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by Sandy Daniels (As Told by), Tina-Marie D'Ercole (As Told by), Maureen P. Foley (As Told by)
On 28 May 1980, 55 female midshipmen graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy for the very first time in history. These interviews, recorded between 1984 and 1987, document the early Navy career perspectives of six of those pioneering women: Sandy Daniels, Tina-Marie D'Ercole, Maureen P. Foley (now Maureen Foley Nunez), Chrystal A. Lewis (now Chrystal Lewis Campbell), Barbette Henry Lowndes, and Pamela Wacek Svendsen. In her for preface to this collection of oral histories, Vice Admiral Jan Tighe, USN, notes of these women, "Those of us that entered the Academy in their wake benefited greatly from the struggles of that first class. We also likely suffered from their mistakes, whether perceived or actual, based on truth or fiction since these legends persisted in the memories of the brigade upper-class midshipmen that the first class left behind. While generations of women who came after them have had a role in shaping the environment for women at the Academy today, I doubt any of our experiences compare to that of the first class. "Their varying perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences share some important similarities, most notably the fact that they were not prepared or aware of the quite hostile environment they were entering in 1976. Nor could they have prepared themselves to be ostracized by peers, seniors, and in some cases faculty members as most came from loving and supportive families and friends who had accurately heralded them in high school as leaders, scholars, athletes, or all three."
