Betty White's shoulder bag is a time capsule of World War II

Summary

On December 31, 2021, the beloved actress Betty Marion White Ludden (1922–2021) passed away at 99 years old, weeks shy of her hundredth birthday. Countless tributes and condolences from around the country poured in, honoring her and remembering her vast legacy. Even the U.S. Army tweeted about her passing, noting how Betty White had served as a member of the American Women’s Voluntary Services (AWVS) during World War II. This past year, our museum acquired White’s AWVS uniform, which she had kept all these years. The uniform’s accompanying shoulder bag arrived in the museum filled with artifacts of White’s wartime experience. The bag and its contents are a perfect time capsule, providing insight into life on the home front for White, fellow AWVS members, and the young servicemen White encountered before becoming a famous entertainer. Both the interior and exterior of Betty White’s shoulder bag chronicle her experiences during World War II. Like many others, White collected badges and souvenirs from the people she met during her time in service. (2022.0099) When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, White resided in Southern California. The only child of Horace and Tess White, she was born in Oak Park, Illinois on January 17, 1922. In 1923, before the age of two, she moved with family to California and grew up in Los Angeles. The year before White graduated from Beverly Hills High School, in 1938, Stella Isaacs founded the Women’s Voluntary Services (WVS) in Great Britain. This organization sought to recruit and organize British women for the nation’s Air Raid Precautions services, to prepare women and their families for possible enemy air raids so that they might assist authorities in the event of war. Members of the American Women’s Voluntary Services wearing the various uniforms of the organization. Courtesy of Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-111174) The British organization and its growing success shortly inspired an American equivalent. In Janua...