Madeline Blair (born 1905) also known as ''Adelaide Andrews'', ''Jackie'' or ''Blackie'' was an American

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

from

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

. She was known for being a

stowaway A stowaway or clandestine traveller is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft, a train, cargo truck or bus. Sometimes, the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation. In other cas ...

aboard the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

ship and plying her trade while on board the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

. She is sometimes conflated with Madeleine Blair (note spelling), who was born in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

and later became a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

madam and activist in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and whose autobiography was published in 1919.

USS ''Arizona''

In March 1924, ''Arizona'', part of the

United States Fourth Fleet The U.S. Fourth Fleet is a United States Navy numbered fleet. It is the Naval Component Command of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). The Fourth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. It is responsible for U ...

, was anchored in the North River off

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Some of the ship's sailors on

shore leave Shore leave is the Leave (military), leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land. It is also known as "liberty" within the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps. During the Age of ...

met a 19 year old prostitute named Madeline Blair. She was a brunette with dark eyes and went under the nickname "Blackie". She told them she wanted to go to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

to become a star, but did not have enough money for the fare. ''Arizona'' was due to sail to California, and the sailors agreed to smuggle Blair onto the ship to get her there. She cut her hair short and the sailors provided her with a uniform cap and coat. In amongst a group of sailors and feigning drunkenness, she was smuggled aboard the ship. The sailors hid her in an unused generator compartment, and the cooks agreed to provide her with meals for $10 per day (a sailor's pay at the time was about $21 a month) She plied her trade at $3 a time. As the ship sailed south and temperatures increased, Blair started to go up on deck when it was dark, usually wearing jeans and a work shirt. One evening while watching a movie from a searchlight platform, a sailor who did not know her and did not have a light for his cigarette, reached into her breast pocket (all sailors kept their matches there), and discovered her breast. Although shocked he did not raise the alarm. One sailor informed the ship's officers, but this was dismissed as absurd.

Discovery

After passing through the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

, on 12 April 1924, the ship was lying off

Balboa, Panama Balboa is a district of Panama City, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. History The town of Balboa, founded by the United States during the construction of the Panama Canal, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the Spani ...

, preparing to sail for California. At the break of dawn Blair was still on deck. She stopped at a

scuttlebutt Scuttlebutt in slang usage means rumor or gossip, deriving from the nautical term for the cask used to serve water (or, later, a water fountain).radio operator A radio operator (also, formerly, wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system. The profession of radio operator has become largely obsolete with the automation of ra ...

, who recognised her as a woman and reported her to the deck officer. A search was mounted and Blair was apprehended. She refused to name the sailors who had smuggled her onto the ship. In an attempt to delay things until the ship sailed for California, she claimed there were other women aboard. A search of the ship found nothing and she was put ashore in Balboa The authorities in Balboa were unsure of what to do with her. She returned to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on the

Panama Railroad Company The Panama Canal Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near P ...

ship . and had the US Navy billed for the fare.

Repercussions

The repercussion on the ship were severe. Captain Olmstead instigated

courts-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

for 23 enlisted men, sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment were imposed. Admiral

Henry A. Wiley Admiral Henry Ariosto Wiley (31 January 1867 – 20 May 1943) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II. Biography Born in Pike County, Alabama, Wiley graduated from the United States ...

issued a letter of reprimand to all officers of the ship, including future Admiral and

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

Arleigh Burke Arleigh Albert Burke (October 19, 1901 – January 1, 1996) was an admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kenne ...

, then an ensign. Fortunately for his career and the careers of the other officers, Admiral

William V. Pratt William Veazie Pratt (28 February 1869 – 25 November 1957) was an admiral in the United States Navy. He served as the President of the Naval War College from 1925 to 1927, and as the 5th Chief of Naval Operations from 1930 to 1933. Early l ...

thought the penalties excessive, and when he became

in 1930, he ordered the reprimands stricken from the officer's records. He could not reverse the results of the courts-martial of the enlisted men. In 1928, Blair published her story in the ''American Weekly Magazine'' section of ''

The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...

''.Madeline Blair, "By a Girl Stowaway Who Lived 5 Weeks on the Battleship Arizona", ''American Weekly Magazine'' section of the San Francisco Examiner, May 27, 1928, pag
122021
accessed via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Madeline People from Bridgeport, Connecticut American prostitutes 1905 births Year of death missing