W1-5 / Rufzeichen/Calls

Biografien / Biographies

(WLNN) – Grossman, Viola – USA → W2JZX

W1BDN - Smith, May - USA → 1BAE, 1DBE

W1FTJ – Wilkins → Evans, Dorothy – USA
"One of the most consistently active YLs on the air from the time she was licensed in 1931 was Dorothy, of Concord, N.H. Dot started out in 1931 using the call of her brother Dan W1BII. The following year she got her own station and call. The second licensed YL in New Hampshire, she married in 1938. Before this she and Carl, W1BFT had many CW skeds during which they interspersed their sending with straight Morse code to confuse any eavesdroppers. ... Dot was twice president of the YLRL, and also secretary, winner of the first YLRL A.P. cup, and the A.P. CW cup in '52 after top score for three straight years. With Carl in the wholesale radio business, with which Dot helped, her radio gear was varied. Philately and dogs were her other hobbies."
(Source: CQ-YL, p73, and photo)

W1GSC - Wallace → Cousins, Mary Sybil – USA
“Retired librarian Mary Sibyl Wallace Cousins, ex-W1GSC, of Deer Isle, Maine, the first woman in Maine to obtain an Amateur Radio license, died on January 28. She was 108. Cousins, whose “Amateur First” license was issued in 1933 by the old Federal Radio Commission when she was 24, had celebrated her 108th birthday to some fanfare last September at the nursing home where she’d been living. - She recalled operating Morse code, although she no longer remembered the code, and said she used to relay weather information in that mode. A native of nearby Stonington, Maine, Cousins had worked as the town’s librarian for 30 years, retiring at the age of 90. She also had worked for the telephone company for more than a decade, and she transported kindergarten pupils to and from school in her station wagon. - Cousins told Bangor TV station WFVX at her birthday celebration last fall that ham radio in the 1930s “was something that the girls did not do, and the boys were all doing it at the time, and I said, ‘I can do it too.’ And I did.” - Cousins attended Gorham Normal School, from which she received her teaching certificate.”
Source: ARRL
She married a non-Ham, Charles Lawrence Cousins, in 1936. Not in callbooks after her marriage

W1HUH – (Sister) Emiliana – USA
"Of the Religious Sisters of Mercy, at Providence, R.I., became W1HUH after taking the exam at the Custom House in Boston. As an industrial arts teacher at the Tyler Junior High School in Providence, her work was entirely with boys, teaching woodwork and drafting. After meeting a director of the school who was W1BBA, it was decided to introduce the boys to the field of electronics. Sister Emiliana then became the first religious Sister to receive an amateur license in the US, and as far as they can determine, in the world. She also was the first YL in Rhode Island. A number of her students have become amateurs and some have chosen it for their life work. During WWII Sister Emiliana was a member of the Providence Police Radio Patrol."
(Source: CQ-YL, p78, and photo)

W1KY - Hannah, Gladys G.- USA → 1KY

W1LJZ - Mould ← Tinker ← Firlds, Marion E. - USA
Marion F. (Fields) Mould, 95 died Thursday October 18, at Seacoast Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Gloucester, where she had been living for the past two years. Marion was born September 7, 1917, in the town of Derby, Vermont, the daughter of Thomas L. and Grace (Kittredge) Fields. She attended public schools in Newport, Vt. and graduated from Johnson Normal School in Johnson, Vt. in 1938, and received her Bachelor of Education Degree from
Boston University in 1942. In 1975 she received her Master's Degree in Education from Fitchburg State College. Marion's professional life as a teacher included schools in Vermont, Rhode Island, New York State, Pennsylvania, two years back at her Alma Mater, Johnson, Vermont and twenty three years at Crocker School in Fitchburg. In 1993 after teaching GED Classes in the Montachusett Opportunity Council in Fitchburg she retired. During World War ll, Marion worked as equipment inspector in the ground radar section at Albrook Field in the Panama Canal Zone. In the early sixties, she was active in Scouting, serving as a den mother in Cub Scouts. Marion was a member of Rollstone Congregational Church, taught Sunday
School and was a member of the choir which she enjoyed very much. She enjoyed listening to classical music, gardening and broadcasting on amateur radio station with license WILJZ. Marion leaves her sons and daughters-in-law Channing B. Mould and Millie of The Colony, Texas and Dean K. Mould and Diana Laurie of Gloucester. She also leaves her grandchildren Philip Mould, Elizabeth Mould, Kathleen Lindig and husband Jason and Michael Laurie and wife Justine. Her great grandchildren Rebecca Lindig, Liam Gibson and Ella Laurie. Marion's husband of 58 years Channing B. Mould died December 13, 2001. She was also predeceased by a half sister Theda Jenkins and her sister Barbara Field.
(Source: Obit via Bob Winn, W5KNE - 2020-09-21)

W1MPP - Randall Thompson, Eunice - USA → 1CDP

W1ZR - Rotch, Edith - USA → 1RO, A1ZR

W2FHJ – Kapp, Viola A.- USA
Born 1 March 1902 - 2174 67th Ave S., Saint Petersburg FL 33712 (Callbook 1997)
"Became interested in amateur radio in 1930 through a boy friend, and in 19333 obtained her license. Her first rig, which she helped build, was an MOPA CW and phone rig which she used on 160 m, and another homebuilt rig which she used for 5m-phone. Intrigued by the DX on 20 she got her Class A in '34 and two years later put together, with help of other Hams, a 200 w rig which she operated on 20, along with 5m phone, till 1940, receiving her pre-war DXCC and WAC certificates.". After WWII she preferred 2m and 70cm.
(Source: CQ-YL p78, and photo)

