About Martha Settle Putney
Martha Settle Putney (November 9, 1916 – December 11, 2008) 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 American 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.
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