Yeoman Third Class, US Navy, Irene Manuel Crowell Scott
Born: June 20, 1919
Died: January, 2011
Burial Site: SFNC, Section COL 2, Site C294
Irene Manuel Crowell Scott joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) early in the war as Irene Crowell. She was apparently stationed in New York where she had been living in 1940,1 for it was there that she met and married her Petty Officer First Class husband, J.G. Scott in 1943.2 The US Navy wanted to recruit women for clerical jobs as they had done in WWI, but unlike the Army, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox didn’t want women to be auxiliary since they would need to handle sensitive information.3 With a committee called the Women’s Advisory Council, Knox was able to establish his corps of Women as reservists.4 While the Council debated on what to call this corps, as ‘Sailorettes’ was deemed demeaning, they eventually settled on Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service as proposed by Elizabeth Raynard.5
These WAVES would do many tasks to free up men to serve onboard battleships. Enlisted WAVES, like Yeoman Crowell Scott, served as air traffic controllers, aviation machinists, parachute riggers and testers, photographers, aviation metalsmiths, aerographer’s mates, gunnery instructors, radio operators, and even as pigeon trainers.6
After the war, Crowell Scott settled in Kentucky with her husband. By 1950, of their five children, they already had two sons and a daughter.7 Through the years, the family lived in West Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and before retiring to New Mexico in 1988.8 While living in New Mexico, the Scotts were members of Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church and Crowell Scott was part of the RoadRunner 4 WAVES unit.9
Images & Documents
Scott, Irene Manuel Crowell P2
“Irene M. Crowell Scott gravestone.” Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64081746/irene-m-scott: accessed 27 June 2023), memorial page for Irene M. Crowell Scott (20 Jun 1919–9 Jan 2011), Find a Grave Memorial ID 64081746, citing Santa Fe National Cemetery, Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA; Maintained by Kenneth D. Bogard (contributor 46562702).
Scott, Irene Manuel Crowell D1
“Crowell.” Year: 1920; Census Place: Middletown, Orange, New York; Roll: T625_1252; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 122
Scott, Irene Manuel Crowell D2
“Crowell.” Year: 1930; Census Place: Bloomfield, Essex, New Jersey; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 0339; FHL microfilm: 2341063
Scott, Irene Manuel Crowell D3
“Crowell.” Year: 1940; Census Place: Woodbury, Orange, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02712; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 36-144
Scott, Irene Manuel Crowell D6
“Marriage License: Crowell & Scott.” Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Episcopal Diocese of New York Church Records, 1767-1970 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
Scott, Irene Manuel Crowell D7
“Scott.” United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Pike, Kentucky; Roll: 3235; Enumeration District: 98-67.
“Irene M. Scott.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. 16 January 2011. Retrieved: 27 June 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/206283367
“Jennings Gardner Scott.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. 2 August 2015. Retrieved: 27 June 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/206444932
Notes:
1. “Crowell.” Year: 1940; Census Place: Woodbury, Orange, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02712; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 36-144
2. “Marriage License: Crowell & Scott.” Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Episcopal Diocese of New York Church Records, 1767-1970 [database online]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
3. “Woman’s Reserve (WAVES).” Naval History and Heritage Command. 17 October 2022. para. 3
4 & 5 “Woman’s Reserve (WAVES).” Naval History and Heritage Command. 17 October 2022. para. 7 & 8.
6. Akers, Regina T. “The WAVES 75th Birthday.” Naval History and Heritage Command Published: Fri May 10 12:42:06 EDT 2019. para. 9.
7. “Scott.” United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Pike, Kentucky; Roll: 3235; Enumeration District: 98-67.
8. “Jennings Gardner Scott.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. 2 August 2015.
9. “Irene M. Scott.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. 16 January 2011.
Featured Image:
“Irene Scott.” Ancestry Family Tree. Uploaded by Jaclyn Schultz 11 Nov. 2019. Retrieved: 27 June 2023. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/8800407/person/6937652159/media/8921ee04-e13c-47c1-8f6b-882b93cecf6a
Compiled by A. D. McLean, MA, MLIS. Central New Mexico Community College, retired 2022.