Servicewoman of Recognition

Margaret of Provence was born in 1221 in Forcalquier, located in southeast France. Her parents were Ramon Berenguer IV, who was the Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy. Margaret was the oldest of four daughters, women who would go on to become Queen Eleanor of England, Queen Sanchia of Germany, and Queen Beatrice of Sicily. Growing up Margaret was particularly close with her sister Eleanor, and the two remained close friends for the entirety of their lives.

Margaret was known for her grace and beauty, and in 1233, Blanche of Castile, Margaret’s future mother-in-law sent knights to Provence. Margaret and her family entertained the knights suitably for their stature in society, and soon after the two families were in negotiations for Margaret to marry Blanche’s son, Louis IX of France. The families felt that Margaret was a good match for Louis because of her religious devotion and courtly manner. The couple were married in the city of Sens in May 1234, and she was promptly crowned Queen of France soon after.

Margaret and Louis were said to have shared a warm marriage, they enjoyed riding horses together, reading, and listening to music. When Louis would pray quietly in the night, Margaret would place a blanket around his shoulders. The closeness of the King and Queen did not earn Margaret favor with her mother-in-law. Blanche was a jealous woman who held strong influence over her sons’ decisions and did her best to keep the King and Queen separated.

When King Louis left to fight in the Seventh Crusade (1248-1254), Margaret joined him. The crusade initially was met with success, but after the death of Louis’ brother and the capture of the King, things began to fall apart. It was up to Queen Margaret to lead and be responsible to negotiate the safe return of her husband, making her the only woman to lead one of the Crusades. During her time in charge, Margaret ensured that there was enough food to supply the Christians who were in the Holy Land. She convinced troop members who wanted to leave their posts to stay and continue to fight. 

After the return of Louis, the pair returned to France in 1254. In the time the two were in the Holy Land, Louis’ mother, Blanche, had passed. This allowed Margaret to take her place next to her husband as his advisor and assistant. Due her leadership during the Seventh Crusade, Margaret was internationally recognized as a leader and was often asked to mediate disagreements. Margaret was involved with major treaties and negotiations between royal families. Over the years though, Louis had grown tired of his wife’s ambition.

In 1270, Louis went on another Crusade and perished there, leaving Margaret in France. After the death of her husband, Margaret returned to her home in Provence and continued her work in politics and international relations. Margaret was trying to solidify her place in Provence, which was under the rule of her brother-in-law. 

The last years of Margaret’s life were devoted to religious work. In 1289 in Lourcines Margaret founded a Franciscan nunnery. Margaret finally passed in 1295 in Paris, where she was living in a monastery she had founded. Margaret was buried near her husband in the Basilica of St. Denis. Her grave was located beneath the altar steps and was never marked with a monument, making her exact burial spot in the church unknown. Because her grave is unmarked, hers was the only one that was not destroyed during the French Revolution 500 years later, and most likely still remains intact to this day.

-June 2026

Born in 1917 in Lucban, Josefina “Joey” Guerrero lost her parents at a young age, being sent to the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd. It was here that she was introduced to religion, being drawn to figures such as Joan of Arc, wanting to become a hero one day herself.

It was at the church that Joey fell ill with tuberculosis. The church leaders were unable to care for Joy when she was sick and she was sent to live with her grandparents. When Joey recovered from being sick, her family sent her to Manila to be educated at a convent. It was during her education that she picked up the hobbies of art, poetry, music, and sports. It was at the convent in 1934 that she met and married her husband at the age of 16. The two had a daughter together. The small family was only together for a short time, in 1941 Joey was diagnosed with leprosy. Her husband moved out and took their daughter with him as leprosy was a highly stigmatized disease.

When the Japanese forces invaded the Philippines in 1942, Joey lost her access to her medication as there was a medical shortage in the country. Joey decided that if her leprosy was going to claim her life, then she was going to make the most of it. She asked a friend of hers to put her in contact with members of the resistance movement. When the resistance leader stated that at the age of 24, Joey was too young to be a member of the resistance. Joey replied that Joan of Arc was much younger than she was when she fought for France. The resistance accepted her and she worked as a spy and courier to deliver information about the Japanese forces. It was up to Joey to learn the movements of the Japanese Army movements and report her findings back.

When the Japanese forces increased in number, they began to conduct routine searches of civilians. Joey was always left out of these searches because of her leprosy. This allowed Joey to successfully deliver messages, information, weapons, and supplies to the resistance movement. As World War II continued, Joey’s tasks went on to include mapping out the Japanese gun placement and their fortifications, the Allied used this information during their attack on Manila Harbor in 1944.

