Women's Stories

Curated by Museum of History and Holocaust Education

Women have served in, or adjacent to, the U.S. military since the Revolution, but they were officially included in service corps beginning in the 20th century. These intergenerational stories range from World War I to the Iraq War.

Sophie Gran Winton

Born in Douglas County, Minnesota, in 1887, Sophie Gran Winton trained in anesthesia at Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis. In 1918, she volunteered to join the Nursing Corps to assist the war effort in France. At that time, the Nursing Corps was not…

Cornelia Fort

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1919, Cornelia Fort was the daughter of a physician and founder of an insurance company. Risk averse by nature, her father cautioned his sons not to fly in an airplane, having followed the exploits of Orville and…

Carmen Contreras-Bozak

Born on New Years Eve 1919, in Cayey, Puerto Rico, near San Juan, Carmen Contreras was the oldest of the three children of Lila Baudilia Lugo Torres, a seamstress and single mother. In 1919, the residents of the territory of Puerto Rico, had only…

Elinor Powell

Born in Massachussetts in 1921, military service was a tradition in Elinor Powell's Black American family. Her father had served in World War I and she had relatives who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Bravery also ran deep in her…

Tawanda "Tee" Marie Hanible

Gunnery Sergeant Tawanda "Tee" Marie Hanible retired from the Marine Corps in 2016 after serving for almost twenty years. Born in Chicago, raised in foster care, and eventually adopted by foster parents Minnie and William Hudson, Hanible credits the…