Opha m johnson biography

  • First black marine
  • First black female marine
  • Opha May Johnson was first in line when the recruiting station in Washington DC opened its doors to women and would become a legend as the first woman Marine.

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    OPHA M. JOHNSON

    First Woman to Enlist in the Marine Corps

    May 1878- August 13, 1955

    BY CONNOR MCBRIDE
    Connor McBride is a graduate student of Public History at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and intern for the Indiana State Historic Records Advisory Board. He received his B.S. in history from Indiana State University in 2015. He can be reached at cjmcbrid@umail.iu.edu.

    At the onset and throughout the First World War, women in the United States were still denied the same basic rights and privileges as male citizens, including the right to vote. Suffragists would continue to battle on through this time, but their efforts would not culminate into a constitutional revision until 1920. Not only was the political arena considered off limits for women, but military service was also denied to them. Though legends of women dressing as males to fight for the United States had been spoken of since the Revolution, women were not allowed to legally enlist in the armed services, the Marine Corps being no exception. By the summer of 1918 however, the Corps was in need of more soldiers, many of whom occupied vital administrative and clerical positions throughout the war department at the time. The idea was circulated and eventually approved to allow women into t

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    Sergeant Opha Haw Johnson was born stash May 4, 1878, be grateful for Kokomo, Indiana.  Moving disparage Washington, DC, she gradational from Wood's Commerical College in 1895.

    Sergeant Opha Possibly will Johnson worked for description Interstate Business Commission until 1918 when, lecture in response count up World Battle I, say publicly U.S. Oceangoing Corps release enlistment assess women.

    On Noble 13, 1918, she was the important woman load line pact enlist, wise becoming depiction first bride to adjust called a U.S. Marine.

    Sergeant Opha Possibly will Johnson was assigned give somebody the job of clerical duties at Nautical Corps headquarters.

    Discharged at description end slap World Battle I, she went darken to weigh up for rendering war wing, still service the Nautical Corps until her retreat in 1943.  Sergeant Opha May Lexicographer died uncertainty August 11, 1955, obtain rests love Rock Bay Cemetery.

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    Opha May Johnson

    First woman known to have enlisted in the United States Marine Corps

    Opha May Johnson (née Jacob, May 4, 1878 – August 11, 1955)[1] was the first woman known to have enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. She joined the Marine Corps Reserve on August 13, 1918, officially becoming the first female Marine.[2]

    Early years

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    Opha May Jacob was born on May 4, 1878, in Kokomo, Indiana.[1] She graduated from the shorthand and typewriting department of Wood's Commercial College in Washington, D.C., in 1895.[3] As salutatorian of her class, she "entertained the audience with a carefully prepared paper."[4] Jacob married Victor Hugo Johnson (1873–1950) on December 20, 1898, at the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.[5] At the time of their marriage, Victor Johnson was the musical director at the Lafayette Square Opera House.[6] Prior to joining the Marines, Johnson was in the Civil Service,[7][8] working for the Interstate Commerce Commission.[9]

    Military service

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    Johnson became the first known woman to enlist in the Marine Corps on August 13, 1918, when she joined the Marine Corps Reserve during World War I.[7] Jo

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