Myrtle Hazard
{{short description|American Coast Guard technician}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Myrtle Hazard
| image = Myrtle Hazard, in her USCG uniform, in the 1910s -a.jpg
| alt = A young white woman with short hair, wearing a US Coast Guard Uniform, from a 1918 photograph.
| caption = Myrtle Hazard in her Coast Guard uniform, 1918.
| other_names = Myrtle Gambrill (after second marriage)
| birth_name = Myrtle Rae Holthaus
| birth_date = 1892
| birth_place = Baltimore
| death_date = May 19, {{Death year and age|1951|1892}}
| death_place = Baltimore
| occupation = Electrician's Mate
| years_active =
| known_for = First woman to enlist in the U. S. Coast Guard (1918)
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Myrtle Rae Holthaus Hazard (1892 – May 19, 1951), later Myrtle Gambrill, was an American electrician and radio operator in the United States Coast Guard during World War I. She was the first woman to enlist in the Coast Guard, and the only woman to serve in the Coast Guard during World War I.
Early life
Myrtle Rae Holthaus was from Baltimore, the daughter of Charles H. Holthaus{{Cite news|date=1910-09-30|title=Hazard-Holthaus|pages=8|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58346419/hazard-holthaus/|access-date=2020-08-30|via=Newspapers.com}} and Lillian (Lillie) Otto Holthaus.{{Cite news|last=Larson|first=C. Kay|date=2019-10-10|title=The Long Blue Line: EM1 Hazard—Coast Guard's 1st female service member|url=https://compass.coastguard.blog/2019/10/10/the-long-blue-line-em1-hazard-coast-guards-1st-female-service-member/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930143638/https://compass.coastguard.blog/2019/10/10/the-long-blue-line-em1-hazard-coast-guards-1st-female-service-member/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 30, 2020|access-date=2020-08-30|work=Coast Guard Compass|language=en-US | quote = The entry was slim. Baltimore native, Myrtle R. Hazard, was cited as being the only woman electrician in the Coast Guard and one of the government's few female radio operators. A photograph shows her to be a serious-looking brunette with short hair and large, dark eyes. She is apparently in uniform, as she wears a sailor's collar with stripes. }}{{Cite news|date=1949-01-22|title=Holthaus (death notice)|pages=2|work=The Evening Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58346978/holthaus-death-notice/|access-date=2020-08-30|via=Newspapers.com}} Hazard, who survived polio as a girl,{{Cite journal|date=September 1950|title=Original SPAR Declares Women Have an Important Place in a War Effort|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6HVAAAAMAAJ&q=Mrs.+Harry+W.+Gambrill&pg=PA26|journal=Coast Guard Bulletin|volume=6|pages=26–28}} learned radio and telegraph skills in an evening course offered at the YMCA in Baltimore.{{Cite web|date=May 30, 2020|title=Coast Guard takes delivery of Fast Response Cutter Myrtle Hazard|url=https://coastguardnews.com/coast-guard-takes-delivery-of-fast-response-cutter-myrtle-hazard/2020/05/30/|access-date=2020-08-30|website=Coast Guard News}}
Career
In January 1918, during World War I, Hazard enlisted and became a radio operator for the Coast Guard. As there was no official women's uniform, she chose her own ensemble, a middy blouse and a blue pleated skirt.{{Cite news|last=Randolph|first=Ted|date=1945-08-09|title=Coast Guard 'For Men Only' Tradition Broken 27 Years Ago By Accident|pages=10|work=The Alexander City Outlook|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33426262/the-alexander-city-outlook/|access-date=2020-08-30|via=Newspapers.com}} Hazard lived with her parents and son in Baltimore, and worked in Washington, D.C. until the end of the war.{{Cite news|date=1918-01-12|title=She is Only 'Engineeress' in U. S. Coast Guard|pages=4|work=The Washington Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33427038/the-washington-times/|access-date=2020-08-30|via=Newspapers.com}} She concluded her service in November 1919 as an Electrician's Mate 1st Class. She was the first woman to enlist in the Coast Guard, the only woman to serve in the Coast Guard during World War I, and the first woman to hold electrician status in the Coast Guard. (Wartime newspapers erroneously reported that twin sisters Genevieve and Lucille Baker were the first women to serve in the Coast Guard; in fact, while they tried to enlist during the war, they were not accepted.{{Cite web |last=Vojvodich |first=Donna |date=2023-03-24 |title=The Long Blue Line: The Baker Twins—Re-searching the first female Coasties - or were they? |url=https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/3311017/the-long-blue-line-the-baker-twinsre-searching-the-first-female-coasties-or-wer/ |access-date=2023-06-30 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230628043621/https://www.mycg.uscg.mil/News/Article/3311017/the-long-blue-line-the-baker-twinsre-searching-the-first-female-coasties-or-wer/ |archive-date= 2023-06-28 |url-status=live |website=United States Coast Guard |language=en-US}}) For her service, she received the Order of St. Sava from the government of Serbia.Wells, William R. II. [http://simplyforgotus.blogspot.com/2019/07/hazard-of-radio_9.html "Hazard of Radio: The Coast Guard's First Female Radio Electrician"] Simply Forgot Us (July 9, 2019). "I like to think I helped prove that women can contribute more to national defense than just waiting for the war to end," she told an interviewer in 1950.