W2BY → NU2BY, W4ZKD, W4UF ← 2BY - Chapman, Dorothy →
Saunders - USA

W2FKA → W4PPQ – LePine, Katherine – USA
"First went on the air in New Jersey in April 1933 and her very first contact was a good friend. Kitty, who taught herself code, started out with a Perryman 210, a breadboard affair, and her first receiver was a SW-3. When she went crystal-control she used a Tri-tet with 3-59s, a 46 buffer and a pair of PP 210's, and with this rig Kitty says she started to get out of her own back yard working 40 cw. For a time she had a transceiver on 5m which radiated a better signal receiving than transmitting and caused plenty of BCI. In 1949 Kitty and her OM moved to Florida where they have their home at Miami." She became W4PPQ, her OM was W4PQR.
(Source: CQ-YL, p79, and photo)

W2IXY → W4IXY - Hall, Dorothy D, → Jacobsen - USA
Dorothy was the second district chairman of YLRL. She was a long time NYFD fire dispatcher and staff instructor.
Dorothy was beloved of the NYFD and there were a few short articles on her assisting in dispatching and training of the department which I can't seem to locate. She was not licensed after 1952, drops off and nothing more can be found. In the 1951 call book she still resided at the old station address in Springfield, L.I., New York, the place was called Springfield Gardens. The old home had a dorm in the upper floors and they could accommodate several visitors at a time, they usually had friends and station visitors staying over with them. I did find the Captain was from Baltimore, MD and in a 1900 census was residing in Atlantic City, NJ, eventually out of Queens NY, one of the 5 boros of NY. About Dorothy W2IXY, I couldn't locate any census records of her children. Lillian Freeman was from an article written by someone else and I couldn't locate the source, off hand.
Dot was once featured with Orson Welles on a segment of the Campbell Playhouse in 1939. It was regarding her ham radio assistance to Pitcairn Island residents in 1938 or 1939.
Source: Tom K8GX, HamGallery ext. Link
Dorothy D. Hall Jacobsen-*1902-1983* W2IXY – W4IXY – NYC – Springfield L.I. – N.Y. The period of the 30’s Dorothy was once known around the world as The Number 1 Female radio ham. She got into Pitcairn VR6TC and KC4USC with able assistance regularly with her high power station. She was the Second District Chairman of YLRL. Ms Hall got interested in amateur radio and short waves through her husband Captain Horace L. Hall (1881-1947) U.S: Navy, who was an author, Sunday columnist, mariner and builder of museum quality ship models, from material by Jerome Berg.
We are aware of Dot’s WW2 service; Giving code classes at NYU and Chamberlin Tech School; Head of NYC Fire Dept. Station (WNYF) radio department to train operators. We learned Dot was a long tome well qualified NYC Fire Dispatcher in busy Manhattan. She had an article in the WNYF Magazine dated April 1948 Vol 9 entitled Dot and Dash.
Dot’s husband Captain Horace L. Hall who expired March of 1947 built museum quality ship models, working best in late night hours, during rest period breaks he would smoke and listen to the radio discovering short wave after BCB stations signed off. He started his craft when only 7 years of age. Horace has a New Bedford Whaler on display at “The Louvre”. His Sunday column for the New York Sun featured radio news supplements about short wave and some tomes amateur radio coverage “Captain Halls Short-Wave Page”. The Captain has a write-up in Life Magazine January 2nd 1939 issue page 36. He was a radio specialist for the Australian News Bureau.
Recently more is known about the couple from Springfield Long Island who graced the printed page and short wave radio bands. Hall’s had one daughter Ms Lillian Freeman. Some say Dot’s voice can still be heard over the NYFD radio system. There is a record of Dot’s Twenty-meter chat with King Farouk of Egypt. Dot’s call is not listed in the Call Books after 57.
Karl Detzer in Readers Digest April 1947 wrote about Dot Hall, we are trying to obtain a copy of the Digest. By 1949 Dot was still listed as a YLRL member. Dot shows moving to West Palm Beach Fla noted Palm Beach Post joining the amateur radio society functions moving from New York 22 Sept 1950.
Dot Hall W2IXY was finally located with print in the Palm Beach Post dated 22 Sept 1950. Dorothy was part of a group assembled at the George Washington Hotel a fashionable social and civic center in West Palm Beach. Many hams attended including H. H. Smith W4CQL and other YL operators. The article had noted Dorothy Hall had relocated to Florida from NYC. “Making her home here.”
In 1958 Dot obtained four land W4IXY and resides in Rivera Beach and by 1961 Dot has moved to Tampa, Hillsboro County. There is a record of her death in Tampa Florida 24 June 1983 expires at age 81 in which she became a Jacobsen.
Source: W8SU ext. Link

W2JZX → (WLNN) – Grossman, Viola – USA
Licensed in 1936. Active in AARS, was NCS in Second Corps Area with special frequency call WLNN.
(Source: CQ, 02/1945 in "Meet the YL"; Photo: CQ-YL, p85)
Vi Grossman, 2nd C.A. staff artist and editor of Scarab, rendered the Army meritorious service. She was runner-up for the 1938 Paley Award as the result of her outstanding emergency work.
(Source: CQ-YL, p90, and photo)
Almost immediately following the clearing of bands, W2JZX, the Army Air Warning Network, was on the air by special permission of the First Interceptor Command of Mitchell Field and the FCC. This station, operated by Viola Grossman, the key station for the network, had special permission to establish contact with other stations at strategic points along the Atlantic Seaboard and deputize these stations for 24-hour watches. Also after other Ham stations had been silenced, W2ZX, at the request of Mitchell Field, received written permission to broadcast a notice that all furloughs and leaves were cancelled - that servicemen were to report to base immediately. This special transmission was probably amateur radio's swan song for the duration. With transmitters silenced, more and more YLs volunteered their service and specialized training. Classes in radio doubled and tripled with the YLs instructing potential servicemen, as well as in all branches of services, for the Civil Air Patrol, in the American Women's Volunteer Service etc.
(Source: CQ-YL p91)
Chief Radio Instructor, Air Warning School, Fort Dix; Drew Field, Tampa, Fl.; Army Air Force Technical Training School, Sioux Falls, SD; training women operators at an unlisted Signal Corps post on Long Island. Viola, East Rockaway, L.I., is a member of a radio-minded family. Her husband holds the call W2JDG, and her son holds W2LJJ.
(Source: Radio Yearbook 1940, incl. Photo)

