752

At the height of World War II, a courageous group of women shattered barriers and took their place in the cockpits of America’s military aircraft. Silver Wings, Flying Dreams brings the remarkable story of the WASP to life through firsthand accounts of daring missions, groundbreaking service, and a legacy that helped change aviation forever. Join the 3-5-0 Girls and Women Veterans Network for the incredible documentary. There will be a discussion to follow and light refreshments will be provided. To register: https://lnkd.in/gj-7FsRT