In 1944 Joey was given her most dangerous mission. She was tasked to bring a map of a minefield to American headquarters. The headquarters was 35 miles away, and by delivering this map it ensured that the Allied forces would be safe when they came to Manila to break the Japanese occupation. Joey had to walk 25 miles to the town of Hagonoy where she was met with an active war zone. She next boarded a small boat to leave the area and faced the challenge of outrunning river pirates during her ride. She walked the final 8 miles to reach her destination only to find that the Allied soldiers had moved to another location. This caused Joey to walk further to deliver the map of landmines safely.

Joey returned to Manila to help in the 1944-1945 Battle of Manila where she acted as a nurse tending the wounds of soldiers and civilians while getting them out of an active war zone.

After the war ended and the Japanese left the Philippines, Joey went to the Tala Leprosarium for treatment. The institution was not well maintained, with no running water or electricity. There was inadequate staff, food, clothing, and bedding. Joey did not spend her time idly during her treatment. She spent her time tidying and cleaning the hospital and writing to friends in the United States about the condition of the institution. Word circulated about the condition of the Leprosarium which spurred action to be taken. The institution was investigated and in turn renovated. In 1948 Joey was granted a visa to the United States and became to first foreign person with leprosy to be allowed into the country for treatment. It was during her time in the U.S. that her bravery during the war became known, being featured in Time Magazine. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom for her service and treated at the Carville National Leprosarium in Louisiana. Her treatment took nine years to complete and she was discharged in 1957.

After being cured of her leprosy, Joey spent her time as an activist towards beating the stigmatization of leprosy. She tried to find a job but was turned away due to her past illness. When Joey faced deportation, she was supported by military personnel, lawyers, and members of the press who campaigned and fought for her right to stay in the country. She was granted citizenship in 1967.

Joey lived the rest of her life in the United States, getting remarried. Her daughter visited her once while she was in the country visiting. Joey spent the rest of her life out of the public eye, working to maintain her privacy. She finally passed in 1996 and is buried in a Washington D.C. cemetery. In the end, Joey got her wish of becoming a hero, just like Joan of Arc.

-May 2026

Tatyana Denisovna Muntyan was born in Sofiivka, Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, USSR on December 26, 1918. The territory in which she was born is now part of the modern-day Ukraine. Tatyana’s parents were named Denis and Lukeriya and originally worked for a landowner up until the year 1917, when the Russian Revolution started. After the Revolution had ended in 1922, her father had passed away and Tatyana’s mother lived on a farm of her own until she passed in 1950. 

Before enlisting in the military, Tatyana was a student at the Odesa National Medical University and worked as a general practitioner until her enlistment in 1941. During her service, Tatyana served on several different front of the war. From July 1941 until January 1942, she served as a junior doctor to the 980th Rifle Regiment as part of the 275thRifle Division on the Southern Front. Her next movement was as the resident doctor of Ward 101 on the Southern Front, working with the evacuation reception unit. Tatyana held this position form January 1942 until July 1942.

Tatyana was moved to the Bryansk Front for the rest of 1942 until the beginning of 1943. She began as the junior doctor of the 203rdArtillery Regiment as part of the 15th Rifle Division and held the same title there. Her next position was to be the commander of the surgical unit of the 12th Artillery Division’s medical company.

She was then moved from the Bryansk Front to the Central Front in February 1943 and stayed there as the senior doctor of the 1007thLight Artillery Regiment as part of the 12th Artillery Division. She held this position on the Central Front until May of 1944.

Tatyana’s last movement was to the 3rd Belorussian Front in August 1944, and she stayed there until May of 1945. She held her position as the senior doctor and served with the 285th Light Artillery Regiment as part of the 10th Artillery Division. During her time serving in East Prussia, she was able to assist and evacuate 125 wounded soldiers from the battlefield, and of those lightly wounded, she treated 52 Red Army soldiers and officers who were able to return to active duty.

She was moved to the reserve forces in 1946. Over the course of her military career, Tatyana served on four fronts and was given six different commands. Her superiors all stated that Tatyana demonstrated that she was able to provide sanitary medical support to those she treated, that she conducted herself courageously, and had a good understanding of what was happening around her. Her superiors treated her with high regards and all believed that she deserved her promotions.

