Description
Born in California in 1925, Betty Coates worked for Convair in San Diego and United Engineering Shipyards in Alameda during World War II. Part of a cohort of young women training in engineering at Stanford University, she vividly recalls the transition into the wartime workforce. In this interview, Coates discusses everyday life growing up in California, trips to San Francisco, and her coursework in math and engineering between high school and her experience in a War Training Course. Through letters she wrote during and after the war, Coates passionately describes her feelings at key moments throughout the war years.