Born: 25August 1922, United States
Died: 21 August 2013
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Mildred Hudson
The following is republished from the National Park Service. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Mildred Cleghorn Womack (Otoe) was one of six Native American women who enlisted in the US Coast Guard SPARS during World War II. Her commitment to her tribal nation and the United States is an example of the service of many Native Americans.
Early Life
Mildred Marjorie Cleghorn Womack (Otoe) was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma in 1922. Her parents, Grant and Mary Cleghorn, were members of the Otoe-Missouria tribe. Mary Cleghorn also had Sac & Fox heritage. Womack went to Burbank High School, living with the family of J.I. Womack.
Service in SPARS
Womack enlisted in the SPARS, the women’s branch of the Coast Guard, as part of the Sooner Squadron. Because of Mabel Martin’s recruitment strategy for Oklahoma, Womack was able to join with her cousin, Corrine Koshiway Goslin (Otoe). They trained together for SPARS in Palm Beach, Florida. Her community celebrated her service in July 1943 in Oklahoma before she left.
After training, Womack was assigned to Coast Guard headquarters in Washington DC. There, she was in charge of locating missing guardsmen for their families. She took a brief furlough in November of 1943 to marry Claude O. Womack (Otoe) in Oklahoma. Womack had her first daughter, Mary Womack Vann, in 1944 in Oklahoma. Presumably, this led to the end of her Coast Guard service under SPARS regulations.
Like other Native members of the Sooner Squadron, Womack faced stereotypes in the press. While she was proud of her Otoe heritage, the newspapers picked up on the most familiar stereotypes in their stories. Articles mentioned Womack’s grandfather, for example, as an “herb doctor.” Journalists also celebrated her beadwork, noting that she made belts and moccasins. Womack participated during and after the war in many Otoe cultural activities. She was part of the resurgence of Powwows and other Native traditional practices during and after World War II.
Life After World War II
After her SPARS service, Womack attended University of Oklahoma. Once again a “Sooner,” she got her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. The Bizzell Memorial Library at Oklahoma, where Womack likely studied, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
After college, she returned to Red Rock, Oklahoma. She served as a social worker for the Otoe-Missouria tribe for several decades. She married Troy Hudson of Vancouver, Washington. Womack raised three children. She served on the Tribal Council for the Otoe Eagle clan and was active in the Native American church. She also belonged to the Otoe War Mothers, a group to help support Otoe veterans. And she continued to attend Powwows and other tribal events.
Mildred Cleghorn Womack Hudson died in Ponca City, Oklahoma in 2013 at the age of 90.