Charlotte Gower Chapman (1902-1982)
The Love of Anthropology
Charlotte Gower was born and raised in Kankakee, Illinois. From an early age, Charlotte had an interest in the study of languages and history.
After graduating from Smith College, Charlotte studied at the University of Chicago and pursued her passion in anthropology. During her time at the University, Charlotte was one of only two women awarded degrees from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. She wrote her PhD dissertation on Chicago’s Sicilian immigrant community with a focus on Sicilian religion and culture during the Prohibition era.
Beginning in 1926, she spent two years in France working on prehistoric archeological digs as Director of the American School of Prehistoric Research for Yale University. Then from 1928-30, Charlotte traveled around Sicily, immersing herself in the peasant life in a remote Sicilian mountain village of Milocca, near Palermo. She compiled her notes and interviews and wrote an anthropological study titled “Milocca: A Sicilian Village,” which included a detailed account of daily life, traditions, and mysticism of early Sicilians.
Dangerous Times
In 1938, Charlotte accepted an offer to head the Anthropology Department and serve as Dean of Women for Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Though considered a dangerous undertaking with the growing threat of Japanese invasion, Charlotte was undeterred.
Japanese Imperial Forces invaded Hong Kong in December 1941 and placed Charlotte in an internment camp, along with other US citizens. Luckily, in 1942, she was among those repatriated back to the US.
Semper Fi
Upon her return to Chicago, Charlotte, a 40-year-old academic anthropologist, who had never served in the military, applied to the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The President of the University of Chicago, Dr. Robert Hutchins, called Charlotte “an exceptionally capable and brilliant woman” in his letter of recommendation to Marine Headquarters. The USMC agreed, and Charlotte became only the second female officer to join the Corps. She was commissioned with the rank of Captain in 1943.
Captain Charlotte Gower Chapman, 1943
The USMC wasted no time putting Charlotte in charge of recruitment for the Women’s Reserve program. Without any military training, she was immediately assigned to a series of recruiting trips designed to screen applicants for female Marine officer training. Charlotte was in charge of organizing and supervising all of the training for women Marines with a special emphasis on preparing them to become officers. For her many accomplishments, she was promoted to Major.
US Marines Women’s Reserve Program
OSS Comes Calling
In May 1944, General William J. Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), CIA’s wartime predecessor organization, sent a letter to USMC Headquarters requesting the reassignment of Major Gower Chapman to the OSS. Because of Charlotte’s fluency in Chinese, French, and Italian, the OSS needed her skills in the Far Eastern theater as an intelligence analyst. Charlotte would spend the rest of World War II working for the OSS and would later become one of the first CIA officers when the Agency was established in 1947.
Later Years
Charlotte retired from CIA in 1964. She returned to teaching and remained active in the Marine Corps Reserves, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. She passed away in 1982.
In academia, the military, and intelligence, Charlotte Gower Chapman was a groundbreaker and a champion for all women.