United States Navy Officer, Social Reformer. Her initiatives lead to the full utilization of women in the United States Navy. Raised in southern New Jersey, she attended business school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and during World War I joined the Navy as a Yeoman, the only avenue of service, besides nurse, then open to women. One of the rare women of her rank to escape secretarial duty, she served as a courier in Camden, New Jersey and at Naval Air Station, Cape May, New Jersey. Discharged after the end of the war, she was a civilian employee at the Bureau of Aeronautics, editing "Naval Aviation News", and married her first husband, Lieutenant Charles Little, who died in the explosion of the rigid airship "ZR-2 "in 1921. In 1924 she married her second husband, Lieutenant Commander Lewis Hancock, Jr., who was killed in the 1925 crash of the airship "USS Shenandoah" (ZR-1). After Hancock's death she returned to the Bureau of Aeronautics, working in public affairs, obtained a pilot's license, and published her first book, "Airplanes in Action" in 1938. With the onset of World War II, the United States Congress passed the law authorizing the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and she was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. Despite the official Congressional authorization, women in the service were discriminated against, and through Lieutenant Hancock's efforts, women were admitted into technical career fields and the General Line Officer's Course. She was able to obtain regulation changes allowing WAVES to serve overseas. When World War II was over, Lieutenant Hancock was determined to prevent the rapid mustering-out that had taken place in 1918, and to allow women peacetime naval service; she was promoted to captain, and made Director of the WAVES. For the next two years she enlisted support, and lobbied Congress. On July 30, 1948, President Harry S Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, and Captain Hancock was one of the first group of ladies sworn into the Regular Navy. After her 1953 retirement, she worked in real estate, dividing her time between Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. Her autobiography, "Lady in the Navy", was published in 1972. Captain Hancock's decorations include the Legion of Merit. A school in San Diego, California is named for her.
United States Navy Officer, Social Reformer. Her initiatives lead to the full utilization of women in the United States Navy. Raised in southern New Jersey, she attended business school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and during World War I joined the Navy as a Yeoman, the only avenue of service, besides nurse, then open to women. One of the rare women of her rank to escape secretarial duty, she served as a courier in Camden, New Jersey and at Naval Air Station, Cape May, New Jersey. Discharged after the end of the war, she was a civilian employee at the Bureau of Aeronautics, editing "Naval Aviation News", and married her first husband, Lieutenant Charles Little, who died in the explosion of the rigid airship "ZR-2 "in 1921. In 1924 she married her second husband, Lieutenant Commander Lewis Hancock, Jr., who was killed in the 1925 crash of the airship "USS Shenandoah" (ZR-1). After Hancock's death she returned to the Bureau of Aeronautics, working in public affairs, obtained a pilot's license, and published her first book, "Airplanes in Action" in 1938. With the onset of World War II, the United States Congress passed the law authorizing the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and she was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. Despite the official Congressional authorization, women in the service were discriminated against, and through Lieutenant Hancock's efforts, women were admitted into technical career fields and the General Line Officer's Course. She was able to obtain regulation changes allowing WAVES to serve overseas. When World War II was over, Lieutenant Hancock was determined to prevent the rapid mustering-out that had taken place in 1918, and to allow women peacetime naval service; she was promoted to captain, and made Director of the WAVES. For the next two years she enlisted support, and lobbied Congress. On July 30, 1948, President Harry S Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, and Captain Hancock was one of the first group of ladies sworn into the Regular Navy. After her 1953 retirement, she worked in real estate, dividing her time between Washington, D.C., and the Virgin Islands. Her autobiography, "Lady in the Navy", was published in 1972. Captain Hancock's decorations include the Legion of Merit. A school in San Diego, California is named for her.
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