Women are affected by wars more than anyone else in a society. Women traditionally see the effects of wars in their homes, in their lives, and in their families. Every soldier has a mother, many have wives, girlfriends, sisters, and many have daughters. Traditionally, men are expected to fight, to want to fight, while women are expected to keep the house in order, write letters, and wait patiently for the return of their men. Some had broken that tradition by being a Chaplin or a military officer.

This month, Women’s History Month, we look at the different roles women have played in war. While the majority of soldiers historically have been men, there are a few notable exceptions in the American’s past. We will look at women who have stood up to fight for their freedom and their life, women who have helped their husbands, and women who have simply refused to be restrained with societal roles.

Women have started to take on more and more formerly “male” roles in our society. Now we see women soldiers, marines, airwomen, and sailors. These women are working, fighting, and dying next to male troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a strange turn of events: women gaining equality in a society equates to women troops.

In addition to our look into what women have done in various wars, we are also going to look at the ever-present anti-war protest. This protest has historically been a feminist platform and has a long and rich history. It may have been forgotten, but the first wave of feminists were almost all peace advocates, and they were abhorred by the Civil War and the atrocities that occurred.

The Boise State Women’s Center is proud to announce that we have a new coordinator! Planning exciting activities, keeping the peace with more conservative individuals and groups, and fostering a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the free exchange of beliefs and views is not any easy task, but Wanda Viento is excited to work with us to build a better community.

Working with sexual assault and intimate partner violence is nothing new to Wanda. With her Master’s of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan, she has been working in the field since 1983 in both private practice and in treatment centers. She has served on community mental health committees on women’s mental health issues, on cultural diversity, and on the sexual exploitation of clients by mental health professionals. She has a great interest in helping all those affected by sexual and intimate partner violence and providing education to help prevent such violence on campus.

Wanda most recently hails from Kalamazoo College in Michigan where she was a counselor. She also advised student organizations, provided faculty/staff training on diversity issues, and facilitated study abroad orientations. In addition to counseling and advising, she ran a sexual assault survivors group, provided training about sexual assault awareness, and supervised social work interns. When she wasn’t busy with all of that, she managed to find time to pursue her doctorate in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Western Michigan University.

As part of her doctoral program, Wanda completed an exciting internship in the International Office at the University of staff, faculty, interns, and volunteers for the Women’s Center to create a better Boise State and a better community. We hope that Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She designed and conducted a three-part research project on the intercultural adjustment of U.S. students on study abroad in New Zealand. Wanda also provided training to the staff on intercultural sensitivity, advising international students, college student development, and student affairs best practices.

Prior to working at Kalamazoo College, Wanda was the coordinator for Lesbian, Bisexual, and Gay Student Services at Western Michigan University. She trained over 500 volunteers in the Safe On Campus Program, coordinated a campus-wide panel presenters program, and developed other programs to educate the campus community about oppression and discrimination . She also was an adjunct professor in the social work department at WMU, teaching graduate and undergraduate classes in race and culture and in family therapy.

During her career, Wanda has managed to publish a number of articles and present her research at numerous professional conferences. Some of her presentations have focused on: White privilege, sexual exploitation by mental health workers, diversity training, studying abroad for LGBT students, and creating and maintaining allies for LGBT groups on campuses. Some of her article topics include: LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual) studies, gender identity, preparing White students for studying in Africa, and motivating students. She is also on the editorial board for the Michigan Journal of College Student Development.

Wanda has many new ideas and plans for the Women’s Center, but she can’t do it all by herself. She is eager to work with the you will take the time to welcome Wanda to Boise and to the Women’s Center.

Throughout time women have historically played only minor roles in wars. At least, that is how most history books portray women’s roles. In fact, while everyone within a society at war is affected and plays a vital role, it normally is only men who receive the awards and recognition.

Dr. Mary Walker is an exception to this. Born in November of 1832, she was the second woman to graduate from medical school in the United States. She graduated in 1855 and married a fellow student named Albert Miller in 1856; she wore trousers and a man’s coat at the wedding and never changed her last name. After thirteen years, they were divorced.

