Louise Pearsall Canby was born in Geneva Illinois on May 20, 1920, though grew up in Elgin, Illinois. Canby joined the women’s Reserve in the Navy, WAVES, in August of 1942, and was part of the first enlisted class.
After her enlistment began, Canby was sent to the radio operator’s school in Madison, Wisconsin. Ending her time at the radio operator’s school in Madison with a ranking of yeoman, Canby was sent to Washington, subsequently to a camp in Dayton, Ohio, then back to Washington to work in Communications Intelligence. Canby was assigned to work under Lieutenant John Howard, figuring out permutations and figure combinations, which led to code breaking of U-Boat and Luftwaffe codes.
In January of 1944, after fifteen months of enlistment, Canby entered Officer’s Candidate school. Upon conferral of officer status, Canby was re-assigned to her previous position for Communications Intelligence in Washington. She worked in this sector of the Navy until the end of the war. Canby returned to her home state of Illinois and moved fifteen miles from her hometown, in Barrington, Illinois.
Rights: Reproduction and publication of materials in this collection are subject to the policies of the UNT Special Collections. Copyright restrictions may apply.
Access Notes: Collection is housed in the UNT Archives and Rare Book department vault. Advance notice for use is preferred. Please contact the UNT Archives and Rare Book department for further information.
Acquisition Note: Source: Louise Canby. Gift
Related Materials:
UNT Special Collections WWII Collection, UNT Oral History Collection No. 1163
Preferred Citation:Louise Pearsall Canby Scrapbook Collection, University of North Texas Special Collections
Scope and Contents: The Louise Pearsall Canby scrapbook collection is comprised of two scrapbooks which contain clippings of WWII headlines and of the U.S. Military, clippings of events from Elgin, Illinois, correspondence, invitations to events, and programs from sporting and theatre events.
| Manuscripts
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