The "Ferret Out the Lesbians" Legend : Johnnie Phelps, General Eisenhower, and the Power and Politics of Myth

The most famous lesbian story to come out of World War II was told by Women's Army Corps (WAC) soldier Nell "Johnnie" Phelps, who claimed to have been given an order by General Dwight D. Eisenhower to "ferret out the lesbians" in her WAC detachment. This article backgrounds her story with history of women in the WAC in World War II and recounts the narrative as it appears in transcripts of Phelps' oral history and in other publications featuring it. It analyzes the public discourse around Phelps' account and its disproval and examines the ways the story has been used for political, historical, community, and personal aims since the oral history was taken in 1982. [ Copies are available at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/haworth-journals.asp ]