W2KUG → W5YSJ - Lothrop, Jennie – USA
Licensed in 1937. Pre WWII she and her OM were active on 2 1/2 and 5 m, providing communication for outdoor events. Later became W5YSJ, her OM W5SK). WWII: In Signal Corps inspector G.E. & Automatic Radio; inspector-in-charge Valpey Crystal, James Millen, National Radio, Sylvana, Raytheon
(Source: CQ-YL, p86 – Photo p94)

W2NAZ → W6NAZ → W9CHD – Kingston → Conn → Jensen, Lenore – USA
Got her first ticket in 1939. When she married W2MSC, a TV engineer, she became W2NAZ in New York City. Since late 1946 (and now W6NAZ) they made California, her home originally, their QTH where Joe continued as a TV engineer. Lenore, herself, starred in a number of TV shows and was doing quite a bit of freelance-work in the mid-50s. She had been in the theater since she was a little girl - on the stage, in movies and on network radio shows before TV. She was a writer as well as an actress. Was Vice-president of YLRL. Later: W9CHD.
(Source: CQ-YL, p87, p92, p330 and photo)
Had WAC. Was in the AARS net of the 2nd Corps Area during WWII. Chairman code and communication classes AWVS New York City, 1.000 under her charge; formed auxiliary communications corps at AWVS.
(Source: Unknown)
*4 October 1913, †5 May 1993. Her first call sign was W9CHD in Chicago. She had an over the air romance with Joe Conn, W2MSC, They married in Chicago circa 1940. She then moved to New York City to be with Joe. It was then that she became W2NAZ. Joe and Lenore moved to California after WWII, where she later became W6NAZ. She later married Robert "Bob" Jensen, W6VGQ.
(Source: Bob Winn, W5KNE, E-Mail 03/2015)
„--- -.- sent over the ham bands weldes W9CHD to W2MSC. The former ist he call of Lenore Kingston, radio actress in Chicago, the latter that of Joe Conn, RCA Television engineer in New York. Leonore and Joe conversed over the shotr waves for about one year. One night Joe asked the momentous question. Lenore replied ‚dah dah dah ditdahdit‘ and a few days later he flew out to Chicago, where they were wed. Lenofre will go to Nwe York when roles in present NBC serials have been completed.“
(Source: Radio & Television, June 1940)
Radio Drama actress, TV Personality, Ham Radio advocate and author. As it was said Lenore was a “superstar” of amateur radio during the Viet-Nam war, she ran over 50K phone
patches from SW Asia so our service personnel could speak to their loved ones in an inexpensive manner. Later she was a tireless worker in Southern Calif. Getting positive publicity about Amateur Radio into the mass media. Whatever the journalistic merit of news been, I’m sure they rose to the top of theeditors list due to Lenore’s charm. She was working on her book at the time of her passing. You could call it her legacy to amateur radio. Lenore first licensed in 1939 was W9CHD in Chicago where she was known as Lenore Kingston and worked as a contract actress
for NBC. She received the call sign W2NAZ when she moved to NYC in 1940. Lenore became W6NAZ after World War II when she and her first husband W2MSC Joe Conn, moved to Los Angeles. Most of Lenore’s operating involved message handling and phone patching. According to a profile in the 87 December issue of QST 68K Army MARS phone patches during the Vietnam era. She was also one of the 13 surviving founding members of the Young Ladies Radio League and the 1983 Dayton Amateur Radio Association’s special achievement award winners for “Her Dedication in service to others though the medium of Amateur Radio.” From the mid 70s until her death, Lenore’s efforts were especially important to the amateur radio public relations effort. Her long and highly successful career in the entertainment industry permitted her access to many stars and celebrities who later appeared in ARRL released public service announcements. Lenore also appeared in several films and videos including the award winning “World of Amateur Radio” produced by Dave Bell W6AQ in 1979. She was married to Bob Jensen sound engineer. Lenore expired at age 79 and her home was in Sherman Oaks, Calif. (Source: Partially scripted from marinecorpmars.com by W8SU 2006)

W2OLB - Lobsenz, Amelia - USA
"Sometimes a particular YL in ham radio sparks a keen interest. One such YL is Amelia Lobsenz, a Silent Key since 1992. She held the call W2OLB, which she got in 1941. She owned her own Public Relations firm in New York City for 36 years. Originally from Greensboro, NC, she grew up in Atlanta, GA. Amelia was also an author and this is how I first became acquainted with her work.
In 1951 she had published a book for teen girls called “Kay Everett Calls CQ.” She placed a teenage girl named Kay Everett, who was a ham, into the same adventurous route Amelia and her husband took in the west in the ‘40s. In the story Kay is accompanied by two other girls. Their adventures are many. One of the most interesting parts to me was the chapter about a YL ham and pilot named Terry, who took them in her plane on part of their journey and is featured in one whole chapter. This wonderful lady Terry is based on one of Amelia’s ham friends, Theresa "Terry" M. Korn, -> W8VYU, K7JGU. Amelia also wrote another book about ham radio called “Kay Everett Works DX.”
(Source: Carol, K4SAF, ext. Link
"The author, Amelia Lobsenz, was an experienced ham, licensed in 1941. After a stent in publishing, she ran her own public relations firm. She based some of the characters on her actual friends, to include Theresa Korn, K7JGU. In the story, Terry, a YL and pilot, takes two of the girls flying over Idaho (aeronautical mobile, where they end up directing smokejumpers into a wildfire). The protagonist, Kay, is named after Ms. Lobsenz’s own daughter.
(Source: Scott NØZB ext. Link 2015-11-27)


