Martha Settle Putney was one of the first Black women to join the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. After the war, Putney became a historian and author who notably focused on the contributions of African-Americans in the military. Putney was born Martha Settle on November 9, 1916 in Norristown, Pa. After working as a political campaigner as a young girl, she won a scholarship to Howard University from the candidate she helped get elected. Putney was a focused student, earning her bachelor’s degree in history in 1939 and a master’s in the same discipline the following year. While she originally wanted to become a teacher, Putney couldn’t find employment because of her race. Instead, she took a job with the federal government’s War Man power Commission. Putney toiled in the lowly job fo...