Dot Braden

Dot Braden was a young schoolteacher from Lynchburg, Virginia who had spent one year teaching at an understaffed public high school in Chatham, Virginia. Due to the war efforts, the school had few qualified teachers and Dot was overburdened carrying far too many classes. Although she was tenacious and bright, she refused to go back for a second year. Dot helped support her family as her mother was divorced and raising four children. When Dot heard about the government recruiting young women to work in Washington, D.C. she was thrilled. When she received a job offer to work as a civilian in the U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service, she gladly accepted despite not quite knowing what the field of cryptography entailed. Dot's story is woven throughout the work as it begins with her acceptance of employment and ends with an interview of Dot for...