The following first-person account of LaVera Roland first appeared in Women in the Weather Bureau During WWII by Kaye O'Brien and Gary Grice, 1991.

I worked for the Weather Bureau from 1943 to 1946 at Tatoosh Island and in the Portland city office. In 1943 a vacancy occurred and I was available. (I lived on the station and therefore knew that the Weather Bureau needed a new employee.) I left the Weather Bureau in 1946, due to pregnancy.

My previous educational background included three years of college. The Weather Bureau provided on-the-job training. My first impression of the Weather Bureau was that it was a man's world I stepped into, but I was well received. Morale on station was good. I think one of my major contributions was in doing my daily assignments.

My duties included Climatology, surface and upper air observations. I worked all shifts, (eight-hour shifts), and 48 hours a week. Pay at the time was low. There were seven men and one woman at my duty station.Weather Bureau office at Tatoosh Island (1943).

 

Photograph provided by LaVerna Roland