W2TEF- Hudson, Jean – USA → W3BAK, (W2QPB), W2TEF

W2QCC - Raser, Pauline Ann - USA → 3AEC, W3HVO

W2QPB - Hudson, Jean – USA→ W3BAK, W2TEF

W2RUF – Reger, Clara – USA → W8KYR

W2TU → W5TU - Catron → Reiffin, Rose – USA
"It was in 1932 that Rose Catron became interested in radio, and that interest came about through her future OM, who at that time was still eluding her martial snare. Rose says she surprised everyone, including herself, when she got her license and the nice two-letter call W2TU. She was the only licensed YL in Manhattan then, the only other YL in New York City being W2WP on Staten Island. Rose was on 80 CW almost entirely and had much fun surprising OMs in QSO by telling them at the end of the contact that she was a YL. Her first rig, which she put together herself, was a TNT oscillator using a 210. Rose did pretty well on the air, and in 1934 Joe could not resist her two-letter call any longer, so W2CWP and W2TU took the big step. ... In the late fifties they moved to Dallas, TX, where Rose's call became W5TU."
(Source: CQ-YL, p75, and photo)

W2WP – Picard, Alice L.- USA
Born 16 May 1909 - 212 Bidwell Ave., Westerleigh NY 10314 (Callbook 1997)
"Alice of Staten Island, N.Y., received her call in 1930 after inheriting one of the early crystal receivers with cat's whisker detector. She hooked this up to her bedspring as a neighbor had done with his and listened to the few stations on the air after she went to bed at night. When W2BYU came on 80 meters and accidentally gave his QTH one night she was on the right track. When she went on the air there were eleven YLs with stations in New York state. A ragchewer and traffic handler W2WP made BPL, handling over 500 messages regularly. ... Flying was her other interest. She started flying gliders in 1931 and again in 1939 and in 1946 began to fly airplanes. She got her private license in 1947, commercial pilot in 1952 and held a ground instructor rating in meteorology."
(Source: CQ-YL, p73)

W3AKB,(WLQP) – Rice → Darne, Frances – USA
"1927 was the year that Frances Rice went on the air with W3AKB from Philadelphia. Before the war she was ORS, RM, Ass. SCM for Eastern Pa., and active in AARS, holding various positions including State Net Control of Pa. and Third Corps Area cryptographer. Cryptography then became her second hobby. For several years Fran was secretary to Dr. Zworykin at RCA. In 1942 Fran became an electronics engineer for the Navy's Bureau of Ships in D.C. and she has been there ever since. After much ragchewing with W3BTW and when she moved to D.C. Fran became Mrs. Darne to keep that sked."
(Source: CQ-YL p 70, plus photo)
In WWII: Secretary, amateur radio council of greater Philadelphia, registering amateurs and equipment. Red Cross Disaster Relief Council. Navy Bureau of ships assistance radio engineer.
(Source: Unknown)
„W3AKB/WLQP is interested principally in Army amateur and traffic work.“
(Source: Radio YB 40, incl. Photo)
Frances Violet Rice was born in New York, N.Y. on July 2, 1901. Her parents were Dr. Joseph M. Rice and Deborah Levinson Rice. She attended Germantown High School in Philadelphia, Pa. She entered Cornell University in September 1919 and was, in 1923, the first female to receive the Electrical Engineering degree from Cornell University. At Cornell she was very active as she was a member of the Dramatic Club, member and president of the Mandolin Club, member of the Womens' Glee Club, 4 year member and captain of the womens' basketball team, participant and manager of the womens' baseball team, and on the womens' track team. She was also a student member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Her picture is in the 1923 Cornell yearbook. After graduation Frances Rice spent 10 years as a secretary at the Travelers Insurance Company in Philadelphia. She became a member of the American Radio Relay League and had her own amateur radio station, W3AKB, in 1927. In 1937 she noted that she was interested in cryptography. In 1937 she took a position at RCA Laboratories, Camden, New Jersey as secretary and laboratory assistant to Dr. Vladimir K. Zworykin, one of television's pioneers. On June 15, 1942, Frances Rice became a civilian Electronic Engineer for the Bureau of Ships of the U.S. Navy. On September 8, 1945, she married Eppa Webster Darne. They did not have any children. In 1954, Frances Rice Darne was working under Walter Greer and she became the Navy Member and Chairman of the Working Group on Special Tubes of the Advisory Group on Electron Tubes of the Department of Defense. Shortly later she became the Navy Member of the Working Group on Tube Techniques. In 1961, AGED became the Advisory Group on Electron Devices and Frances Darne became the Navy Member of the Working Group on Special Devices. Frances Darne was also a member of the Subcommittee on Indicator and Pickup Tubes of the Armed Services Electronics Technical Committee. By 1957, Frances Rice Darne was in Code 816, the Electron Tube Section of the Design Standards Branch (Code 815) under the Assistant Chief of Bureau for Electronics (Code 800) and was working in the Main Navy Building on Constitution at 18th Street. Reorganizations by 1965 changed her to Code 681A-1, Tubes and Semiconductors, in the Electronic Warfare and Parts Branch, still at the Main Navy Building. Frances visited many Navy and contractor laboratories who wanted sponsorship of display development by the Navy - and she was therefore well known in the display community. Many of the contracts which she sponsored resulted in advances in the state-of-the-art of displays. Frances Rice Darne was a charter member of the Society for Information Display and was active in 1963, as a member of the steering committee, in forming the Washington Chapter of SID. She is listed in the January 1963 list of SID officers as the Recording Secretary-Treasurer of the Washington chapter. She died on December 21, 1965. Frances R. Darne was posthumously made a Fellow of SID on March 31, 1966 at a SID Board of Directors meeting associated with a National Seminar in Santa Monica. The citation was "For contributions to the science of information displays, particularly in the standardization of cathode ray and scan converter tubes. Also for the initiation of scientific efforts for development of electron and CRT military specifications." The presentation was made by Ernest N. Storrs of the Federal Aviation Agency and was reported in the May/June 1966 "Information Display".The Frances Rice Darne Memorial Award was created at the SID Board of Directors Meeting on October 17, 1966. The award was first presented in 1971 and has been made almost every subsequent year.
(This report has been complied with the help of: Bernard J. Lechner, Jan A. Rajchman, Irv Reingold, Munsey E. Crost, Erick N. Swenson, Thomas Henion, David Slater, Cornell University Library Services / Robert C. Knepper / SID Historian / 22 April 1986 / Last Updated -10/2006
ext. Link RICE DARNE Bio.pdf)

