Since before the American Revolution, in this country’s wars, women have cooked the food, bandaged the wounded, washed the clothes, and kept the records, yet they weren’t called soldiers. When the wars ended, they weren’t called veterans. They weren’t even allowed to officially enlist in military roles for 150 years.
In 1901, Congress established the official United States Army Nurse Corps.
In 1948, President Harry S Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act allowing women to serve as full members of the U.S. Armed Forces, albeit in non-combat roles.
In 2015, nearly 250 years after the beginning of the Revolutionary War, women were allowed to serve in all branches and in all capacities, with the same rights and benefits afforded to their male counterparts.
Still, active-duty female military members and veterans generally have lacked recognition for their service.
Our Stories Our Service: Kentucky’s Women Veterans, an exhibit at the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) in Frankfort, seeks to change that.
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In Their Own Words
They’re called blades. Just through the double doors of the Keeneland Room at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, you can see them. The blades stand almost 6 feet tall, have a front and a back, and resemble a partition of sorts. Instead of separating spaces, though, they are designed to bring people together—veteran to veteran, civilian to veteran.
Each side of the blade tells a veteran’s story, complete with a photograph, a brief biography, the U.S. Armed Forces branch in which the veteran served, the dates of service and the highest rank achieved.
They tell the stories of women such as Army 2nd Lt. Zelda Webb Anderson, who served in the Women’s Army Corps from 1941-1945. According to the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, Anderson refused an assignment as mess officer, a duty often relegated to people of color. As punishment, she was ordered stateside during World War II and given the task of “organizing a warehouse of Army regulation manuals.” She eventually was stationed at Fort Knox, where she made housing arrangements for “Negro entertainment” such as Duke Ellington, Lena Horne and Earl Hines.
Another blade tells the story of Army Lt. Mary Edith Engle, who served as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) during World War II. She flew planes from factories to bases stateside. Although she was an accomplished pilot, she couldn’t call herself a veteran until 1979, after she successfully lobbied Congress for women’s rights to veteran status and benefits.
Maj. Judy Mitro served in the Air Force from 1974-1991.
Cpl. Judith Herzog served in the Marines from 2007-2011.
Lt. Martha Davis served in the Navy from 1964-1969.
Col. Pamela Stevenson served in the Air Force from 1984-2011. In 2020, Stevenson was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives and sits on the House Committee for Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection.
Veterans all.
When Our Stories Our Service: Kentucky’s Women Veterans opened on June 12, nearly 150 people came. Since then, more than 3,000 visitors have walked through the exhibit.
Leave Your High Heels at Home
Before women were allowed to officially enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces, they served in organizations such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Young Women’s Christian Association, primarily fulfilling medical and clerical duties. During World War II, women were allowed to enter the Army with the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), later shortened to the Women’s Army Corps (WAC); the Navy with the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES); the WASPs; and the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Reserve, named after the Coast Guard’s motto: Semper Paratus—Always Ready (SPARS).
Old recruitment posters line the exhibit walls. Dividers explain the reasons why women enlisted: educational benefits, adventure, family legacy, sense of purpose, career opportunities and duty to country.
Photographs and mannequins detail the evolution of women’s service uniforms—from stiff white caps, starched shirtwaists and floor-length skirts worn by nurses in the Spanish-American War (1898), to tailored-for-women contemporary Battle Dress Uniforms (BDUs).
The exhibit moves from enlistment, to service, to testimonials about breaking barriers—racism, sexual trauma, stereotypes, harassment—to the women’s return to civilian life.
Some women serve for a season; some women serve for a lifetime career. Even after discharge, women continue to serve. They are real estate agents, middle school social studies teachers, logistics specialists, flight nurses with civilian air medical service crews, mothers and veteran activists.
Making the Invisible Seen
In June 2022, Honor Flight Kentucky introduced its first all-female veteran Honor Flight, dubbed Operation HERoes. Honor Flight contacted the KHS a year in advance of the flight to ask if the society would be one of the sponsors. The KHS hosted a reception at the History Center the night before the flight and helped defray some of the lodging costs for veterans who had traveled a considerable distance across Kentucky to participate.
“In our initial talks with others, we came to realize women veterans face this invisibility—both from the public and from themselves. Through this exhibit, we could elevate what it means to be a woman veteran, so we can help them see themselves as veterans,” explained KHS Executive Director Scott Alvey.
Alvey and Doug High, then-executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation, accompanied the women veterans from Kentucky to Washington. In planning the exhibit, they wanted to create a similar experience for Kentuckians that the women had on the flight. The KHS would tell the story from an historical perspective—through enlistment, service and discharge—using the women’s own voices.
A team of workers interviewed nearly 200 veterans, took deep dives into research, collected letters, searched databases, and enlisted the help of a veteran advisory group for accuracy.
“It was a transformation watching these women be recognized for their work, and on opening day, these veterans were coming up to us saying this is the first time that [they] didn’t have to fight to tell [their] story, that somebody else sought to help [them] tell it,” Alvey said.
Not all stories are easy to tell, or to hear, but stories like Linda Cunningham’s help blaze trails for the women who are yet to serve.
A Tacoma, Washington, native, Cunningham now calls Lexington home. She enlisted in February 1979, only six months after women were integrated into the regular Army.
“The greatest thing about my military service was learning just how strong and capable I really was,” Cunningham said. “I was often the first or only woman in my unit. I took pride in doing my job as well as if not better than the men I served with. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was a true trailblazer, and that is also the worst part of my military service.”
She thought she would fit in with the men in her unit if she just did her job and did it well. She said that, instead of acceptance, she faced prejudice and sexual harassment, and she was sexually assaulted by a member of her unit. Despite earning distinguished awards, completing ROTC and earning her commission in 1984, the barriers to her success proved insurmountable. She could remain active duty and forfeit her physical safety and mental stability, or she could resign.
In 1989, she submitted her resignation, but reintegration into civilian life was not easy. “The friends I left behind in high school simply couldn’t relate to me, or I to them,” Cunningham said. “I had seen and done too many things they couldn’t relate to. At work, it wasn’t much different.”
For the first few years after her separation from the Army, Cunningham didn’t want to have anything to do with the military or with any claim to veteran status. Now, she is in therapy for PTSD stemming from the harassment and assault she experienced during her service. She went on the Honor Flight in 2022 and served on the advisory committee for the exhibit.
“All I may have done was show up each day and do my job, but by doing it first and shining a light on what needed to change to treat women fairly, I did make a difference. I did accomplish more than survival. I made history,” she said.
At the exhibit, Cunningham’s photo, branch, rank and biography grace one of the blades. Her honor quilt is also on display, and her photo serves as one of the advertisements for the exhibit.
But perhaps one of the richest honors is the one she gives to herself. Cunningham is a veteran, worthy of honor, respect and a story shared for all of history.
“This exhibit is important because it acknowledges the contributions women have made to our armed services. It acknowledges the struggles we’ve made to serve and be accepted. It shows the world that women are veterans, too,” Cunningham said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked if the airborne wings on my car belong to my spouse or my father. They are mine. How many servers have told me the Veterans Day dinner is for veterans and not their spouses or been told I am wrongly parking in the veteran’s spot at Home Depot.
“This display shows that we have honorably served, and we are real veterans. It provides a role model for younger women—something I never had.”