It was in World War I that women's role in the Navy first came into its own‹while leaving a long way to go. The Navy Nurse Corps was born in 1908, and, in addition to the nurses, some 12,000 women served on active duty as ``yeomanettes.'' They were the answer to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels' question, ``Is there any law that says a yeoman has to be a man?'' Ever since, in a long and glorious saga of service, women of the Navy have been building traditions of excellence while tearing down antiquated traditions about their place in and the role of women in the military.

In July 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the legislation authorizing the enlistment and commissioning of women in the Naval Reserve‹the first time women were allowed to be part of the armed services instead of an auxiliary to a service branch. Thus was born the WAVES‹Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. More progress was to be made during and following World War II, when women‹previously confined to reserve status‹were at last permitted to become a part of the Regular Navy. In the next four decades, women's opportunities continued to expand, including assignments to and command of ships and squadrons of the Navy‹and promotion to flag rank in the unrestricted line officer corps.

Women in the Navy today serve side by side their male counterparts in almost every aspect of naval service, as depicted by Sculptor Serena Goldstein Litofsky's bronze relief. This work was sponsored by the Navy Women National Convention Association and the Women Officer's Professional Association. This sculpture was the first of the 22 panels on the sculpture wall to be fully sponsored