For her service, Tatyana was awarded several military distinctions. For bravery in combat, she was awarded a medal for Battle Merit, as well as two Orders of the Red Star. Tatyana was also awarded a medal for her help in the capture of Königsberg. She was finally awarded a medal for the ‘Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.’ Her total length of service was 5 years and 1 month.

After the War, Tatyana got married to a man named Boris Petrovich Loy in October 1945 and changed her last name. Together they had two children, a boy in 1946 named Vitaliy and a girl in 1950 named Larisa. She continued her medical work in different fields and hospitals. 

In 1946, Tatyana worked as the Head of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in the Kakhovka district. She stayed there until March of 1951 when she went on to serve as the Head of the District Malaria Station, and in 1955 became the head of the Parasitology Department of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station. Her superiors thought that she was qualified for her positions, as Tatyana continued to improve her professional qualifications.

-March 2026

Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière was born on a plantation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is believed that she was the daughter of an enslaved woman and her white slave owner. This was when France still claimed Haiti as its colony. Marie-Jeanne was raised on the plantation received her education from teachers who focused on Haitian Vodou and African culture.

When Marie-Jeanne got older, she married a man named Louis Daure Lamartinière, who was an officer in the Armée Indigène, and was an active member of the Haitian Revolution. 

Marie-Jeanne fought during the Haitian Revolution alongside her husband, taking part in major battles such as the Battle of Crête-à-Pierrot in March of 1802. In varying sources, Marie-Jeanne’s preferred battle attire has been claimed to consist of men’s uniforms and a long white dress. Marie-Jeanne also showed her sense of self by tying her hair up in a red bonnet, along with slinging a rifle over her shoulder and attaching a scarf and cutlass to her steel belt.

During battles, Marie-Jeanne would traverse ramparts to hand out bullet cartridges and help load cannons, and when the battles became more intense, she would run to the frontlines to use her rifle against the French forces. When fighting, Marie-Jeanne was said to be overtaken with the spirit of courage and helped to gather the wounded to bring them to safety.

After the French were unsuccessful in their attempts to reclaim their lost colonial territory after several years of fighting, and Haiti declared its independence in 1804. Marie-Jeanne had characteristics of beauty, courage, and youth attributed to her for her actions during the Revolution.

For her actions, Marie-Jeanne is one of the few women whose name remained well-known from the Haitian Revolution. She was minted on a Haitian coin, as well as depicted on a postage stamp for her actions. In Haiti, she is well known for her bravery during the Revolution and is popularly referred to as ‘Haiti’s Joan of Arc.’

-February 2026

Zheng Pingru was born in 1918 in the Lanxi Zhejiang Province of the Republic of China. Her parents married while they were students. Her father, Zheng Yueyuan was studying in Japan when he met his wife, Kimura Hanako. The couple had a total of five children together.

Growing up in Shanghai, Pingru learned to speak Japanese fluently from her mothers’ teachings. Pingru’s father taught at a university, and while she did attend classes at the Shanghai College of Politics and Law, Pingru wanted nothing more than to be an actress like the ones that she admired. Pingru became involved in an acting group while at school, much to her very traditional father’s disapproval.

Over time, Pingru became a well-known socialite in the 1930’s, as she fostered an acting and music career. In 1931 and 1932, when Japan invaded Manchuria and attacked Shanghai, Pingru and her siblings joined anti-Japanese protests, regardless of the fact that they were half Japanese themselves.

In 1937, when the Japanese forces progressed further into China, after the Battle of Shanghai, Pingru joined the resistance movement and became a Nationalist spy. She was able to operate effectively due to her fluency in the Japanese language and connections through her mother. Pingru was able to collect information on the Imperial Japanese Army.

The puppet government that was established after the Japanese invasion was headed by Wang Jingwei, whose chief of security was Ding Mocun. Pingru and the other resistance movement members despised Mocun for his collaboration with the Japanese forces, so they formulated a plan to assassinate him. It was Pingru’s job to get close enough to seduce him in order to lead him into a trap. 

Pingru was able to set up some chance encounters between the two of them and quickly became Mocun’s girlfriend.

The first attempt to assassinate was when Pingru invited Mocun back to her home after a date, where the assassins were lying wait, but he refused the offer.

The second assassination attempt was after a dinner at the house of Mocun’s friend. On the way home, Pingru asked to be dropped off at the city’s shopping district. Pingru asked for Mocun’s help in purchasing a fur coat. Inside the shop the assassins waited once more for their chance. It was in the store that Mocun grew suspicious of his surroundings and fled. The assassins fired some shots after him but missed.

