Martha Settle Putney
Encyclopedia
Martha Settle Putney was an American educator and historian who chronicled the roles of African Americans in the armed forces
. After serving as one of the first black members of the Women's Army Corps
during World War II
, she devoted her life to researching and documenting the military service and achievements of black Americans. Following a period of employment with the War Manpower Commission after her discharge from the army, she entered the academic world, earning a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania
and pursuing a distinguished teaching career at Bowie State College (now Bowie State University) in Maryland, where she chaired the history and geography department, and later at Howard University
, her alma mater, in Washington, D.C. Upon retiring from the faculty at Howard, she embarked on a writing career that included three books and over 20 journal articles. At the time of her death at age 92 she was working on a fourth book portraying the contributions of blacks in combat dating back to the Revolutionary War.
As a young woman, she helped garner black votes for a candidate for Congress whom she had heard speak. The candidate won, and with his help she got a scholarship to Howard University, where she received a bachelor's degree (1939) and master's degree in history (1940).
She remained in Washington where, despite her academic credentials, she was unable to get a teaching job. She settled instead for a statistical clerk position with the War Manpower Commission
. In 1943 she enlisted in the Women's Army Corps
, which had been created the previous year. Interviewed years later, she explained her decision this way: "The Corps, which was then less than a year old, promised an opportunity to become a commissioned officer. Though I had a master's degree in history, I refused to go any further south for a job, so the promise of a commission was the best option available."
and was assigned to a basic training company at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. There, she was relegated to menial duties such as leading drills and teaching calisthenics. She asked for, and was granted, permission to attend Adjutant General's School in San Antonio to train for an executive or administrative position. This led to an assignment as commanding officer of a WAC Hospital Company at the Gardiner General Hospital in Chicago, a position she held for the rest of the war.
Many years later, when asked in a television interview by CNN
correspondent Paula Zahn what "the whole world [should] understand about women's efforts" in World War II, Dr. Putney replied: "They should understand . . . that we were a mighty support force for the male armed forces. I've got to say male because many of us did all of the tasks, all of the . . . military occupational specialties, as a man, except carry a gun." Interviewed on another occasion, she said: "It is my thesis that military integration made the basis for the emergence and the expansion of the black middle class."
and in 1955 received her PhD in European History. After brief stints at Morgan State University
and Prairie View A&M University
, she joined Bowie State College's history and geography department, which she chaired until 1974. She then returned to her alma mater, Howard University, where she held the position of Senior Lecturer until 1983.
Interviewed by Tom Brokaw
for his book The Greatest Generation, Howard professor Dr. Clifford Muse, Jr., described Dr. Putney's approach to teaching: "She worked me to death. I really learned from her. She tried to prepare you for discrimination in the sense you had to be very good to be accepted." Most of the students at both Howard and Bowie State were black, and former student William Missouri noted that Dr. Putney would ask unprepared students, "How can you be an African American and not want to learn African-American history?"
Her second book, When the Nation was in Need: Blacks in the Women's Army Corps During World War II (Scarecrow Press, 1992), drew not only on the author's personal experience in the army but also from "archival records, manuscripts, documents, contemporary newspaper accounts and interviews, statements, and the personal files of those who served". It received the 1993 Outstanding Book on Human Rights award of the Gustav Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in America.
Dr. Putney was the editor of Blacks in the United States Army: Portraits Through History (McFarland, 2003), a pictorial collection whose paintings and sketches "depict black army personnel at war, as war casualties, at prayer, in peacetime assignments, in training, at play and at leisure, and as military musicians." Each illustration is accompanied by a narrative along with the artist's name, medium used, location of the original, and other information.
Dr. Putney published numerous articles in scholarly journals including the Maryland Historical Magazine, Journal of Negro History, Negro History Bulletin, and the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
She also was a frequent contributor to the Northeast News, a community newspaper.
ceremony at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., occasioned by the inception earlier that year of the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. She began her remarks with a reference to the fatal attack on Fort Wagner
, South Carolina, by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment
, noting that "numerous accounts and the film 'Glory' have pretty much brought this event to the attention of the general public." She then pointed out that this assault "was one of the many battlefield exploits of African Americans during the Civil War. Before the war ended, black troops had been involved in hundreds of skirmishes and engagements including thirty-five major battles." Dr. Putney went on to cite the statistics of the grim price paid by the blacks who served the Union on land and sea: of their 200,000 number, there were "some 68,000 casualties; some 37,000 of these lost their lives."
