Category: Adventure

Loretta Walsh, 1917, First Woman to Enlist in the U.S. Navy

First woman to enlist in the U.S. Navy, Loretta Walsh
When Loretta Perfectus Walsh became the first women to enlist in the U.S. Navy in 1917, that service didn’t yet have uniforms for female sailors. She served as a yeoman at the U.S. Navy Yard in Philadelphia (background photo).

In 1917, twelve words opened the floodgates for women to serve in the military: “It does not say … anywhere that a Yeoman must be a man.” One year after the U.S. Naval Reserve Act of 1916 allowed qualified “persons” to enlist, history was made when 20-year-old Loretta Perfectus Walsh (1896-1925) did just that, earning herself a whole series of “firsts” in the process.

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Alice Huyler Ramsey : Cross Country Daredevil

1909 Daredevil Alice Ramsey one of the first women race car drivers
Named Woman Motorist of the Century, Alice Ramsey was the first woman inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

According to Jersey girl Alice Huyler Ramsey, “Good driving has nothing to do with sex. It’s all above the collar.” Born in 1886 and a Vassar grad when fewer than 7% of women went to college, she got her first car in 1908 and went on to become an inspiration for future women race car drivers. Continue reading “Alice Huyler Ramsey : Cross Country Daredevil”

Lotta Crabtree, California Gold Rush Show Girl and Millionaire

Cigar-smoking Lotta Crabtree, known as Miss Lotta, was an entertainer during the gold rush.
Lotta Crabtree was one of America’s wealthiest, most beloved entertainers of the late 1800s.

A day late and a dollar short, this week’s Wednesday Woman is Lotta Crabtree. Born Charlotte Mignon Crabtree, she was one of America’s wealthiest, most beloved entertainers of the late 1800s who lived along Lake Hopatcong, NJ, in her later years. Continue reading “Lotta Crabtree, California Gold Rush Show Girl and Millionaire”