After the second attempt, Mocun realized that Pingru was the spy collaborating with the would-be assassins. He asked to meet her, Pingru went to the meeting prepared with a pistol, but never got the opportunity to use it, as she was arrested before she had the chance.

Pingru was interrogated while in custody, and her captors tried to persuade her to join their cause and she refused. She continued to be held hostage while the Japanese forces tried to convince her father to join their government, and he refused as well. Angry that their tactics of interrogation and persuasion did not work on Pingru, the decision was made that she would be executed. The order was conducted in February 1940.

For her work in the field of espionage, Pingru was hailed as a martyr, the Chinese Communist Party feeling that she was their ‘anti-Japanese heroine.’ In her honor, a statue of Pingru was established in Shanghai, being unveiled in 2009. 

-January 2026

  Georgette Meyer was born in 1919 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She more commonly went by the nickname of Dickey. She was a bright student. By the age of 16 Dickey was attending aeronautical design classes at MIT, hoping to learn piloting after she returned home. After her mother learned that Dickey was in a relationship with one of the pilots she was working with, she was sent to live with her grandparents in Florida. It was there that Dickey began her journalism and photography career. Her first foray into the press was to write a press release for an air show, which led her to an assignment in Havana, Cuba. It was this story that Dickey wrote and submitted to the New York Times that got her recognized by an editor at Transcontinental and Western Air, asking her to come and work for their publicity bureau. It was in New York that she began to take photography classes with the man she would later marry and eventually divorce, Tony Chapelle. 

Despite having limited photojournalist experience, Dickey was able to secure a job as a war correspondent during World War II for National Geographic. One of her very first assignments was to observe Marines during the battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific Theater. Dickey was at the battle of Okinawa on assignment as well. By the end of World War II, Dickey had authored many articles on the war, as well as nine books about women in aviation. 

At the end of the war, she continued to work as a war correspondent, which took her worldwide. Dickey was at the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and it was during this time that she was captured and jailed for seven weeks before she was released. In her career she learned how to jump by parachute and preferred to do this with troops when in active war zones. Dickey was highly respected in both the military and journalistic community while working and could always be recognized in her signature uniform of fatigues, an Australian bush hat, cat-eyed glasses, and pearl earrings.

In her life, Dickey was devoutly anti-Communist and expressed these feelings at the beginning of the Vietnam War. It was while she was working as a photojournalist during the Vietnam War that Dickey was killed. She was on patrol with a Marine platoon when a tripwire was activated. Dickey was hit by a piece of shrapnel in the neck and was fatally injured. Dickey was brought back to the United States and was given a full Marine burial, the soldiers she worked alongside felt that she was one of them. There is a Marine dedicated memorial marker near the site of her death, with an inscription that states “She was one of us and we will miss her.”

Dickey was the first female war correspondent to be killed in Vietnam as well as the first American female reporter to be killed in action.

During her career, Dickey was awarded with several honors, including the Distinguished Service Award, which was presented to her by the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association. The Marines continue to honor her legacy by awarding women with the Dickey Chappelle Award annually and has posthumously been declared an honorary Marine.

-December 2025

Born in 1832, Mary Walker was raised in a progressive New York household. Her parents raised all six of their children to be independent with a strong sense of justice. Mary was raised to question and challenge restriction in a household where the farm work was shared equally by both parents regardless of gender. As a child, Mary worked on the family farm, rarely wearing women’s clothing as she found it to be too restrictive for farm work. 

Mary got her education in the local school that her parents established themselves, as her parents felt that it was equally important for all of their children to be well educated, not just their son. After leaving primary school, she attended the Falley Seminary, where there was a strong emphasis on traditional gender roles. While a student here, Mary felt even stronger in her own defiance of 1800’s gender norms. Mary found her calling by reading her father’s medical books, which exposed her to a good medical understanding at a young age. Mary was able to attend and pay her way through the Syracuse Medical College where she graduated as a doctor in 1855. Mary was the only woman in her graduating class.

Mary was briefly married to a classmate but was divorced a few years later due to her husband’s infidelity. In 1860, Mary also briefly attended Bowen Collegiate Institute, but was later suspended for not wanting to leave the school debate team.

