An Exceptional Endeavor: the United States Army's
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AN EXCEPTIONAL ENDEAVOR: THE UNITED STATES ARMY’S INDUSTRIALIZATION OF SEX WORK IN LIBERIA DURING WORLD WAR II by Mary Murphy, B.A. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a Major in History August 2017 Committee Members: Jessica Pliley, Chair Caroline Ritter Ellen Tillman COPYRIGHT by Mary L. Murphy 2017 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgment. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, Mary L. Murphy, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION For George “Doc” Abraham, the United States Task Force #5889, the Liberian women during World War II, and to the memory of Dr. James H. Pohl a devoted teacher, mentor, and historian. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is with the utmost gratitude that I call attention to those who have encouraged and offered guidance in my research. With the financial support from Texas State University’s Thesis Research Support Fellowship, the Department of History’s James H. Pohl Scholarship, and the history department’s Snider Travel Grant my research came to fruition and was enhanced through the resources and conferences this assistance afforded me. I received invaluable feedback from many conferences, most notably the American Studies in a Transatlantic Perspective: Critical Regionalism in Politics and Culture with The Bavarian American Academy in Munich at Texas State University in 2014, the Historicizing Rape Conference at Cardiff University in 2015, and the Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Gender, and Sexualities at Hofstra University in 2017. Kurt Piehler at the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience at Florida State University graciously sent me an interview with one of the nurses, and the staff at the United States Army Heritage and Education Center brought to my attention documents I was unaware existed. These resources greatly influenced my analysis of the social dynamics at play. I extend the utmost gratitude to Florentino Rodao for keeping me sane while conducting research at the national archives. At Texas State University, heartfelt thanks are extended to Stephanie Swenson Towery for her assistance with copyright, Nancy Berlage for primary source ideas and potential contacts, and Elizabeth Bishop for providing an enlightened sounding board for my musings. I was honored to have Caroline Ritter and Ellen Tillman serve as committee members for my thesis. Both v constantly pushed me to analyze more deeply my sources and my conclusions. This paper would be a sad sight sorrier without their contributions. I must bring special attention to Jessica Pliley. My thesis would not exist at all without her overwhelming support and guidance. The first time we met was at a coffee shop and all I had was an unverified narrative as a source. She took a chance on me and my life and scholarship are forever changed for the better because of knowing her. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................. xi ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: AT THE INTERSECTION OF EUGENICS, COLONIALISM, AND MILITARIZATION .............................................1 Civility, Fitness, and Militarized Women: Literature Review ...................14 Language is Not Black and White: Usage .................................................30 Tales from the Archives: Sources ..............................................................36 II. EUGENICS, VENEREAL DISEASE, AND THE ARMY ..............................40 Venereal Disease and the First World War ................................................48 Fighting Venereal Disease in World War II ..............................................54 Conclusion .................................................................................................65 III. RACIAL UPLIFT AND THE POLITICS OF RESPECTABILITY ...............68 Racial Uplift in the Army ..........................................................................75 Troop #5889: The Liberian Task Force .....................................................81 African American Nurses in Liberia ..........................................................92 vii Conclusion ...............................................................................................106 III. UNITED STATES COLONIALISM IN LIBERIA ......................................110 Colonizing the Coast ................................................................................119 Colonizing the Hinterland ........................................................................126 De Facto Colonization .............................................................................132 Conclusion ...............................................................................................141 V. LIBERIAN SEX WORK ................................................................................144 Justifying Sexual Control .........................................................................149 Investigating the Tolerated Villages ........................................................152 The Tolerated Villages .............................................................................160 Resistance to Sexual Control ...................................................................171 Conclusion ...............................................................................................179 VI. CONCLUSIONS ...........................................................................................184 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................193 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Number of United States soldiers as classified by the army based upon racial categories the army tracked ..........................................................................................33 2. Illustrates the rise in venereal disease in the United States while Denmark and Sweden infection rates decreased ...............................................................................................56 3. Venereal disease rates among United States draftees with racial breakdown showing an increase once the army started accepting infected inductees ...................................58 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 1. United States Army Forces in the Middle East, jurisdictional map, 1944 ......................1 2. Graphic illustrating that African Americans’ class, economics, and environment greatly influenced venereal disease rates ......................................................................68 3. Map of Liberia ............................................................................................................110 4. Documents the decline in venereal disease as restrictions were imposed ..................181 x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Illustration Page 1. George “Doc” Abraham while stationed in Liberia, circa 1942-1943 ............................3 2. Naples prophylactic station ...........................................................................................80 3. Prophylactic station in Iran ...........................................................................................80 4. African American nurses stationed in Liberia ..............................................................93 5. Unofficial transcript of Chief Nurse, Lieutenant Susan Freeman’s interview............100 6. “Americans Inspecting Prostitutes” ............................................................................106 7. “Camp Shangri-La, home to three hundred Army-hired native girls” ........................146 8. “Camp Paradise, also home to three hundred native girls” ........................................161 9. Health center ...............................................................................................................164 10. Idlewylde...................................................................................................................167 11. “War Progeny…of American Troops” .....................................................................178 xi ABSTRACT After the United States entered World War II, one of the first troops sent overseas, Troop #5889, arrived in Liberia in June 1942. It was primarily tasked with guarding the Firestone Rubber plantation, one of the Allies only sources of rubber, and managing Roberts Field, a major aviation hub for lend-lease operations into Africa and the Middle East. The task force consisted of a predominately African American infantry, less than one hundred European American officers,