When the U.S. Civil War broke out, she volunteered as a nurse for the Union Army because they refused to hire a woman doctor. The Army relented in 1862 and hired her as a replacement surgeon, making her the first woman doctor to serve with the Army Medical Corps.

During her time with the Army, she would not always wait for the sick and wounded to be brought to the hospitals: she would personally go out into the battlefields to see anyone who needed aid. While she was known to travel behind enemy lines to give aid to Confederate civilians, using Union supplies, she was never reprimanded for aiding the enemy.

On one of her trips behind enemy lines in 1864, she was captured and sent to Richmond Virginia as a Prisoner of War. She was held for four months and then was traded for a man in a prisoner swap, a fact of which she was very proud.

Shortly after the war she was recommended for the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military award. On 11 November, 1865, President Andrew Johnson awarded her the Medal, making her the first, and only, female Medal of Honor recipient.

In 1917, her Medal was rescinded because the rules for receiving the award changed. She refused to give her Medal back and wore it every day until she died in 1919. On 10 June, 1977, President Jimmy Carter restored her Medal, citing her “distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice, patriotism, dedication, and unflinching loyalty to her country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her sex” as the reason.

In addition to being a war heroine, Dr. Walker also lectured about Women’s Rights, dress reform – including the right to wear “bloomers,” abolition of alcohol, and the hazards of smoking tobacco. When she lectured, she would be in men’s eveningwear, complete with bowtie and top hat. She was very proud that she had been arrested numerous times for dressing as a man.

In 1982, a 20¢ stamp was issued to commemorate the second woman to graduate from medical school in the U.S., the first woman to serve with the Army Medical Corp, and the first, and only, woman to receive the Medal of Honor. Interestingly, she is portrayed in traditionally female dress.

The full text of her entry at the U.S. Army Center of Military History of Medal of Honor Citations follows:

WALKER, DR. MARY E.

Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U. S. Army. Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickomauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Born: 26 November 1832, Oswego County, N.Y. Citation: Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, "has rendered valuable service to the Government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways," and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war fourmonths in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made: It is ordered, That

a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her.

Given under my hand in the city of Washington, D.C., this 11th day of November, A.D. 1865.
 
                        Andrew Johnson,
                        President

There have always been women who were ready to join into a fight for a cause or for survival. Historically, women fighters have been accepted by their male counterparts when the situation became very desperate and grave.

There where an unknown number of women during the Revolutionary War that disguised themselves as men to join the military. Three such women are Rachel Martin, Grace Martin, and Deborah Samson.

Rachel and Grace Martin were sisters who disguised themselves as men to spy on the British. On one particular night, they dressed as men, captured a British courier, and delivered the courier’s letters to an American general. The courier was later paroled, never learning that his captors were women.

Historians cannot agree on the particulars of Deborah Samson’s service, but she is believed to have been the first woman to disguise herself as a man in order to join the American Army. Under the assumed name “ Robert Shirtilife,” she fought during almost the entire Revolutionary War. She was wounded twice, both times managing to keep her true identity secret. She was discovered by a physician when she became very ill late in the war. The physician arranged for her to be honorably discharged after she regained her health. There is an unconfirmed story that she was granted her discharge by Gen. George Washington himself.

Not all of the women who fought disguised themselves however. For instance, Anna Bailey fearlessly attended to the wounded during the massacre at Ft. Griswald during the Revolutionary War. And in 1813, she helped defend New London by providing flannel patches for the soldiers’ rifles from her own clothing. Then there’s Angelica Vrooman who sat in a tent during a British attack, calmly using a bullet mold to make bullets for the Americans as the battle roared around her.

Margaret Corbin was the wife of an artilleryman who was stationed at Fort Washington. During the British assault against the fort, Margaret’s husband was killed. Margaret, who had joined in the operation of her husband’s cannon, continued to load and fire the cannon, even after all the rest of the cannon crew was dead. She was injured by a British shell and was taken prisoner when the fort was captured. She and the other prisoners were paroled and sent home. She never fully recovered from her injuries and after the war was awarded a pension for distinguished bravery. She was the first known women to ever fire a cannon in the U.S. Army.