When the Civil War broke out, Mary volunteered as an Army surgeon until she was rejected from the service for being a woman. She was offered to serve as a nurse but declined. She instead volunteered as a surgeon for the Army as a civilian. Since there were no female surgeons at the time, she was only allowed to practice as a nurse. During her volunteer service she participated in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861. Mary was also an unpaid field surgeon near Union front lines. 

Mary was a devout suffragist and feminist in her life and not only knew that women were serving secretly in the military but was proud to see them serving. She did her best to keep their identities secret, going as far as to alter the press about some of the women who were healing in the hospitals.

In her service, Mary attempted to become a Union spy, but her proposal to the War Department was declined. She continued to work as a surgeon, in 1863 Mary became the first female surgeon to be employed by the U.S. Army, accepting a job as a Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon. She later became the assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry. Even though Mary in her service followed the Union Armies, she would cross enemy lines to assist and treat civilians regardless of what side her patient aligned themselves with.

Mary was later captured by Confederates in 1864 as a Union spy. She was sent to Castle Thunder and was kept there for several months until she was released as part of a prisoner exchange. After she was freed, Mary was assigned as the supervisor of a women’s prison, as well as the head of an orphanage. 

After the Civil War ended, Mary was given a disability pension for muscular atrophy that she suffered while imprisoned. Mary went into several different professions after the War, working as a writer and a lecturer. Mary continued to advocate and support causes such as health care, temperance, and other women’s rights causes. She was heavily involved in the Women’s Suffrage Movement, going as far as attempting to vote in 1871.

For her service as a surgeon during the Civil War, Mary tried to earn a commission to validate her service. Since she was a women the Secretary of War ruled that there was nothing that determined a precedent for a woman earning a commission. However, they still felt that she deserved a commendatory acknowledgement instead if a commission. This led to President Johnson awarding Mary the Medal of Honor, making her the only woman to be given this honor. In 1916 the U.S. Congress performed an audit of sorts of the Medal of Honor recipients and revoked several of the honorees. Mary was among this revoked list. Mary was not made to return her medal, and sources state that she was later reinstated as a Medal recipient. 

Walker never felt that she had not deserved her award as she was willing to cross into enemy territory to care for others when no man around her was brave enough to do so. Dr. Mary Walker was living in New York when she fell ill and passed in 1919 at the age of 86. She was buried in her hometown of Oswego, New York. Her funeral was said to be plain, and she chose to be buried in a black suit rather than a dress. Since her passing, Dr. Walker has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, been pictured on a postage stamp as well as a quarter and has had multiple medical facilities named in her honor. She remains the only female recipient of the Medal of Honor to this day.

-November 2025

Born in Warsaw in 1926, Franceska Mann was a young rising star in the world of ballet. Franceska was a student at the dance school of Irena Prusicka and was talented enough to come in fourth place in a 1939 international ballet competition of 125 people.

At the start of World War II, Franceska was a dancer at the Melody Palace nightclub in Warsaw, but as a Jewish woman, she was eventually placed in the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1943, Franceska along with 1,700 other prisoners were transported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Mann and the other prisoners were told that they were not staying there but would be transferred into Switzerland. Before this could happen they needed to be put through a disinfecting shower.

It is at this point in history that several different versions of Franceska’s life branch out. It is believed that Franceska knew she and the other prisoners were not going to be transferred, but they would be killed at the death camp. When she was ordered to undress in the showers, she is confirmed to have grabbed officer Josef Schillinger’s gun and fatally shot him. She then shot another officer named Emmerich.

These gunshots functioned as a signal to the other female prisoners who were with Franceska. The women sprung into action and converged on the guards around them. The women were able to wound many of the Nazi men, one man having his nose torn off, and another one having been scalped. There are many different accounts that state that the only men who were wounded were the officers that Franceska shot, many others state that she inspired an uprising in that gas chamber.

Regardless of how many men these women were able to wound, reinforcements were called in with machine guns and grenades. We know for certain that Franceska and all of the other female prisoners were killed on that day.

The Auschwitz Museum has confirmed that on October 23, 1943, there was a woman who shot two SS guards, and there is great belief that Franceska was the one who conducted the act and inspired the other women to fight for themselves until the end.

-October 2025

Women Veterans Day is recognized in the United States on June 12th. This is not a day that supplements Veterans Day but celebrates the passing of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act. 

The Women's Armed Services Integration Act was passed June 12, 1948, and awarded women the opportunity to serve as permanent members of the Armed Forces. 

