About Nancy Baker Wise

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Nancy Baker Wise

Nancy Baker Wise (1921-1998) was an author, freelance writer and environmentalist. With her daughter, Christy Wise, she co-authored A Mouthful of Rivets: Women at Work in World War II, a chronicle of women who worked in non-traditional jobs during World War II.

Nancy’s own oral history appears in the book about her wartime work in the Agricultural Research Department of Swift & Co., in Chicago, IL.

“This had been a man’s job,” she said. “The department hired graduates of agricultural colleges who were ex-farmers or ranchers and knew the subjects they were writing about – like chicken diseases and crop cultivation.”

“When my co-worker, Beverly, and I turned up in this department, you can imagine the disdain with which we were received. What in the world could two urban young women possibly know about cattle diseases and the use of fertilizer?”

Like many women featured in A Mouthful of Rivets, Nancy and her co-worker established themselves as competent, resourceful employees. During her work at Swift & Co., Nancy began to lose her lifelong shyness.

Nancy also authored Marin’s Natural Assets: A Historic Look at Marin County. A dedicated environmentalist, Nancy Wise twice served as president of the Environmental Forum of Marin and on the Marin Conservation League Board of Directors. Her freelance articles appeared in many magazines, newspapers and newsletters including American Way, San Francisco Chronicle and Marin Independent Journal.

Nancy at a book signing for Mouthful or Rivets