Hastening the Deliverance of Her Country: Esther DeBerdt Reed and the Ladies Association of Philadelphia

On June 10, 1780, just weeks after the British Army seized control of the city of Charleston, a broadside began circulating throughout the American colonies entitled “The Sentiments of an American Woman.” Authored in Philadelphia by 33-year-old Esther DeBerdt Reed (1746–80), the broadside was a call to action for American women. Drawing her inspiration from legendary female figures of history...
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Women in Pennsylvania … The First Two Hundred Years

In the past two hundred years thousands of women have contributed significantly to the social, economic, political and cultural richness of Pennsylvania. An encyclopedia could barely sketch their contributions. Since this article cannot possibly present a complete picture of women’s history in our state, it will survey the changes in women’s roles with brief accounts of a few famous...
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Remember the Ladies: Women and the American Revolution

Today, American women are barred by law from most combat roles, but they have played a part in battle since the American Revolu­tion, a tradition that continued through the Civil War, the World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict, the invasion of Panama in 1989 and, most recently, the Persian Gulf War. During the Civil War, at least four hundred women – those actually caught and...
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