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

by Liza Mundy

Norman Torkelson wrote to me about his mother, Jean Theresa Pugh. He recalled that once he was sitting in his parents’ den with his parents and siblings, watching a 60 Minutes segment about World War II. The show mentioned the Battle of the Coral Sea and the code breaking that preceded that engagement. “I guess I can tell you what I did during the war now,” his mother abruptly said. Torkelson’s father began explaining that their mom had been a secretary, when she interrupted him. “No, Harold, I broke codes for the Navy and my girls worked on and broke that code.” She stood up and high-fived everybody in the room. “Dad was speechless,” Norman remembers.

It made me think we should all interview our parents and grandparents more often.

I heard from Bill Nye the Science Guy, who believes that the wartime cryptologic background of his mother, Jacqueline Jenkins-Nye, is one reason he himself became a science educator (and a lover of swing music and the Lindy Hop). Bill said he often reflects on her funeral; as a naval veteran she was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, where three of the seven military “riflemen” firing her honorary salute were women. “My mom would have been absolutely delighted,” he wrote; she was a staunch feminist.

My grateful thanks go, first, to the women who did this work during the war.

Most took the secret to their graves, and it is too late, unfortunately, to thank them in person.

I also am grateful to the women who consented to be interviewed for this book, many in circum...

Viola Moore Blount shared recollections by email. Dorothy Ramale and Edith Reynolds White were confined to wheelchairs, but you’d never know it given how smartly they dressed. Suzanne Harpole Embree shared memories over Bloody Marys at the downtown D.C. Cosmos Club. When the Metro broke down, she walked several blocks and stood in line for the bus. Jo Fannon shared pamphlets she had saved for more than seventy years. Jane Case Tuttle wore the most awesome leopard-print bathrobe and gave me a gift bag of clean balled socks to throw at the television whenever a politician said something inane. It was easy to understand how women with this much spirit and fortitude helped the Allies win the war.

That this book exists is thanks to the efforts of many people who wished to see the women’s story come to light. NSA historian Betsy Smoot, chief among these, shared advice, articles, contacts, links, and many patient explanations. Jennifer Wilcox, administrator at the National Cryptologic Museum, broke ground on this topic in several museum publications, and shared her files. At the Cryptologic Museum Library, Rene Stein, who knows where everything is and has digitized most of it, provided an instant response to my every question. In Dayton, Ohio, Deborah Anderson, the daughter of Joseph Desch, is one of the few Americans who sought to contact former code breakers, and perhaps the only person who orchestrated reunions to honor them. She has amassed a rich collection of photos and clippings and letters, which she shared over the course of several very fun days.

Several people did a service to the women by sharing notes from their own earlier projects. Mary Carpenter wrote a wonderful piece for the Wellesley alumnae magazine and, bless her, saved her notes, which she gave me. She has no idea how many times I reread them. Curt Dalton interviewed the women of Sugar Camp for his own excellent book, and generously provided the audiotapes. These are priceless records. Kerry Feduk at South Carolina ETV went to great lengths to locate and reproduce the full uncut interview with the late Frances Steen Suddeth Josephson, portions of which appear on their South Carolina’s Greatest Generation DVD. Lieutenant Colonel Mike Bigelow from the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command History Office shared information on Arlington Hall as well as the oral histories conducted with WACs by Karen Kovach, who also met with me. Regina Akers, naval historian in the Histories and Archives Division at the Naval History and Heritage Command, shared her insights and guided me to those archives.