When women were allowed to enlist in the US military in 1917, the decision was universally lauded. This undertaking would have met a very different response in 1870. Women were felt to be unsuited for that most sacrosanct of male endeavors—war. Somehow, in the intervening years, public attitudes shifted. Explore how America came to view women’s military capabilities differently—long forgotten by history, these informal military organizations were critical to overcoming the last barrier to universal suffrage.