W3BAK → (W2QPB) → W2TEF - Hudson →Magri, Jean – USA
Took the ham exam in April 1933 and got a Class B ticket - she was eight years old at that time. The daughter of W3BAK, she used her father's station and call. The same year she got her license Jean entered the Class E (20 wpm) receiving contest at the World's Fair Century of Progress in Chicago and won first place and a silver cup at Asheville, N.C., for winning the Class B championship (30 wpm). Jean operated W1KNP in a girls' camp in N..H. for several summers. While at Manhattanville College, she was trusted for the club station W2QPB and taught code to girls there during the war. Now W2TEF, Jean was located in New York City where she operated postwar mostly 80cw and 75phone, keeping in touch with her father W3BAK and sister Dorothy, W3IRR, licensed in 1935. A brother was W3AXP.
(Source: CQ-YL, p82, and photo)
„8-Year Old Girl Gets License Hats off, Boys, to little Jean Hudson, the precocious daughter of Edgar L. Hudson of Laurel, Delaware, who recently was awarded one of Uncle Sam’s amateur radio licenses, after taking the usual prescribed test. Her father has a ,cracker-jack‘ ham station, for both transmitting and receiving, with the call letters W3BAK, and Jean’s 14 year old brother, Roland, is also a licensed operator. Roland has a portable station license for Boy Scout work – call W3AXP.
Now regarding Jean – she is just a normal child and is eight years old – has blue eyes and light hair and not very large for her age. She was born in San Gabriel, California, July 21, 1924 and lived there until 1933 when her folks came East to live. She is in the third grade in school, plays a violin in the school orchestra and blows a trumpet.
Jean began by playing with the telegraph key – then she learned the code and soon was able to copy at a fair speed. Her father and brother then gave her some regular code practice. She soon was able to draw wiring diagrams and later could write out on paper how transmitters and receivers work. ‚She took it so naturally that we helped her learning something of radio laws and regulations‘, said her father. ‚By this time we figured that she was on ‚old timer‘,‘ states Dad, even at her age, so they decided to let her take the Amateur examination which she did on April 26, at Fort McHenry, Baltimore.
Jean is very proficient in the use of a typrewriter, as she uses the touch system and writes thirty-five to forty WPM (words per minute) and is very accurate especially when her age is considered. When using the typewriter she can copy blindfolded just as fast when she can see, which is a lot better than many amateurs can do. ‚The blindfolded stunt is better than I can do‘, says her Dad, ‚despite the fact that I made my living for 18 years as a Morse telegraph operator. But it must be remembered that Jean lacks the experience that is necessary to make a finished operator, but being able to handle the typewriter so well makes it easy for her to copy 20 words per minute. The whole secret seems to be that Jean has grown up naturally, in an air of amateur radio, and it has been fun for her and ourselves to watch her progress, as it has never been necessary to consider her studies as a task.‘“
(Source: Shortwave Craft, July 1933, p.141&180)