Dr. Putney was a member of the NAACP and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). She volunteered at the Smithsonian Institution
and was on the editorial board of the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
. After serving as one of the first black members of the Women's Army Corps
Women's Army Corps
The Women's Army Corps was the women's branch of the US Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps on 15 May 1942 by Public Law 554, and converted to full status as the WAC in 1943...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she devoted her life to researching and documenting the military service and achievements of black Americans. Following a period of employment with the War Manpower Commission after her discharge from the army, she entered the academic world, earning a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and pursuing a distinguished teaching career at Bowie State College (now Bowie State University) in Maryland, where she chaired the history and geography department, and later at Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
, her alma mater, in Washington, D.C. Upon retiring from the faculty at Howard, she embarked on a writing career that included three books and over 20 journal articles. At the time of her death at age 92 she was working on a fourth book portraying the contributions of blacks in combat dating back to the Revolutionary War.
Early life
Martha Settle was born to Oliver and Ida Settle of Norristown, Pennsylvania, on November 9, 1916. Her father worked as a laborer to support his wife and eight children.As a young woman, she helped garner black votes for a candidate for Congress whom she had heard speak. The candidate won, and with his help she got a scholarship to Howard University, where she received a bachelor's degree (1939) and master's degree in history (1940).
She remained in Washington where, despite her academic credentials, she was unable to get a teaching job. She settled instead for a statistical clerk position with the War Manpower Commission
War Manpower Commission
The War Manpower Commission was a World War II agency of the United States Government charged with planning to balance the labor needs of agriculture, industry and the armed forces. It was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Executive Order 9139 of April 18, 1942. Its chairman was Paul V...
. In 1943 she enlisted in the Women's Army Corps
Women's Army Corps
The Women's Army Corps was the women's branch of the US Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps on 15 May 1942 by Public Law 554, and converted to full status as the WAC in 1943...
, which had been created the previous year. Interviewed years later, she explained her decision this way: "The Corps, which was then less than a year old, promised an opportunity to become a commissioned officer. Though I had a master's degree in history, I refused to go any further south for a job, so the promise of a commission was the best option available."
Women's Army Corps
Martha Settle was one of 40 African-American women selected for the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. She soon earned the rank of LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
and was assigned to a basic training company at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. There, she was relegated to menial duties such as leading drills and teaching calisthenics. She asked for, and was granted, permission to attend Adjutant General's School in San Antonio to train for an executive or administrative position. This led to an assignment as commanding officer of a WAC Hospital Company at the Gardiner General Hospital in Chicago, a position she held for the rest of the war.
Many years later, when asked in a television interview by CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
correspondent Paula Zahn what "the whole world [should] understand about women's efforts" in World War II, Dr. Putney replied: "They should understand . . . that we were a mighty support force for the male armed forces. I've got to say male because many of us did all of the tasks, all of the . . . military occupational specialties, as a man, except carry a gun." Interviewed on another occasion, she said: "It is my thesis that military integration made the basis for the emergence and the expansion of the black middle class."
Family
After the war, she returned to her job with the Manpower Commission, where she met William M. Putney. They were married in 1948 and had one child, William, Jr. Her husband died in 1965.Academic career
Making use of the G.I. Bill, she enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and in 1955 received her PhD in European History. After brief stints at Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
and Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View A&M University is a historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas and is a member of the Texas A&M University System. PVAMU offers baccalaureate degrees in 50 academic majors, 37 master’s degrees and four doctoral degree programs through nine colleges and schools...
, she joined Bowie State College's history and geography department, which she chaired until 1974. She then returned to her alma mater, Howard University, where she held the position of Senior Lecturer until 1983.
