Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II

by Liza Mundy

But the pressure to marry was intense. At Wellesley, there was an entire page of the yearbook, the Legenda, devoted to a list of engagements (Mabel J. Belcher to Raymond J. Blair; Alathena P. Smith to Frederick C. Kasten) and naming women who had recently married (Ann S. Hamilton to Lieutenant Arthur H. James). The school in 1940 delivered a series of marriage lectures to its students, including one on “marriage as a career,” another on “biological aspects of marriage,” and others on “obstetrics” and “the care of the young child.” School lore had it that the winner of the senior class hoop roll—performed with much hilarity in cap and gown—would be the “class’s first bride,” and the winner was awarded a bouquet in recognition.

What the fuck is this even...