„8-Year-Old Jean Hudson Is Licended Radio Amateur / Passes Govt. Examination with 80% Ratings – Copies 25 Words per Minute on the Typewriter – Blindfolded // The Story of the World’s Youngest ‚Y.L.‘ – As Told By Ed. Thompson, W3CQS
How would you like to be the world’s youngest licensed radio amateur? Little Jean Hudson, of Laurel, Delaware, is only 8 years old but she is a licensed radio amateur! She can talk about standard frequencies, harmonics, traffic handling and QSO’s! Moreover she knows radio laws and regulations and can copy code at a speed of 25 words per minute on a typewriter while blindfolded!
Considerable has been written about the achievements of this little Y.L., but it remained for Ed. Thompson (W3CQS) to give the full details of this unusual accompliushment. Ed ist he lucky amateur who received the first QSL card from little Jean.
Jean’s father is a veteran Morse operator, an ardent radio amateur and one oft he world’s proudest dads. He has held amateur licenses for a number of years. Ronald, his 14-year-old son, is another radio member oft he Hudson household. He also holds an amateur license, and his call is W3AXP. Dorothy, an older sister, is now preparing herself for a license.
The entire Hudson family, except the mother, are radio amateurs! Imagine a houseful or radio operators! Plenty of radio apparatus required! ‚Cleaning up after the children‘ means placing the various radio parts in their proper places, of course. It’s some task, getting them away from their radio outfits, when bedtime approaches! Although the odds are heavily against her, she too, is becoming radio-minded. What else can she do, but join in the QRM and QSO’s at the dinner table and talk about the captivating subject of amateur radio?
But let’s get back to 8-year-old Jean: She was born in San Gabriel, California, the land of sunshine. At the age of 4, Jean and other members oft he family moved to Laurel, Delaware. It was here that she first became interested in radio. At the age of 6, Jean displayed an interest in amateur radio. Telegraph keys and other radio equipment fascinated her. Soon she had learned to send and receive code.
Jean’s dad was quick to discover her radio ability, and devoted much time to teaching her about transmitters ans receivers. On April 26th, 1933, Jean and her Dad journeyd to Ford McHenry, Baltimore, so she could take the examination for amateur radio operator.
Sittng on a large Webster’s dictionary, so she could reach the large examination table, Jean was given the code test. She passed it with speed to spare! Her answers tot he questions in the examination papers were so good that she received a rating of 80%!
She was examined unter the direction of Mr. L.C. Herndon, Radio Examining Officer oft he 4th Radio District; the work here is in charge of Mr. George E. Sterling.
Jean uses the touch system on the typdewriter, and she will talkt o you while she types. ‚It is really amazing‘, said Mr. Sterling. ‚I had no idea how efficient she was until I sent her an SOS signal which she took without the slightest trouble in the world.‘
Jean was required to draw a circuit diagram of asn amateur radio transmitter and receiver, to explain the function of the apparatus and to answer questions on the radio laws and regulations.
She is a normal child; plays the violin in the school orchestra and is also a trumpet player. She is in the 3rd grade.
Jean’s father has been a telegraph operator for 25 years. He is an ex-railroad train-dispatcher fort he P.R.R. He has been an amateur for many years and is well liked by all his radio friends.
Amateurs in the vicinity of Laurel, Delaware, say the liked tzhe O.M. even before they met him in person. He can copy as fast as you can send it to him, He can tell you all that’s wortfh knowing about amateur radio in his district, and so he has been called the ‚Official Observatiry‘. Jean’s father is also an active member oft he Delmarava Radio Club of Salisbury, Maryland. … Ed. Thompson, W3CQS, is president oft he ckub. … One oft he most exciting days of his life stated when he received Jean Hudson’s first QSL card.“
(Source: „Radio“ June 1933 – ext. Link )

„Jean Hudson, op. W3BAK, 1936“
Eighty years ago, the August 1936 issue of All Wave Radio magazine ext. Link 1933-06.pdf carried this ad (ill) for the ‚Candler Scientific Sound System,‘which would “teach you everything necessary to enable you to obtain your ‘Ham’ License quickly, easily, inexpensively. Tell us what you need.‘ Apparently, The Candler System took particular pride in teaching the code, and the ad points to two champions of some code competition, both products of the Candler System. One of these champions was 9 year old Jean Hudson, who is pictured with her trophy. … Surprisingly, I’ve been able to find very little about Miss Hudson, but I did find an article in the June 1933 issue of Radio Magazine, which reveals that she was actually eight years old when first licensed. According to the 1933 article, she was the daughter of Edgar L. Hudson, W3BAK, of Laurel, Delaware, whom the magazine described as a ‚veteran Morse operator, an ardent radio amateur and one of the world’s proudest dads.‘hp Jean’s brother Roland, 14, was also licensed as W3AXP. And Jean’s older sister, Dorothy, was also preparing for the license. According to ext. Link
Dorothy was licensed in 1935 as W3IRR. The only call sign I found associated with Miss Hudson was W3BAK, her father’s call. So apparently, while she received an operator’s license, she did not hold her own station license.
Born in California, the family moved to Laurel, Delaware, where Jean first showed an interest in radio. Telegraph keys and related equipment fascinated her, and she soon learned to send and receive code. With some tutoring from her father, she studied transmitters, receivers, and the rules and regulations, and on April 26, 1933, she took the test from the radio examiner at Baltimore. She sat on a thick dictionary to reach the examination table, and passed the code test with no difficulty. Her written examination showed a score of 80%.
Jean copied code on a typewriter, and since she touch typed, she could copy 25 words per minute blindfolded. The QSL card for her first contact, April 28, 1933, is shown below (ill). The 1938 Call Book lists W3BAK as belonging to Edgar, with no listing for W3IRR. Edgar continues to be listed as late as 1968. There is no listing for that call in 1974. In May 1942, Jean Hudson, under the call W3BAK, wrote an article for QST on the subject of amateur radio at summer camps, and recounts her experience in setting up a station at a girls’ camp in New Hampshire, which she believed to be the only such station in existence. That article lists her address as 660 Riverside Drive, New York City. And in the June 1945 issue, she wrote a longer article, ‚His Last Strike,‘ recounting the story of Lt. Joseph Hyland, W2ITR, who was killed in ac‘ion on January 12, 1945. That article shows her address as 530 E. 90th St., New York, 28.
I was unable to find any reference to Miss Hudson after 1945, and found no indication that she was ever issued her own station license.
( Source: ext. Link )

„Jean Hudson Magri, W2TEF
…I wasn’t able find any more information about her after 1945, but I did hear from reader Bob Ballantine, W8SU, who provided more information, as well as an undated photograph. He also included a ‚Strange As It Seems‘ cartoon from October 11, 1933, showing Jean at the radio, as well as the newspaper clipping (apparently from 1935, as it identified Jean as being 11 years old). ext. Link He also provided a vital clue, in the form of her married name, Jean Hudson Magri. Mrs. Magri passed away in 1997, and is buried in Union Cemetery, Georgetown, Sussex County, Delaware.
After the war, Jean was licensed as W2TEF. She received a degree in physics from Manhattanville College in New York, and served as the trustee of the college station, W2QPB.
Jean’s sister, Dorothy Hudson Elliot, W3IRR, who was also mentioned in the earlier article, was licensed at the age of 17. She passed away in 2014 at the age of 100.“
(Source: ext. Link )