Mary Hagidorn refused to follow an officer’s order to hide in a cellar during a Britsh attack. She insisted that she be allowed to help defend the other women and children who did hide in the cellar. The officer was so moved by her determination that he provided her with a weapon and ordered her to help defend the fort. She survived the attack, never leaving her assigned post.

Mary Hays McCauly’s – Molly Pitcher – story is better known but there is very little actual evidence to support the story. Historians debate whether or not she actually performed any of the actions attributed to her. The United States Field Artillery Association (USFAA), however, has no questions about her service and they present an award in her honor annually. The USFAA states, “The Artillery Order of Molly Pitcher recognizes indi­vid­uals who have voluntarily contributed in a significant way to the improvement of the Field Artillery Community.” The USFAA officially recognizes that Molly Pitcher fought along side her husband and other men, firing an artillery piece. After the battle was over, Gen. George Washington granted her a commission to the rank of Sergeant. She is the first known woman to serve in the U.S. Army without being disguised as a man.

While these events took place long ago and in desperate times, these women still challenged the social norms of the time. They may have only fought for a short time, maybe in only one battle, but their determination to be free and to survive is still an inspiration for women today.

Links Used as Reference Material for this article:

http://usfaa.com/

http://www.rootsweb.com/~nwa/corbin.html

http://sill-www.army.mil/pao/pamolly.htm

http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets.html

http://www.famousamericans.net/annawarnerbailey/

This the declaration of what The Lysistrata Project stands for. While the Women’s Center does not endorse this declaration, it is a comprehensive look at how some feminist anti-war organizations thing and feel. It has been adapted for this newsletter.

Declaration Of What We Stand For

WE support international cooperation, diplomacy and an independent United Nations. We reject unilateral pre-emptive strikes, war for the sake of profit and dominance, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction including the use of landmines, the targeted rape of women, and the killing and maiming of innocent civilians.

WE feel deep concern for the young men and women serving in the military and support their returning to their homes safely as soon as possible. We reject policies that place them unduly in harm's way, and regret all loss of life.

WE support a just and sustainable economy that recognizes the labor of all workers, including homemakers and immigrants, and the interests of children, elders and the displaced. We reject a Darwinian economy that makes expendable vulnerable segments of society. Because we believe that our strongest voice is our combined economic power, we call for economic sanctions against war.

WE support the Constitution of the United States with its Bill of Rights, including the right to peaceful dissent, and its system of checks and balances. We reject its corruption to allow erosion of our civil rights and the dangerous amassing of power in an unrestrained presidency.

WE support equal representation and participation in government, the Congress and Assembly, with a proportionate voice for women and minorities. We reject the political campaign process dependent on wealth and alliance with powerful special interest groups.

WE support reproductive rights, family planning services and sex education for all women and girls. We reject the patriarchal agenda of strategically managing our wombs for purposes other than our own.

WE support businesses and corporations that contribute to and are accountable to society. We reject the legal structures that allow multinational corporations to wield powers that exploit workers, pollute the environment, and traffic in an unscrupulous arms trade that perpetuates war.

WE support a practical reverence for our planet Earth and the ecological systems that sustain us, and a recognition that her natural resources belong equally to all her inhabitants. We reject the destruction of her ancient forests, the poisoning of oceans and rivers, the maltreatment of animals, the privatization of water and crop seeds, and the polluting of the very air we breathe.

WE support a meaningful political process with debates open to third parties, instant run-off voting that permits the casting of votes for a first and second choice of candidates, eliminating both a winner-take-all situation and the need for run-off elections, and full protection of every citizen's right to vote.

WE support an independent news media committed to the full analysis of local, national and world situations necessary for decision-making by an informed public, and committed also to reporting positive news.

WE support a secure and peaceful homeland for all people and self-determination for all indigenous peoples. Without minimizing the struggle for independence of any other peoples --and because it is central to world peace-- we acknowledge the long and bitter legacy of persecution and displacement that tears at the heart of our Jewish and Palestinian sisters and brothers, and we grieve with both.

WE support legal and enforced protections of women's and children's rights. We are deeply sorrowed by the global trafficking in women and children for forced prostitution, labor and soldiering, and we reject all violence against women and children.