Pvt. Anne Bodian

In 1943 artist Francis V. Kughler, Hudson River Museum Director H. Armour Smith and Women’s Army Corps recruiter Joanne Coates conceived a plan to encourage women of Yonkers to enlist in the army and honor their contribution. Every Yonkers woman who joined the WACs would have her portrait made in oil or pastel by Kughler.

In a poster to promote the WAC as a career choice, the Army claimed to have 239 kinds of jobs for women. These ranged from typist and telephone operator to motor pool driver and code breaker. Anne Schall Bodian was a cryptographic operator (working with codes) at the U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service in Virginia.

Anne grew up in Yonkers, but was married and working at the Home Owners Loan Corporation in New York City when the United States entered the war. Her husband, Sgt. Albert Bodian, was with the U.S. Army.