W3CUL – Dougherty → Burke, Mae – USA
Born 10 October 1911, 12001 Kay Dr. N, Seminole FL 34642 (Call Book 1997)
"Got her first ticket in 1932 and went on the air from Philadelphia. Al (now her OM, W3VR) was her 'steady' and he built Mary a crystal-controlled rig with a 2A5 oscillator, 45 final and 53 Class B modulator. She worked 160 and the two CW bands. Mae soon found that phone stamped her as a YL, so she took to CW where she could sail along on an even basis with the OMs. Married before World War II, and following the war, at Folsom, Pa, she went on 10 phone, working much DX and phone-patching for the boys overseas. Eventually traffic got a hold on Mae and she and Al both kept many skeds. When Al took sick she met his skeds as well as her own. Over 35 daily skeds running up to 12 hours daily, at rush times many more, were spent handling traffic. Not a single sked was missed during those years. BPL (= Brass Pounders League for reporting to ARRL a message total of 500 or more, or 100 or more originations-plus-deliveries for any calender month) was earned by W3CUL at least 100 consecutive times. Mae figures she handled 285.000 messages in that period alone." (Later moved to Morton, Pa. Mae received the 5th Edison Radio Amateur Award for 1956.)
Source: CQ-YL, p75, and photo, also pohoto p108)

W3HVO - Raser, Pauline Ann - USA → 3AEC, W2QCC

W3IRR – Hudson → Elliott, Dorothy – USA
Got her license in 1935. She was a daughter of W3BAK and sister of Jean Hudson W2TEF. After having become Mrs. Elliott at Georgetown, Del., she operated her station W3IRR on 80 CW to join in the family round table once or twice a week. A lawyer OM, three girls, teaching school and taking care of her home occupied the rest of her time.
(Source: CQ-YL, p83, and photo)

W3MSU - Smith → deBardeleben, Ethel M. – USA → W7FBW, K4LMB

W4CQL → AR1YL - Reich → Hermanson, Elsie – USA, Syria
Born 18 September 1910 - 8031 Pine Tree Ln., Lake Clarke Shores, FL 33406 (Callbook 1997)
"Went on the air in West Palm Beach, Fla. in 1933 after being helped into the art by her future OM, then W4ASA. It took Floyd till 1938 to sign her up as Mrs. Hermanson. Early in WWII El put the YLs in high-speed wireless for the first time by becoming Press Wireless' first woman operator. She also worked in WERS. After the war El and Floyd operated as AR1YL and AR1OM under-cover in Syria. After their return to the States in 1948 El divided her time between Florida and New York, keeping skeds with her OM W2BFS on 20m CW." Later moved to Ankara, Turkey, where Floyd was communications superintendent with Pan American World Airways.
(Source: CQ-YL, p79, and photo)

W4AXF - Collins, Carrie – USA
"Received her operator's license in 1929, and in 1930 went on the air as W4AXF. She and her OM, W4MS, had been married a year and Eddie was returning to the University of Florida for an extra year's study. Carrie remained at Penascola where she was teaching in the high school.After Eddie went on to school W4ABJ kept the first sked from the home station, and after that Carrie kept the skeds with Eddie on 7mc every day for the entire school year. Her station was a 204A TPTG transmitter and she used a Pilot Wasp receiver." Their daughter is K4AGM.
(Source: CQ-YL, p7)

W4DAI - Sanford → Shepard → Wade, Evelyn - USA
The Sanford-Wade Heritage House (SWHH) is a building at the crossroads of the village of Buchanan, Georgia, formerly the home of a prominent local citizen, the late Evelyn Shepard Sanford Wade (1907-2004), whose birth centennial was celebrated in 2007. The House itself was constructed in the year 1909. - Miss Evelyn Shepard was unusual for a young woman coming up in rural Georgia. Always interested in technological advances, she was an amateur radio operator and shortly after her 31st birthday, then the wife of Dr. Sanford, a local physician, was recognized with the signal honor of election to the A-1 Operator Club of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). The club continues in operation; nomination can only come through the initiative of two existing members, and a mere 3% of the total ARRL body is honored by such membership. - Evelyn married Levi Wade after the demise of Dr. Sanford, and had a 43-year career in education as a teacher and school principal. Undeterred by middle age, she earned a degree as a member of the Oglethorpe University class of 1952. In 1980 the University awarded her its annual School Bell Award, given to those "recognized by the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors as having made a lasting contribution to the field of education". Then Mrs. Wade made a second career in civic leadership, serving twenty consecutive years as the mayor of Buchanan. She may have been the first woman in Georgia to serve as a city mayor. Mrs. Wade was recognized within her lifetime by the State of Georgia via things named in appreciation for her labors. These include the 120-acre Evelyn S. Wade Park and a section of Georgia Highway 120 called the Evelyn S. Wade Highway
(Source: ext. Link )
Her first OM was Dr. Eugene F. Sanford, MD, W4DHM (SK 1945).
"Charming Eve Sanford (W4DAI) is the wife of another Ham, Dr. E. F. Sanford (W4DHM). She operates exclusively on CW, on the 40 meter band, and has had her license since June 29, 1934. Eve is a member of A-1 Operators, ... Rag chewers ..., and has her WAC and WAS on 40. She can send and receive on upwards of 55 words a minute, though 40 is her normal rate.
(Source: Radio & Television magazine, December 1938, p. 461)

