Daisy May Pratt Erd

Daisy May Pratt Erd USNR (1882-1925) was a Canadian-born American songwriter and composer, and a naval Yeoman (F) in Boston, Massachusetts during World War I. After the war, she advocated for the recognition of women veterans.

Daisy May Pratt Erd
Daisy Pratt Erd, from a 1918 publication.
BornCanada
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Navy Reserve
RankYeoman (F)
Spouse(s)Louis Erd
Other workmusician

Early life

Daisy May Pratt was born in Canada[1] and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where she taught music.[2]

Career
Cover sheet for the "Rear Admiral Wood One-Step," ca. 1918

Erd was a young mother of two and a piano teacher, when she enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve in 1917.[3] Soon she was the chief yeoman in charge of all the enlisted women working in the Boston Navy Yard. She opened a lunch room for the naval yard's employees, and created the Hingham Naval Training Station Band, for the recreation of recruits with musical skills.[4] Compositions by Erd included "We'll Carry The Star Spangled Banner Thru The Trenches", "Uncle Sam's Ships" (a tribute to the USS Melville),[5] "Welcome Home", and "The Rear Admiral Wood One-Step" (written in honor of Spencer S. Wood).[1] She donated thousands of dollars in profits from these songs to the Naval Reserve Fund and the Naval Relief Society.[6] She was awarded a gold medal in 1918 by William R. Rush, commandant of the naval yard, "for merit, war service".[7]

After her active service, she helped to found the first women's post of the American Legion, in Boston, and was elected as commander of the post.[8] She successfully persuaded the American Legion's national executive committee in Washington D. C. to maintain the unique post's charter and Charlestown location, against some local opposition.[9] She advocated for a state bonus of $100 for women in Massachusetts who served in the Navy, and began a union to improve the women veterans' job prospects. "We did a man's job, and why shouldn't we be treated like the men are treated in the matter of bonuses?" she asked.[10] As a show of appreciation, the women of her American Legion post bought her ringside seats to a boxing match in Boston in 1921, assuring a reporter that "she will be tickled foolish when we tell her that she is going to the fight."[11]

Personal life

Daisy May Pratt married Louis Erd, a barber. They had two daughters, Norma and Georgia. Daisy Pratt Erd died in 1925, from tuberculosis that she contracted during her naval service.[1]

References
  1. E. M. Foxwell, "Daisy May Erd, Yeoman (F) and war composer" American Women in World War I (May 22, 2017).
  2. "To Sell Naval Song at Yeowomen's Ball" Boston Daily Globe (July 1, 1917): 9.
  3. "Two Youngsters Travel Alone from Boston" Chicago Tribune (September 2, 1917): 8. via Newspapers.com
  4. "Senior Chief Yeoman in First Navy District" Asheville Citizen-Times (October 20, 1918): 14. via Newspapers.com
  5. "American Music Goes To War, World War One in American Song Part 2: Over There, Page 2" The Parlor Songs Academy (December 2000).
  6. "Affairs and Folks" National Magazine (September 1918): 459.
  7. Lettie Gavin, American Women In World War I: They Also Served (University Press of Colorado 2011). ISBN 9781457109409
  8. "War Women Form Their First Post" Boston Daily Globe (July 9, 1919): 4.
  9. "Women's Legion Post May Remain" Boston Daily Globe (February 10, 1921): 6.
  10. Kristine Carlson Asselin, Women in World War I (ABDO 2016): 6-8. ISBN 9781680771022
  11. "Daisy Erd to Attend Fight" Boston Post (January 7, 1921): 17. via Newspapers.com
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