Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) — Hoover has acquired an extensive collection of albums compiled by photographer Agnes “Jo” Pickering while serving with the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) during World War II. The archive of twelve photograph albums contains more than two thousand black and white gelatin silver photographs with captions.
Pickering served as a photographer with the “Air WAAFs” who helped bring Allied victory during WWII. Early in the war she was stationed at Victorville airfield in California. Her pictures from this time show her colleagues in uniform, during leisure time, and training. Pickering and her fellow WAAFs were also trained in aerial photography; many of her photos show views of the airfield and aircraft from above the base. From Victorville Pickering traveled to Denver to take classes on public relations and newspaper photography, and was then sent to Camp Oglethorpe, Georgia, for overseas training.
Pickering was then sent to England and later France and Switzerland. Pickering’s albums from Europe feature a mix of planes, members of the air force, and tourist sites, as well as images of celebrities, politicians, and historic moments such as V.E. Day in Piccadilly. One photo shows Queen Elizabeth with the WAAF unit captioned, “Queen Elizabeth inspecting our barracks.”
Another section shows Eleanor Roosevelt having dinner with the WAAFs. Winston Churchill is featured; one image shows him greeting people with a “V for Victory” sign from a carriage during a V.E. Day parade. The British royal family is pictured throughout the albums as well as Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and General Patton. One of the later albums contains photographs from the Nuremberg trials and shows high-ranking Nazis in uniform along with lawyers and other officials. Pickering stayed in Europe through 1947 documenting the destruction and reconstruction of the continent; she then settled in Oregon, where she continued to pursue photography and was active in veterans’ affairs.
A remarkable chronicle of American women’s contributions to the war effort, the Agnes Pickering collection is currently being processed and will soon be available to researchers. Additional graphic material related to women and WWII can be found in Hoover’s WWII Pictorial Collection and Poster Collection.
