Where The Wind Takes Me.

Sis is here so I am taking the day off and am not writing much today. It has been fun to be free. Yesterday I went to a movie, LOVE HAPPENS. Today I am getting in the car and going wherever the wind takes me. Since I am not doing a lot of thinking this morning I really have nothing original or challenging to write about so I thought I will just tell you how I choose the Who Am I of the day

Truthfully my motivation for the daily Who Am I is not to stump you as much as it is to inform you. Selfishly the motivation is also for me to learn more about history and in particular women in history. Since mostly women read the blog I think I should make a real effort to learn of women in history that paved the way for women. Once in a while I will run across a man that has a remarkable story that is to good not to share.

I come up with an idea. Then I do an Internet Search. For example. "the first woman doctor" or "the first woman to fly a military aircraft." Sometimes the search will lead me to someone with a boring history, more often than not it will lead me to a very interesting or remarkable woman. And sometimes it will take me off in to a completely different direction where right before me is the life story of someone that I think we should all learn about.

Other ways I find the daily Who Am I are stories the newspaper and through the readers here. Once in a while a reader will send me an interesting Who Am I. Interestingly enough that when the women here send me a Who Am I, it is usually a man. Sometimes in the newspaper there will be a story about a recent death of a woman that I hadn't heard about and in the story will be a remarkable fact about her. I run with it.

So in summary the Who Am I usually finds me rather than me finding her or him.
Are you enjoying the Who Am I? Would you rather have the Who Am I alternate on a daily basis with some other form of trivia? I love all forms of trivia but really the Who Am I has become my favorite. Three of a kind next, but I have pretty much depleted the Tri-Bond game choices. Jeopardy is next. Then general trivia, then the Where Am I, and finally millionaire. How do you rank them? If you have any interesting Who Am I(s) or some interesting questions please email them to me!

Off to be a free spirit. May the spirit find you and lead you to a great day!

TODAY'S TRIVIA:

Yesterday's answer: Jacqueline Cochran born Bessie Lee Pitman

Today's Who Am 1?

I won a military award and then a famous cowboy, myself and almost nine hundred others had it taken away by Congress in 1917. I kept the award refusing to give it back to the military. President Carter restored my award. I was born in 1832. I was the youngest of five daughters and had one younger brother. I worked on the family farm as a child and refused to wear women's clothes as I found them to restricting. As a young woman I taught to earn enough money to pay my way through Syracuse Medical College, where I graduated as a medical doctor in 1855 as the only woman in my class. I married a fellow medical school student and we set up a joint medical practice. The practice did not flourish, as female physicians were generally not trusted or respected at that time. At the beginning of the American Civil War I volunteered for the Union Army as a civilian. At first I was only allowed to practice as a nurse, as the Army had no female surgeons. I served at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas) and at the Patent Office Hospital in Washington, D.C. I also worked as an unpaid field surgeon near the Union front lines, including the Battle of Fredericksburg at and in Chattanooga after the Battle of Chickamauga. I was awarded a commission as a "Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian)" by the Army of the Cumberland. I was captured by Confederate troops and arrested as a spy. I was sent to Richmond where I remained for a couple of years before I was released as part of a prisoner exchange. I went on to serve during the Battle of Atlanta and later as supervisor of a female prison in Louisville, Kentucky, and head of an orphanage in Tennessee. After the war I became a writer and lecturer, supporting such issues as health care, temperance, women's rights and dress reform for women. I participated for several years with other leaders in the Women's Suffrage Movement, including Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The initial stance of the movement taking my lead was to say that women already had the right to vote. Once the movement went the amendment route I fell out of favor of the movement and my penchant for wearing male-style clothing, including a top hat, only exacerbated the situation. I died one year before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which guaranteed women the right to vote. After the war my heroics drew favor from generals William Tecumseh Sherman and George Henry Thomas. President Andrew Johnson signed a bill giving me the award that was taken away by Congress and given back to me by President Carter specifically for my services at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). I proudly wore the medal, even during the period of revocation, until my death. I was the first woman awarded this medal. I was an American feminist, abolitionist, prohibitionist, alleged spy, prisoner of war, and a surgeon. Who Am I?