Resources for Researching Women Veterans

Library of Congress

Have a female ancestor that served in the military? These resources are just a few that document the lives of female soldiers during the Civil War, World War I and World War II. 

Happy Veterans Day!

Civil War

Books
Blanton, DeAnne, and Lauren M. Cook. They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War. Stroud: Sutton, 2005.

Halloran, Richard. Women on the Civil War Battlefront. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006

Harriel, Shelby. Behind the Rifle: Women Soldiers in Civil War Mississippi. Jackson: University of Mississippi , 2019. 



Websites
American Battlfield Trust - Female Soldiers in the Civil War 
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/female-soldiers-civil-war

National Archives - Women Soldiers of the Civil War
https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1993/spring/women-in-the-civil-war-1.html

World War I

Books

Cobbs, Elizabeth. The Hello Girls: America's First Women Soldiers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017.

Ebbert, Jean, and Marie-Beth Hall. The First, the Few, the Forgotten: Navy and Marine Corps Women in World War I. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002. 

Gavin, Lettie. American Women in World War I. Sebastopol: University Press of Colorado, 2011.

Schneider, Dorothy, and Carl J. Schneider. Into the Breach: American Women Overseas in World War I. New York: Viking, 1991.

Research Guides

Simmons College - Women's War Work During World War I 

https://simmonslis.libguides.com/c.php?g=893724

Schlesinger Library - World War I, 1914 -1918

https://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=310586

Museums

The National World War I Museum - Women in World War I 

https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/women

World War II

Books
Bonnell, Françoise B, Ronald K. Bullis, and Charlotte T. McGraw. Capturing the Women's Army Corps: The World War II Photographs of Captain Charlotte T. Mcgraw.  2013.

Carl, Ann. A Wasp Among Eagles: A Woman Military Test Pilot in World War II. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1999.

Gruhzit-Hoyt, Olga. They Also Served: American Women in World War II. New York: Birch Lane Press, 1995.

Lambright, Jeanie S. They Also Served: Women's Stories from the World War II Era. Philadelphia: Xlibris, 2003.

Merryman, Molly. Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II. New York: New York Univ Press, 1998.

Monahan, Evelyn, and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee. And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II. New York: Knopf, 2007. 

Moore, Brenda L. Serving Our Country: Japanese American Women in the Military During World War II. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press, 2003. 

Purcell, Martha S. World War II Women in Uniform. Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning, 2003.

Soderbergh, Peter A. Women Marines: The World War II Era. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992. 

Stremlow, Mary V. Free a Marine to Fight: Women Marines in World War II. Washington, D.C: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1994.

Tomblin, Barbara B. G.I. Nightingales: the Army Nurse Corps in World War II. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1996.

Special Collections/Museums

Texas Women's University - Women Airforce Service Pilots 
https://twu.edu/library/womans-collection/collections/women-airforce-service-pilots-official-archive/

National World War II Museum - Women in World War II 
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/women-wwii

National WASP WWII Museum                           https://waspmuseum.org/

3 Tips for Research on Veterans Day

November 11 is the day that we stop and remember all that our servicemen and women have done for us. Veterans Day began as a result of World War I. The year after the truce was signed, Armistice Day was celebrated in the United States as a way to honor the veterans of World War I. 20 years later, Armistice Day became a federal holiday. It was after World War II that the holiday’s name was changed to Veterans Day. 

Looking to start researching a military ancestor? Here's three tips.

1.  Looking for burial information? For those who died during war or in peace there are two websites that can help. The American Battle Monuments Commission is the site to search for soldiers who are buried on foreign ground. Beginning with the American Civil War, American soldiers have been buried in foreign countries near where they have died during wartime. This website allows you to look up a soldier in their database as well as request a picture of their headstone. The Department of Veteran Affairs website has their Nationwide Gravesite Locator to find veterans buried in one of our nation’s veterans’ cemeteries. They also have limited listings for veterans buried in private cemeteries.

2. Don't overlook the importance of the FamilySearch Catalog. Conduct a  keyword search  to find  records that have to do with a certain conflict, like World War I. Don’t forget to also conduct a place search for the state and county your soldier was from. The Family History Library has a selection of different types of records that can be of assistance to you, such as regiment histories, personnel lists, and personal narratives.

3. Of course there are the standard places to look for military files and information on veteran ancestors. The National Archives and subscription websites like Ancestry.com and Fold3  provide you with access to military files, pensions files, casualty lists and draft registrations.

To All Who Have Served

Thank you to the brave men and women who have served in our military. Your service is not forgotten.

From http://hubpages.com/hub/US-Military-Veterans-Memorial-Day