08/26/2026
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Celebrating Women's Equality Day
Women, War, and the Fight for Equality
On April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I, joining the Allied Powers in what would become known as the “Great War.” The conflict reshaped the nation and it reshaped women’s place in it.
Even before America joined the fight, the Preparedness Movement pushed for stronger national defenses, and women were watching closely. They saw the opportunity not only to serve their country but also to prove their equal stake in citizenship. As millions of men went off to war, women stepped into roles once reserved for men, working in factories, farms, hospitals, and even military offices. Thousands volunteered to serve as nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, translators, and switchboard operators near the front lines.
Among the groundbreakers:
Navy Yeomen (F), known as “Yeomanettes,” like Loretta Walsh, the first woman to officially enlist in the U.S. Navy, opening the door for more than 11,000 women to follow.
The “Hello Girls,” bilingual telephone operators of the U.S. Army Signal Corps who braved the dangers of war to keep Allied communications open, yet were denied veteran status for decades.
More than 23,000 nurses who served through the Red Cross, Army, and Navy, over 10,000 of whom went overseas, many losing their lives to disease and danger.
By war’s end, women had proven their courage, competence, and unwavering commitment. Their service became undeniable evidence in the fight for suffrage. As President Woodrow Wilson told Congress in 1918:
“We have made partners of the women in this war…Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege?”
Two years later, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, American women won the right to vote. They were not given this right—it was earned through generations of perseverance, sacrifice, and, in World War I, through service.
At the Military Women’s Memorial, we are proud to preserve and share these stories. They remind us that women’s service is not a footnote in history—it is central to it.
