Women
The Radar Girls, aka the Women’s Air Raid Defense of the Hawaiian Islands
When I visited the Harold C. Deutsch World War II History Round Table in the Twin Cites back in March, one of the members introduced me to a women’s military auxiliary unit. I had never heard of the Women’s Air Raid Defense of the Hawaiian Islands (WARD). It was rabbit hole time! WARD was formed…
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From the Archives: Cornelia Hancock–Civil War Nurse, Reformer, Muse
Dear Marginalia: As some of you may remember, ten years ago I wrote a book on Civil War Nurses called Heroines of Mercy Street: Real Nurses of the Civil War. Right now I have Civil War nurses on my mind again as I prepare to give talk on the subject at the historical museum in…
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Bette Nesmith Graham, Who Regularly Saved My Life (or at Least My Sanity) in College
Returning to the idea of women who were inventors and/or entrepreneurs, allow me to introduce you to Bette Nesmith Graham, a struggling single mother who founded what became a multi-million dollar business in her kitchen[1]. In 1954, Bette Nesmith Graham was a divorced single mother who supported herself and her son, Michael,[2] by working as…
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