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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Location of Service: Washington, DC
  • Military Status: Civilian

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"It made a big difference in winning the war in the Pacific-and we were aware of that." (Video Interview, 17:20)

In her senior year of college, Ann Caracristi was recruited for wartime intelligence work in Washington. She joined the Signals Intelligence Service, which spent much of the war breaking down codes the Japanese military was using. Caracristi enjoyed her time in wartime Washington, but she didn't understand how much she enjoyed the work until after the war. When she returned to the "real world" and found work there unchallenging, she returned to government intelligence and made it her career for the next forty years. (Also included on her tape is a brief interview with Jack Ingram of the National Cryptologic Museum.)

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About this Item

Title

  • Ann Caracristi Collection

Names

  • Caracristi, Ann
  • Sewell, Leslie
  • The History Project-Documentary Production

State of Birth

  • NY

Home State

  • DC

Headings

  • -  Caracristi, Ann
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  Army Signal Intelligence Service -- Personal Narratives

Notes

  • -  Interview was conducted as part of the documentary film "Government Girls of World War II."

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • Civilian

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Location of Service: Washington, DC
    • Military Status: Civilian

Materials

  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected unknown)
  • Video: Betacam SP [3 items] -- Oral history interview (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/30844

Cite as

  • Ann Caracristi Collection (AFC/2001/001/30844), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Location of Service

Gender

Highest Rank

Discharge Status

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Caracristi, Ann, Leslie Sewell, and The History Project-Documentary Production. Ann Caracristi Collection. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.30844/.

APA citation style:

Caracristi, A., Sewell, L. & The History Project-Documentary Production. Ann Caracristi Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.30844/.

MLA citation style:

Caracristi, Ann, Leslie Sewell, and The History Project-Documentary Production. Ann Caracristi Collection. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.30844/>.