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While women have served in various military roles dating back to the Revolutionary War, they primarily served as nurses through World War II. Many, though, were in the direct lines of fire and faced the same dangers as men. At home, women also raised funding for the military, worked for the Red Cross, and, by World War II, even flew new and unproven aircraft as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Other women worked in West Virginia factories, replacing men who were now serving overseas.
In 1948, President Harry Truman signed legislation allowing women to serve as full, permanent members of all branches of the Armed Forces. Since then, West Virginia women have served with great distinction in the U.S. military.
Two thousand West Virginia women entered military service during World War II. In the Navy, Hardy County native Winifred Love (2nd from left) commanded the first contingent of WAVES to serve overseas.
Dolores Imogene Dowling, a graduate of St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing in Huntington, was a West Virginia hero. As a nurse in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II, she served in North Africa and Sicily, playing a crucial role in Mobile A...
Colonel Florence A. Blanchfield, a Shepherdstown native, served as superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps from 1943 to 1947. She expanded the Corps from 1,000 to 57,000 nurses and secured equal rights and pay for female nurses through the Army-Nav...
A Roane County native, this highly decorated woman made extraordinary contributions during World War II (WWII) and the Korean War. While interned in the Philippines during WWII, she risked her life to provide medical care and assisted in over 230 ...
Buckhannon native Jean Lee Latham learned to repair radio equipment for the Signal Corps. The award-winning author found herself writing directions, lectures, and course material for the inspection of radio gear.
Rose Agnes Rolls Cousins of Fairmont was the first Black woman to become a solo pilot in the Civilian Pilot Training Program at West Virginia State College (now University). She mastered advanced flying maneuvers and completed a solo cross-country...
Charleston native Mary Lee Settle, who later won the National Book Award as a novelist, wrote articles for the Office of War Information in England. Anna Norman Oates, meanwhile, cheered the Allies on to victory through poems, comic verse, and let...
With more than 200,000 men serving in the military, women--who collectively became known as Rosie the Riveters--went to work in West Virginia factories.
West Virginia Women through History
This Exhibit has 8 Sections