Interviewed by Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
for his book The Greatest Generation, Howard professor Dr. Clifford Muse, Jr., described Dr. Putney's approach to teaching: "She worked me to death. I really learned from her. She tried to prepare you for discrimination in the sense you had to be very good to be accepted." Most of the students at both Howard and Bowie State were black, and former student William Missouri noted that Dr. Putney would ask unprepared students, "How can you be an African American and not want to learn African-American history?"
Writings
After retiring from her teaching career, Dr. Putney turned to writing, focusing on the achievement of African Americans in the military. Her first book, Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and Whalemen Prior to the Civil War, published in 1987 by Greenwood Press, was described by one reviewer as "A welcome contribution to what amounts to a new field of study, black history and the American maritime service."Her second book, When the Nation was in Need: Blacks in the Women's Army Corps During World War II (Scarecrow Press, 1992), drew not only on the author's personal experience in the army but also from "archival records, manuscripts, documents, contemporary newspaper accounts and interviews, statements, and the personal files of those who served". It received the 1993 Outstanding Book on Human Rights award of the Gustav Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in America.
Dr. Putney was the editor of Blacks in the United States Army: Portraits Through History (McFarland, 2003), a pictorial collection whose paintings and sketches "depict black army personnel at war, as war casualties, at prayer, in peacetime assignments, in training, at play and at leisure, and as military musicians." Each illustration is accompanied by a narrative along with the artist's name, medium used, location of the original, and other information.
Dr. Putney published numerous articles in scholarly journals including the Maryland Historical Magazine, Journal of Negro History, Negro History Bulletin, and the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
She also was a frequent contributor to the Northeast News, a community newspaper.
Other contributions
Dr. Putney's chronicling of the military exploits of African Americans was not confined to the written word. She also conveyed these histories through the medium of public speaking. On July 17, 1998, for example, she spoke at a National Park ServiceNational Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
ceremony at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., occasioned by the inception earlier that year of the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. She began her remarks with a reference to the fatal attack on Fort Wagner
Fort Wagner
Fort Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston harbor...
, South Carolina, by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was one of the first official black units in the United States during the Civil War...
, noting that "numerous accounts and the film 'Glory' have pretty much brought this event to the attention of the general public." She then pointed out that this assault "was one of the many battlefield exploits of African Americans during the Civil War. Before the war ended, black troops had been involved in hundreds of skirmishes and engagements including thirty-five major battles." Dr. Putney went on to cite the statistics of the grim price paid by the blacks who served the Union on land and sea: of their 200,000 number, there were "some 68,000 casualties; some 37,000 of these lost their lives."
Dr. Putney was a member of the NAACP and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History). She volunteered at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and was on the editorial board of the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
Death at 92
Dr. Martha Settle Putney died on December 11, 2008, at the Community Hospice of Washington in the District of Columbia. The cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On February 10, 2009, she was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.Honors and tributes
- Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal
- 1993 Outstanding Book on Human Rights Award from the Gustav MyersGustavus MyersGustavus Myers was an American journalist and historian who published a series of influential studies on capital formation. His name is associated with the muckraking era of American literature.-Early years:...
Center for the Study of Human Rights in America, for When the Nation was in Need: Blacks in the Women's Army Corps During World War II.
- Congressional tribute from Rep. Alcee L. Hastings of Florida
Media coverage
- Dr. Putney was profiled in Tom Brokaw's popular book, The Greatest Generation, which devoted a chapter to her.
- She was the subject of a video narrated by Brokaw, which was introduced by anchor Brian WilliamsBrian WilliamsBrian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
for the "Making a Difference" segment of NBC Nightly NewsNBC Nightly NewsNBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
on February 10, 2009. - Dr. Putney was interviewed on CNN Live Saturday by correspondent Paula Zahn on May 29, 2004, in Washington, D.C., at the site of the World War II Memorial, which had just opened.
External links
- NBC Nightly News video, introduced by Brian Williams, narrated by Tom Brokaw, February 10, 2009.
- Women In Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc., "Milestones—The Nation Loses Two Military Women Icons."
- Library of Congress, Veterans History Project, Martha Putney Collection.