On 28 May 1980 Midshipman Elizabeth Ann (Belzer) Rowe (shown here) became the first of 55 women to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, the first in the Academy’s long history. Photo from the 1980 “The Lucky Bag,” Navy Department Library.
Keumalahayati/Malahayati, circa 1600
Drawing by Nadia N. (tumblr)
Born to a naval family, Keumalahayati graduated from the Aceh Royal Military Academy and eventually rose to the rank of admiral. She is perhaps the first modern female admiral.
After being widowed, Keumalahayati formed Indonesia’s first Inong Balee or widows army, leading 2,000 women. As a commander, Keumalahayati won sea battles against the Portuguese and Dutch. She also negotiated treaties with the Portuguese and British.
Keumalahayati died in a naval battle against the Portuguese fleet at Teuluk Krueng Raya. Her exact date of death is unknown but her grave in Banda Aceh remains open to visitors.
The Trưng Sisters, Trưng Trắc and Trưng Nhị
Art by Michelle Dee (deviant art, tumblr 1, tumblr 2)
At the beginning of the common era, Vietnam was under Chinese control. Rebellion began to stir as Chinese rule became more intrusive with higher taxes, increased expectations of cultural assimilation, and harsher penalties for those who disagreed with the regime The aristocratic Trưng sisters were radicalized after Trưng Trắc’s husband, Thi Sách, was executed for anti-Chinese activities. In response, the Trưng Sisters raised an army of as many as 80,000 soldiers and drove the Chinese from Vietnam in 39 CE.
Vietnamese society of this period exhibited a high level of gender equality, which was a point of conflict between the Vietnamese and their patriarchal Han Chinese overlords. As daughters of a military leader, the Trưng Sisters received an education that prepared them for battle. Many other women served in the Trưng army including Phung Thi Chinh, a noblewoman who is said to have given birth on the battlefield and continued to fight with her baby on her back.
The Trưng Sister’s ruled as co-regents until they were defeated by the Chinese in 43 CE. They were either beheaded by their opponents (Chinese accounts) or chose to drown themselves rather than surrender (Vietnamese accounts). China remained in control of Vietnam until the Early Lý Dynasty came to power in 544 CE.
Fu Hao circa 1250 BCE
Art by Paula Lyzhelle (tumblr)
Shang Dynasty King Wu Ding cemented alliances by marrying one woman from each local tribe for a total of sixty wives. The best known of these wives was Fu (Lady) Hao. The details of Fu Hao’s life are largely lost to time, but inscriptions found in her Yinxu tomb describe her impressive military career.
Fu Hao led successful campaigns against the Tu-Fang, Yi, Qiang, and Ba with as many as 13,000 troops under her command. She is believed to be China’s first female general, but she is not the only military woman of her time. Oracle bones of the period name over a hundred female warriors.
Oracle bone inscriptions also indicate that Wu Ding allowed Fu Hao to conduct special rituals and offer sacrifices herself. As the Shang King controlled religious rituals, it is a sign of Wu Ding’s esteem that Fu Hao was was granted this privilege.
Fu Hao’s tomb was discovered in 1976 and it is the only intact royal tomb from the Shang Dynasty. Filled with works of art, weaponry, and sixteen human sacrifices, Fu Hao’s amazing tomb is a testament to the respect she garnered during her lifetime.
"I would go to West Point again if I wasn’t in the first class of women, but if I were going to be in the first class again, I wouldn’t. It was too hard. It’s difficult to explain what all of us went through, unless you’re standing on our side of the fence… My fiancé loved it here, and when I try to explain to him how bad it was for me, it just flies by him. That is one of the tough, sticky points in our relationship. It’s so hard to get across to someone—even someone as close as he is to me—what it was like."
—
Brynnen Sheets, age 22, one of the first female graduates of West Point.
People Magazine, April 21, 1980.
(Source: people.com)
Jean M. Bright (b. 1915) served with the American Red Cross in New Guinea and Japan from 1944 to 1946. After the war, Jean earned a masters degree in English from Columbia University and taught at North Carolina A&T State University until 1978.
Photo via Jackson Library, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh, leader of the Dahomey Amazons, drawn by Frederick Forbes in 1851 (Source).
Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh was a leader of the Dahomey Amazons, an all female military regiment from the Kingdom of Dahomey (today part of Benin). Called “Mino” (Our Mothers) in the Fon language, they made up as much as a third of the Dahomey Army.
“After almost fourteen months overseas in England and France the Wacs pictured above were happy to be home. They arrived from France on Friday, March 8th and landed at Staten Island Terminal of the New York Port of Embarkation. They were among the last contingent of the 6888th Central Postal Directory to return from overseas. 3/13/46.”
On January 28, 1942, Representative Edith Nourse Rogers (R-MA) introduced H.R. 6293, a bill to establish the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps for noncombat service with the U.S. Army. H.R. 6293 was signed into law on May 14, 1942. A year later the unit was renamed the Women’s Army Corps, and the servicewomen were granted official military status.
H.R. 6293, HR 77A-B5, 1/28/1942, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 4397811)
Mary Tippee; Zouaves Unit; 114th Pennsylvania-Photograph taken at the Tyson Brothers studio in Gettysburg, wearing the Kearny Cross she received for gallantry on the field of Fredericksburg where she was wounded in the ankle by a bullet.
Mary Tebe / Mary Tippee / Mary Tippie. A vivandere was a combination nurse, cook, seamstress, and laundress who travelled with the Zouaves. A vivandiere adopted the style of clothing of her regiment, but with men’s pants under a knee-length skirt.
Most vivandiere’s were sent home when the heavy fighting started, so Mary is considered the only enlisted woman at Gettysburg where she carried water and treated the wounded during the heaviest of the fighting. She was in 13 battles, and carried a .44 caliber pistol.
WASP June Wolfe Leckie: “I wasn’t a hero. I was having a grand time, and doing what I loved to do.”
Aunt Ada (who posts historical photos of African Americans) pointed out this WASP site. It doesn’t have a lot of high res photos, but it does have a lot of cool stuff like virtual paper dolls and a way to message real WASPs.