Personal life and legacy
In 1910, at age 18,{{Cite news|date=1910-09-29|title=Marriage Licenses|pages=9|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58346709/marriage-licenses/|access-date=2020-08-30|via=Newspapers.com}} Myrtle Holthaus married Claude A. Hazard, who worked in the Panama Canal Zone. They had a son, Claude Jack Hazard. She later remarried, to Henry Webster "Harry" Gambrill.{{Cite news|date=1958-03-16|title=Gambrill (death notice)|pages=127|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33426121/the-baltimore-sun/|access-date=2020-08-30|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|date=1958-03-17|title=Gambrill Rites Set|pages=13|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33426212/the-baltimore-sun/|access-date=2020-08-30|via=Newspapers.com}} She died in 1951.{{Cite news|date=1951-05-21|title=Gambrill (death notice)|pages=19|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33426051/the-baltimore-sun/|access-date=2020-08-30}}
In 2019, her name was included in J. Luis Correa's address in Congress, honoring the Coast Guard on its 229th year.Correa, J. Luis. [https://www.congress.gov/116/crec/2019/07/26/CREC-2019-07-26-extensions.pdf "Recognizing the Contributions of Diverse U. S. Coast Guard Service Members on the U. S. Coast Guard's 229th Birthday"] an address in the United States Congress (July 26, 2019).{{Cite web|title=U.S. Coast Guard Celebrates 229 Years|url=https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/u-s-coast-guard-celebrates-229-years|access-date=2020-08-30|website=The Maritime Executive|language=en}}
In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the Coast Guard's most senior non-commissioned officer, proposed that all the cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who particularly distinguished themselves. In May, 2020, the Coast Guard accepted the 39th cutter in the class, named USCGC Myrtle Hazard, in Hazard's honor.
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite news
| url = http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/voted-off-the-island-the-uscgs-deepwater-frc-program-03160/
| title = FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class
| publisher = Defense Industry Daily
| date = 2014-05-02
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140707003537/http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/voted-off-the-island-the-uscgs-deepwater-frc-program-03160/
| archive-date = 2014-07-07
| access-date = 2014-04-03
| url-status = live
| quote = All of these boats will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes, who distinguished themselves in USCG or military service. The first 25 have been named, but only 8 have been commissioned...
}}
{{cite news
| url = http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/2010/03/22/enlisted-heroes-honored/
| title = Enlisted heroes honored
| publisher = United States Coast Guard
| author = Susan Schept
| date = 2010-03-22
| access-date = 2013-02-01
| archive-date = 2011-12-03
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111203173204/http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/2010/03/22/enlisted-heroes-honored/
| url-status = live
| quote = After the passing of several well-known Coast Guard heroes last year, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" Bowen mentioned in his blog that the Coast Guard does not do enough to honor its fallen heroes.
}}
{{cite news
| url = http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/786/502127/
| title = U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter
| date = 2010-03-22
| access-date = 2013-02-01
| archive-date = 2010-03-25
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100325004004/http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/786/502127/
| url-status = dead
| quote = Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service's new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
}}
{{cite news
| url = https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/guam-coast-guard-receives-first-of-three-fast-response-cutters-planned-for-the-island-1.646378
| title = Guam Coast Guard receives first of three fast-response cutters planned for the island
| work = Stars and Stripes
| author = Wyatt Olson
| date = 2020-09-24
| access-date = 2020-09-24
| quote = The crew of the Myrtle Hazard sailed from Key West, Fla., to the cutter's new homeport in Santa Rita, the Coast Guard said in a statement Thursday.
}}
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Myrtle}}
Category:American women in World War I
Category:Female United States Coast Guard personnel