W4FGO - Pratt, Helen → Davy - USA
*1908, †1999-10-14. A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, and a resident of Spanish Fort. She was a graduate of the University of Utah with a major in French and a minor in English and taught those languages in a Salt Lake City high school prior to her marriage to Dr. Lee G. Davy in 1931. She was a past member of Waverly Road Presbyterian Church where she was active for many years. Mrs. Davy also was a past member of Church Women United, served on the Kingsport, Tenn., school board, was active in the Holston Valley Community Hospital Auxiliary, was a member of the Junior Women's Club, Girl Scouts of America and the American Association of University Women. She was an amateur radio operator and was active in several traffic nets and in the American Radio Relay League. More recently, she was on the organizational board of Fellowship of Joy Church in Spanish Fort. She is survived by two sons, L. Nevil Davy of Rochester, N.Y., and George Davy of Kingsport, Tenn.; one daughter, Susan D. Trosclair of Spanish Fort; seven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Her OM: Dr. Lee George Davy, W4FCU.
(Source: ext. Link via W5KNE)

W4IXY → W2IXY - Hall, Dorothy D, → Jacobsen - USA

W4PPQ – LePine, Katherine – USA → W2FKA

W4UF - Chapman → Saunders, Dorothy – USA → 2BY, W2BY, NU2BY, W4ZKD, W4UF

W4UTO – Knapp, Mary Anne – USA → W9UTO

W4ZKD - Chapman → Saunders, Dorothy – USA → 2BY, N2BY, W4UF

W5BKG – Henderson, Ethel – USA
Born 7 August 1909 - POB 236, Concan TX 78838 (CB 1997) - "The spring of 1929 saw Ethel go on the air as W5BKG at Corpus Christi, Texas, with her OM W5AQK. Their first rig used a 71-G tube with a 180V Majestic B eliminator power supply, TPTG circuit operating on 40m with a Zepp half-wave antenna. ... In the thirties her station had a pair of 211s in final on 40 CW crystal controlled. The receiver was a homebuilt 9-tube superhet. ... Ethel recalls an incident of a woman who lived several blocks from them accusing them of blowing out the tubes in her broadcast receiver with so much power from their 'broadcast station'."
(Source: CQ-YL, p72, with photo)

W5DEW – Palmer → Doseland, Mary G. – USA
Born 3 November 1909 - 515 Caddy Avenue, Moorhead MN 56560 (Callbook 1997)
Licensed 1933. "There were several early YL stations in Texas, but the most active throughout the years was that of Mary, at Port Arthur. Before WW II Mary spent all of her time, day and night, on 20m, and became one of the early members of YLRL. When war came she taught at Port Arthur College, worked with the Signal corps and later for a BC station. The 'Dew Drop of Texas' as she was popularly known, spent most of her time on 75m and was a member of MARS. Her OM was W5BUZZ, and her dauhter Kit was W5APC."
(Source: CQ-YL, p80)

W5DQF – Eidson, Madie E. – USA
Born 29 April 1910 - 3409 W. Pecan Drive Box 3751, Temple TX (Callbook 1997)
"Another YL to go on the air in Texas in 1933. Her OM is W5AMK and with his help she got her license on her first wedding anniversary, on 27. March 1933. She worked CW entirely and earbned WAC." Was not particularlky active after WWII.
(Source: CQ-YL, p80, and photo)

W5DRA - Etie → Matthias, Yetive – USA
"Got started in 1933 from Houston, Texas, all on her own while attending radio school and joined evening classes to learn the code and get her ham ticket. Teev put together her first rig, a bradboard job for 40 cw and used a Majestic BC set with converter for her receiver. A year later she noted on a Houston street an car with W5CX on the tire cover. She beeped him in code and the QSO continued in person. Two years later Teev became Mrs. Matthias, the OM's call later being changed to W5BIW when they moved to State College, N.M. Later they returned to Houston."
(Source: CQ-YL, p80, and photo)

W5DUR – Groves, Elizabeth M. – USA
Born 22. July 1911 -1406 W 12th Str., Odessa TX 79763 (Callbook 1997)
"Of Odessa, Tex. Received her first license in 1933 and shared with her OM W5NW a KW-rig using PP813's operating CW only." No longer active in the 50’s.
(Sources: CQ-YL, p80; QST August 1943, "Reserved for YLs and YFs")

W5GXT – Pessoney, Theresa Adna - USA
„Two ‚rigs‘ are employed in the shack. The large rig to the right is a Gross CB55, which is used exclusively on 10 meter phone, with a power input of 80 watts. The tube lineup of this rig is as follows: 42 crystal oscillator, a 6L6 buffer-doubler, and two T20’s in the final. The modulator consists of 6C5, 6N7, 6C5s and 6L6s. The type 83 tubes are used in the power supplies. Break-in is used, and the antenna change-over relay switches the antenna, which is a Mimms Signal Squirter, from transmitter to receiver. Mike is an Astatic D104. The receiver is a Hallicrafter Super Skyrider SX17. Tot he left is a DB20.“ (Miss Pessoney is the only woman in Texas to become a member oft he Arma Amateur Net.)
(Source: „Radio &.Television, July 1940, p157 - see photo

W5IZL – Brown, Ruth – USA → 5AW

W5TU - Catron → Reiffin, Rose – USA → W2TU

W5YSJ - Lothrop, Jennie – USA → W2KUG

W5ZA - Falconi, Eunice ← Presley - USA
*12.10.1897, †03/1982 "Louis Falconi, W5ZA, was OM of Eunice Falconi, and I found no record of Eunice Falconi having a legitimate call sign until 1948. I found no record of the call W5ZZA in the Winter 1937-39 or Spring 1939 Callbooks. In 1948 she became W5ZA under unusual circumstances. In an article in the September 1948 issue of QST I found the following:
W5ZA Continues - In recognition of the pioneer contributions to amateur radio of the late Louis Falconi, FCC in a special action waived its rules and assigned his call, W5ZA, to his widow, Eunice P. Falconi, so that she may perpetuate the call as a memorial to Louis. ...
(Source: Bob Winn, W5KNE)