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Introduction: The Civil War dramatically increased demand for labor throughout the federal government. During the war years, the Departments of the Treasury and the Census Bureau began to employ women as clerks and currency counters. Department of the Navy did not employ women in clerical positions until after the war, but the requirements of naval munitions and ordnance manufacture created some opportunities for working class women. Many of the armaments for the war were manufactured at the Washington Navy Yard and the Washington Arsenal. At the navy yard the war intensified the need to rapidly sew large quantities of canvass bags for ordnance weapons and also to sew canvass awnings and flags for naval ships, a task normally done by male sail makers. As a result, the Department of the Navy decided to abandon tradition and employ women in the Ordnance Laboratory for the first time. The transcribed list below for May 1862 reflects the workers employed in the laboratory for that month. Many of the women employed either were related to employees of the Navy Yard or were widows of men killed during the war or in government service.

The history of nineteen century female employees at the Washington Navy Yard, with one exception has received little attention.¹ For many years the documentation while available was very difficult to access. It was only in the latter part of the twentieth century that the Department of the Navy began to systematically collect data on employee race and gender. The majority of the records reside in large old-style payroll ledgers, the greater part of which are housed at the National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Records Group 71. These payroll records have never been transcribed nor microfilmed. Some years ago while doing some research for what became my History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799 -1962,² I came across a November 1867 payroll record with a listing of six women employed as horse cart drivers.³ Intrigued to find other such records during a recent brief stop in Washington, I went to NARA to again look for documentation regarding women and found the payroll record below dated May 1862. This record lists the names of women employed at the WNY Ordnance Department, Laboratory. They were paid about a $1.00 per day. Exactly what they were assigned to perform is not stated, but women were later employed at the Yard to sew canvas bags used to store gun powder. Most employees at the Navy Yard worked ten hours a day, six days a week. Working at the WNY Ordnance Department Laboratory was both patriotic and dangerous, for there was always risk of a single errant spark igniting nearby gun powder or pyrotechnics with catastrophic results such as the explosion and fire on 17 June 1864 that killed twenty-one young women working U.S. Army Arsenal Washington D.C.⁴

Source and Transcription: This transcription was made from digital images of the holographic document. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Records Group 71Washington Navy Yard Payroll May 1862 Ordnance Department Laboratory. The spelling, punctuation, strikeouts and the use of ampersands are those of the original document.

Washington Navy Yard, Payroll May 1862, with names and wages
of 19 Female employees of the WNY Ordnance Department Laboratory
NARA, Public Domain

Name	Location	# of Days	Dollars	Cents
Mary Wilson	Laboratory	25	31	35
Jaime O Leary	"	25	29	37
Emma J. Sainsbury	"	26	26	50
Martha Pumphrey	"	27	27
Sophia Pumphrey	"	27	27
Rebecca Grimes	"	24	24
Rebecca Grimes	"	23	23
Isabella Beach	"	15	15
Charlotte Peake	"	14	14
May Rigsby	"	25	25
Ruth Davis	"	18 ½	18	50
Sarah Pritchard	"	26	26
Jane McCarty	"	26 ½	26	50
Mary Sommers	"	12 ½	12	50
Henryetta Hill	"	19	19
Rebecca Applegate	"	26 ½	26	50
Mary Hall	"	27	27
Fannie Fare	"	27	27
Catherine Mc Sweeney	"	13 ½	13	50
Salena Burgess	"	27	27
Maria Southern	"	15	15
Matilda Edelin	"	22	22
Matilda Edelin	"	13 ½	13	50
Cecilia Leonard	"	27	27
Mary Hodges	"	14	14
Susan Clark	"	24 ½	24	50
Sallie Hoofnagel	"	13	13
Catherine Lynch	"	12 ½	12	50
Cecilia Moriarty	"	14	14

Source Transcription: This cut transcription was made from digital images of the holographic document, National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Records Group 71, Washington Navy Yard Payroll, November 1864, Civil Engineers Department Horse & Cart. The spelling, punctuation, strikeouts and the use of ampersands are those of the original document.

John "Jack" G. M. Sharp resides in Concord, California. He worked for the United States Navy for thirty years as a civilian personnel officer. Among his many assignments were positions in Berlin, Germany, where in 1989 he was in East Berlin the day the infamous wall was opened. He later served as Human Resources Officer in South West Asia (Bahrain). He returned to the United States in 2001 and was on duty at the Naval District of Washington on 9/11. He has a lifelong interest in history and has written extensively on the Washington, Norfolk and Pensacola Navy Yards, labor history and the history of African Americans. His previous books include African Americans in Slavery and Freedom on the Washington Navy Yard 1799 -1865, Morgan Hannah Press 2011 and History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962, 2004.
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/heritage/washington-navy-yard/pdfs/WNY_History.pdf
and the first complete transcription of the Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard, 1813-1869, 2007/2015 online:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/d/diary-of-michael-shiner.html
His most recent work includes Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814 With The Names of American Wounded From The Battle of Bladensburg 2018,
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/r/register-patients-naval-hospital-washington-dc-1814.html
The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Naval Training Station Hampton Roads and the Norfolk Naval Hospital (202) https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/g/the-great-influenza-pandemic-of-1918-at-the-norfolk-naval-shipyard-naval-training-station-hampton-roads-ad-the-norfolk-naval-hosptial.html
The last four works were all published by the Naval History and Heritage Command.
He recently served as consulting historian, for Animating History, on the film version, Diary of Michael Shiner (2024), https://animatinghistory.com/films/michaelshiner/
John served on active duty in the United States Navy, including Vietnam service. He received his BA and MA in History from San Francisco State University with honors. He can be reached at sharpjg@yahoo.com

	NAMES	OCCUPATION	WHOLE NO. OF DAY’S WORK	RATE OF PAY PER DAY Dolls. / Cts.	AMOUNT DUE AND PAID Dolls. / Cts
1	Oliver Craig	Horse & Cart	-	3.00
2	Jno Hogan	“	13 ½	“	40.50
3	Leno.Gates	“	23	“	69.00
4	Martha Goss	“	20 ½	“	61.50
5	Dennis Kilifoyle	“	25	“	75.00
6	James Roach	“	25	“	75.00
7	Thos O Doilin	“	15	“	45.00
8	Danl. Allman	“	13 ½	“	40.50
9	Patk Connor	“	25	“	75.00
10	Jno Wallace	“	25	“	75.00
11	Kate Reardon	“	14 ½	“	43.50
12	Mary Adams	“	25	“	75.00
13	James Buckley	“	24	“	72.00
14	Mrs. Smith	“	25	“	75.00
15	Mary H. Webster	“	24	“	72.00
16	Lyles Mc Daniels	“	11	“	33.00
17	Jos Weiss	“	9 ½	“	28.50
	TOTAL		404		11.065.81