Joy McWilliams

born 1913 Washington -died 1995 Albuquerque, New Mexico

BiographyShe worked for the Works Progress Administration in Santa Fe and married Gilbert Fincke. She became the first woman to volunteer for the U.S. Army in New Mexico on July 9, 1942 after President Roosevelt signed the law allowing women to serve. She reached the rank of Major in the U.S. Army and served in Paris, France, supervising 200 female stenographers, interpreters, and administrators. She served as a model for a Women’s Auxiliary Corps (WAC) recruitment poster. After the war, she lived in Santa Fe and became a talent agent for the film industry. She represented actors and extras until the Screen Actors Guild no longer allowed her to work out of her home in the early 1990s. She is buried in Santa Fe National Cemetery.

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