In 1987, Women’s History Week became Women’s History Month. Since then, March has been observed as a month-long tribute to women and their significant contributions in American history. Numerous records and stories on Fold3 make these contributions more evident.
Women have served the military since the Revolutionary War. While their roles were initially as nurses and laundresses, there are many noteworthy instances of women serving as spies, and as soldiers while disguised as men.
Records on Fold3 attest to women’s triumphs in many areas where they famously and infamously made a mark on history. Some of the more intriguing include former slave Cathay Williams who went undercover as a man named William Cathay to become a Buffalo Soldier.
Several Spotlights about women in the Civil War have been published by our Fold3 Team. Documents relating to these women, under their male guise, are also evident within the Civil War Collection and on this member’s memorial page: Women Soldiers of the Civil War. Other Fold3 titles, including references to photos, stories, and documents about contributions made by women can be found on this Women’s History Month member page.
Of course, since WWII, women have a more active and official role within the military, both in war and peace. The Library of Congress dedicates a special page within its Veterans History Project profiling “Women of Four Wars.” Those resources, used in tandem with the military collections on Fold3, represent a special tribute to Women’s History Month.
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