Last updated: March 1, 2024
Person
Dorothy Stratton
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard
Quick Facts
Significance:
First director of the US Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (SPARS)
Place of Birth:
Brookfield, MO
Date of Birth:
March 24, 1899
Place of Death:
West Lafayette, IN
Date of Death:
September 17, 2006
Dorothy Stratton was the Director of the SPARS, the women’s reserve branch of the US Coast Guard during World War II. Her leadership during the war worked to integrate women into home front military posts and gain respect from their male colleagues. She leaves a legacy of women’s inclusion and leadership.
Early Life and Career Before SPARS
Dorothy Constance Stratton was born in Missouri on March 24, 1899. She grew up throughout Missouri and Kansas as her father, Reverend Richard Lee Stratton, ministered different congregations. As a child, Stratton loved to read and play sports.
Stratton attended Ottawa University in Kansas. Then she earned a master’s in psychology from the University of Chicago. Stratton completed a PhD in student personnel administration at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1933, after earning her doctorate, Stratton became the Dean of Women at Purdue University. Her goals were to foster academics and independence for women at this majority-male college.
When World War II started, Stratton dedicated herself to the war effort. The WACs, the women’s auxiliary of the Army, asked her to recommend women as officer candidates. In 1942, she took leave from Purdue to enlist herself. She joined the WAVES, the Navy women’s reserves, as a senior lieutenant. Professors and academic women like Stratton were often asked to enlist as officers. They had experience supervising female students and so military leaders thought parents would entrust daughters in military service to their care.
Stratton went to train with other female officers in Northampton, Massachusetts. “When I got there,” she reported, “I thought I had made the worst mistake of my life.” The facility lacked basic amenities and supplies, Stratton remembered, “but we got along” [1]. After training, Stratton went to radio operators’ school at the University of Wisconsin. A few weeks later, she was summoned to the United States Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington DC.
SPARS Director
“I was whisked off to the Coast Guard’s headquarters on E Street. I had never seen an admiral in my life, but here I was, in a room full of them. I was told that there was legislation pending to create a woman’s reserve in the Coast Guard, and I had been recommended to become the first head of this group. I knew nothing about the Coast Guard. I had never even seen a Coast Guard officer. But I felt that if there was a job to be done, that was fine with me.” Dorothy Stratton. “Oral History-Launching the SPARS.” Naval History Magazine 3, No 2. April 1989.
Dorothy Stratton was asked to direct the new women’s branch of the US Coast Guard in August of 1942, less than a year after enlisting. Her former colleague from Oberlin, now the head of WAVES, Mildred McAfee, likely recommended Stratton. This appointment came with a promotion to Lt. Commander.
Stratton had to build this new organization from scratch. She called on 12 WAVES officer candidates from Northampton to help with initial recruitment. One key recruitment decision was the new group’s name. Stratton figured the WACs and WAVES already had catchy names; how could the Coast Guard compete? After a few nights of thinking, she settled on SPAR. It combined the Coast Guard’s motto, “Semper Paratus,” with its English translation: “Always Ready.” Male admirals designed the uniforms, a reminder to Stratton to pick her battles. Stratton was the director but didn’t have commanding officer status. All major decisions had to be rubber-stamped by Admirals above her in the chain of command.
One of Stratton’s challenges was recruitment. Stratton worried the perception of SPARS was not positive. Because the Coast Guard was a masculine space, some people felt that women recruits were “camp followers,” there to do domestic tasks, and their jobs weren’t serious [2]. There were originally strict standards for physical fitness that Stratton had to relax so more women would qualify. Stratton tried to improve the news coverage of SPARS to encourage more women to join.
The other challenge was acceptance, for herself and the women who enlisted in SPARS. Some men in the Coast Guard saw the women as a joke. Others resented the purpose of SPARS: to “free up men to fight overseas.” Stratton addressed this by having the women called “sir.” She also worked to separate SPARS from WAVEs to avoid the competitiveness between the Coast Guard and the Navy. She initially thought it would be easier for SPARS and WAVES to train together. Instead, Stratton chose the Biltmore Hotel in Florida to specifically train new SPARS. The Biltmore Hotel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972. Finally, she saw potential allies in the wives of Coast Guard men, particularly officers, and courted their support.
Stratton also objected to the investigations of women’s personal lives. In later interviews, Stratton remembered that the Coast Guard hired private investigators. It dismissed women whom they suspected of being lesbians. Stratton disavowed this practice. “They did an awful lot of snooping into personal lives that wasn't helping us win the war, which was what we were all supposed to be about.” [3]
As thousands of women enlisted in SPARS, Stratton oversaw their training and deployment. She was promoted to Lt. Commander in 1944. In 1946, earning the rank of Captain, she retired from the military. She was awarded the Legion of Merit.
Post-War Career
After World War II, Stratton became the director of personnel at the International Monetary Fund. She served for three years before becoming the executive director of the Girl Scouts in 1950.
Stratton led the Girl Scouts during the “American Legion Crisis.” Conservative groups accused the organization of being “un-American,” particularly for encouraging global citizenship. These accusations ignored the patriotic elements of the Girl Scouts. However, they sparked a national debate about whether mothers should allow daughters to join. Once again, Stratton oversaw a publicity tour. She recruited support from people like Eleanor Roosevelt. The national Girl Scouts office also pushed chapters around the country to desegregate and focus on civil rights during Stratton’s tenure.
Stratton retired in 1960. She continued to do public-facing work, like serving on the President’s Commission on the Employment of the Handicapped. She lived for a time in Connecticut with a friend named Jinny. When Jinny died, Stratton moved back to Illinois to live with long-time friend, fellow SPAR, and Purdue administrator Helen B Schleman [4]. While she supported privacy rights for Spars and other women, including about their sex lives, Stratton never commented on her relationships with these women or if they extended beyond friendship.
Legacy
In 2006, Dorothy Stratton died at age 107. The Coast Guard named a National Security Cutter after her, dedicated by First Lady Michelle Obama in 2008. Stratton was a tireless advocate for women; at Purdue University, in the United States Coast Guard, and in the Girl Scouts.
Notes:
[1] Stratton. “Oral History-Launching the SPARs”. Naval History Magazine 3, No 2. April 1989.
[2] "Oral History"
[3] "Oral History"
[4] Klink. The Deans’ Bible: Five Purdue Women and Their Quest for Equality. 353, 362-363
Bibliography
“Dorothy C. Stratton, Purdue’s first dean of women, dies at 107.” Purdue University. Dorothy C. Stratton, Purdue's first dean of women, dies at 107
Klink, Angie. The Deans’ Bible: Five Purdue Women and Their Quest for Equality. Purdue University Press, 2014. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wq1mp.
Thomas P. Ostrom. The United States Coast Guard in World War II: A History of Domestic and Overseas Actions. Ukraine, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2009.
Stratton, Dorothy C. “Oral History-Launching the SPARs”. Naval History Magazine 3, No 2. April 1989. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1989/april/oral-history-launching-spars
Susan H. Swetnam. “Look Wider Still: The Subversive Nature of Girl Scouting in the 1950s.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, 2016, pp. 90–114. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.5250/fronjwomestud.37.1.0090. Accessed 5 Jan. 2024.
“Who was Dorothy Stratton?” Purdue University: Veterans and Military Success Center.
This article was researched by Ella Wagner, PhD, and written by Alison Russell, Consulting Historians with the Cultural Resources Office of Interpretation and Education. It was funded by the National Council on Public History’s cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.