Before the passing of this bill, women were only allowed to serve in the military during times of war. The only exception to this were women who served as nurses. Women served in branches of the Armed Forces in both World War I and World War II but had to leave the service after the conflict ended. The passing of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act made it possible for women to serve in times of peace, though there were clauses that prevented women from serving on ships and aircraft of the Navy that could engage in combat.

There was both positive and negative reception to this act being brought up, but it had influential promoters, including the likes of General Dwight Eisenhower. The bill finally passed in both the House and the Senate, and President Truman signed the bill.

-June 2025

Born in 1906 in the Philippines, little is known about the early life of Nieves Fernandez. Her professional career as a teacher began before World War II. Historians know the most about her during her actions during the War. In the 1930's, Japan began to expand their territory outside of their borders. This included the invasion of the Philippines. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese forces in 1941, the United States joined the global conflict, triggering full-scale warfare in the Pacific.

The Allied forces stationed troops in the Philippines, and this is when Nieves became involved in the fighting. Nieves was one of the most well-known female guerilla fighters in the Philippines during World War II. She was able to recruit 110 men to train as more guerilla fighters, her unit originally only had three guns and had to rely heavily on homemade grenades, bolo knives, and single-shot pipe shotguns that fired nails from it. She and her men eventually were able to acquire more guns, both Japanese and American made.

Nieves earned herself the nickname of 'Silent Killer' during the War and ended the war with the ranking of Sergeant. Nieves was able to kill 200 Japanese soldiers and had a bounty on her head placed there by the Japanese forces.

After World War II ended, Nieves was honorably discharged from service, it is believed that she lived until the 1990's, staying in the Philippines with her son and grandchildren.

-May 2025

 Anna Coleman Ladd was born in 1878 in Pennsylvania. Anna received an education in Europe, it was in Paris and Rome that she studied sculpting. She met her husband in Salisbury, England and the two moved to Boston where Anna continued her education in art. 

Anna studied with the American sculptor Bela Pratt for a number of years at the Boston Museum School, and in 1915 her piece Triton Babies was displayed in the  Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. During her time as a sculptor, Anna showed her art in several different shows and traveling exhibitions. This led her to establish a good name for herself in the world of art.

During World War I, Anna's husband, Dr. Maynard Ladd, was appointed to the Children's Bureau of the American Red Cross in France. It was then that Anna learned of the work of a British sculptor named Francis Derwent Wood, who was making prosthetic masks for disfigured soldiers who were returning home. Anna, wanting to become more involved in the war effort, asked for special permission to travel to collaborate with the soldiers in France. 

Anna was granted permission and began to sculpt masks for the soldiers who were stationed in France. Anna was appointed to collaborate with the American Red Cross in the Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department in Paris. 

During her work in Paris, Anna founded the Studio for Portrait-Masks and began to provide cosmetic masks for the disfigured men. It was due to her service in the war effort that Anna was awarded both the Légion d'Honneur Croix de Chevalier and the Serbian Order of Saint Sava.

Anna retired from her work as a sculptor in 1936, and she and her husband moved together to California, where Anna died in 1939. Her statue titled Triton Babies is still displayed in the Boston Public Garden and is a part of the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.

-April 2025

 Born in 1921, Sophia Magdalena Scholl was an outspoken young woman. Sophie was born into a family of liberal politicians who were fierce Nazi critics. 

Sophie had a calm and carefree childhood but had to be moved from city to city due to her father’s political work. She enjoyed school and came by learning new information easily. In 1931, at the age of 12, Sophie, along with the majority of her classmates, joined branches of the Hitler Youth. Her initial excitement to be part of the group quickly fell away when she began to notice that the group’s political ideals clashed with that of her own and her family's. Sophie was a very opinionated girl, who chose her friends carefully to make sure that their values corresponded with her own.

In 1937, a few of Sophie's brothers, who were also disillusioned to the Nazi Party, took part in several Anti-Nazi protests. This led to their arrest, which left a strong impression on a growing Sophie. 

It was at 16 years old that Sophie was first arrested by the Gestapo for her participation in Anti-Nazi organizations. She was released shortly after, but this was the final nail in the coffin towards her views and opinions about the rising power in Germany. 

After graduating from secondary school in 1940, Sophie became increasingly opposed to her country and the growing political climate. In 1942, Sophie enrolled in the University of Munich to study biology and philosophy. It was here that she met like-minded friends who were eager to speak out about Nazism. 

Sophie, her friends, and a few of her brothers began a nonviolent, outspoken organization called the White Rose. This group of students would covertly distribute leaflets that spoke out against the Nazi regime and Hitler's motives. These leaflets were left in public spaces where they would be seen by the largest amount of people: in phonebooks in public phone booths, mailed to professors and students, and handed off to other students so that they could be circulated at other universities. Sophie was a key member of the White Rose, being a woman she was much less likely to be suspected of being involved, making her less likely to be stopped by SS officers. 

Sophie and her brother, Hans, were finally caught distributing these leaflets at Ludwig Maximillian University. The siblings went to this school with a suitcase full of leaflets. The two began leaving them in stacks in hallways that were well travelled. As they were about to leave, Sophie opened the suitcase at the uppermost part of a staircase so that the pages would rain down into the atrium below. A university maintenance person named Jakob Schmid caught them in the act and turned both Sophie and Hans into the Gestapo. 

Sophie was initially presumed to be innocent but assumed responsibility for her actions to protect the other members of the White Rose. During her trial, Sophie stood proudly before the judge and stated that "Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did." 

Sophie was found guilty of treason and was sentenced to execution. She was killed by guillotine on February 22, 1943, at 5:00 pm. Some of her last words were "The sun still shines."

Sophie's legacy has continued long after her death. The White Rose continued to operate covertly. More leaflets were smuggled out of Germany to neighboring countries where Allied planes would drop them from the sky over Germany. After the war ended, years later in 2003 the communication and political science building at the University of Munich was named after Sophie and her brother. She has also been honored on German currency as well as in television, film, and national publications. 

Sophie is now considered one of the most well beloved, influential German people of the twentieth century.

-March 2025

Women have been involved in wars and battles for centuries. The earliest records dating back to 16th Century BC. Much documentation was not recorded of these women, so it is difficult to piece together the records that highlight them.

One of the first women to be recorded as believed to be involved in war was Ahhotep I. After her husband died from injuries, she became regent until her son was old enough to become Pharaoh. In her time as regent, Ahhotep unified, cared for, protected, and returned the deserters and dissidents of the military. For these actions Ahhotep was given recognition on a stela monument. From the verbiage that is inscribed, some scholars believe that it is likely that Ahhotep commanded the Egyptian army during her time as regent.

In the 13th Century BC, Fu Hao was a consort of the Emperor, having entered into the palace through marriage. From documents that have survived since the Shang Dynasty, Fu Hao is credited to have led multiple military campaigns, having won a hard won victory against the Tu people. During her time as a military leader, she led upwards of 13,000 troops, including many other celebrated generals. Fu Hao is said to be the most accomplished military leader of her time.

Some skepticism surrounds Queen Tomyris. Several ancient texts have been discovered that highlight her actions and accomplishments. Tomyris rose to become queen after her husband died. Tomyris was the leader of the Massagetae tribe in ancient Iran. When a neighboring Persian ruler, Cyrus, asked for her hand in marriage, Tomyris saw through his grab for power and rejected the proposal. Tomyris then states that Cyrus should focus on ruling his kingdom while she ruled hers. Cyrus saw this as an insult and invaded the Massagetae land. According to various sources, Tomyris took an active role in the military campaign, some even stating that she was the one to kill Cyrus herself. Not much was written of Tomyris after the death of Cyrus, but her legacy lives on having become a popular figure in Renaissance art.

Some of the women who were involved in wars and military engagements are believed to be fictional. One of the most famous of these stories is the legend of Hua Mulan. The exact origin of Mulan is not exactly known, but believed to be dated between the 4th and 6th Centuries CE. The first written account of Mulan is in the Ballad of Mulan, which first appears in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-535 CE). Since her first appearance, Mulan has been featured in a variety of plays, movies, games, and literature.

Not all women who were involved in early war efforts took the form of military support. Saint Genevieve became involved in religion at a young age, and after she was orphaned, she moved to Paris. While living in Paris, Genevieve became known for her healings, piety, and miracles. One of her miracles happened in the year 451. The city of Paris was under threat of attack by Attila the Hun. Genevieve gathered women in the city and formed a prayer marathon. It is said that these prayers were what prevented Attila from attacking. This is Genevieve's most famous feat. Genevieve was later canonized as one of the patron saints of Paris.

For more information about these women, and other women who were involved in early warfare, check out the page on Women in Ancient Warfare.

-February 2025