On this day in history: American Woman Suffrage Association formed, 1869

In January 1866, at a meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone proposed the creation of a new organisation with the goal of universal suffrage. On 10th May, Anthony and Stone founded the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass. The relationship between black rights activists and woman suffragists was a difficult one, exposing the differences between the two, particularly regarding working with political parties and the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave citizenship to former slaves and their descendants.

These differences resulted in a split within the association during its May 1869 conference. While most participants welcomed the proposed Fifteenth Amendment, which would prohibit the denial of voting rates based on a man's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude", as a step in the right direction towards universal suffrage, a small group led by Anthony and Stanton that opposed any constitutional change that did not give votes to women. Within days of the end of the conference, Anthony and Stanton formed the woman-only National Woman's Suffrage Association (NWSA) to promote equal rights for women in all aspects of society.

On 24th November 1869, Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe and Josephine Ruffin formed the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). This group, which was open to members of both sexes, sought to continue the work of AERA in not only calling for votes for women, but also supporting the Fifteenth Amendment. The following year, the AWSA founded their own national magazine, the Woman's Journal, edited by Stone.

The passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 removed one of the main points of contention between the two groups. The woman suffragists also began to see the downside of having two rival groups who were working to the same ends. After years of negotiation, the NWSA and AWSA merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890.

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New Zealand women gained the right to vote: 19th September 1893
First session of Finnish Parliament: 23rd May 1907
The world`s first woman Prime Minister: 21st July 1960

On this day in history: Parisian women brought Louis XVI back to Paris, 1789

A few months after the storming of the Bastille, a large crowd of women that gathered at the Hôtel de Ville - the city hall of Paris - on 5th October to complain about the price of bread and other necessities. They forced their way into the building and threatened to set fire to the official papers, saying that they were all the city council had busied themselves with since the revolution. One of the vanquishers of the Bastille, Stanislas Maillard, arrived and attempted to persuade the women to meet with the council to discuss their grievances; but instead, they chose to take their complaints to the National Assembly in Versailles.

During the march the crowd of women - now six or seven thousand strong, many of whom carried weapons - sang about how they would remove King Louis XVI from the foreign influences of the court (particularly those of his wife and her favourites) and bring him back to Paris. When the women arrived at Versailles, hundreds of them invaded the National Assembly, disrupting the proceedings by hurling abuse at the clerical deputies. Following some way behind the women were a contingent of the National Guard led by The Marquis de Lafayette.

Many of the women marchers and guards were angered by rumours that foreign troops had abused the symbols of the revolution. After dark a group of these broke into the Palace, killed two of the Royal bodyguards, and ransacked Marie Antoinette's chambers while she escaped through a secret passage. The crowd gathered outside and demanded that she show herself, which she did. Impressed by her bravery, the crowd's abuse turned to acclaim.

That night, a small deputation of women met with the king who agreed to return with them to Paris the following day. So, on the 6th October 1789, a long procession set off from Versailles to Paris comprising the king and his family, the delegates of the National Assembly, the National Guard and, in pride of place, the women of Paris, who sang “We Have the Baker, the Baker’s Wife, and the Baker’s Son. We Shall Have Bread.” The baker was the king who had ordered that the royal supply of flour be brought back to Paris as part of the procession.

The Liberty, Fraternity, Equality pages on the George Mason University web-site includes Stanislas Maillard's testimony of the Women’s March to Versailles.

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Meeting of the French Estates-General: 5th May 1789
The Tennis Court Oath: 20th June 1789
Feudalism abolished in France: 4th August 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: 26th August 1789
France reorganised into 83 départements: 4th March 1790
Paris celebrates la Fête de la Fédération: 14th July 1790
Guillotine used for first time: 25th April 1792
September Massacres began: 2nd September 1792
Louis XVI executed: 21st January 1793

On this day in history: New Zealand women gained the right to vote, 1893

During the nineteenth century women's suffrage movements emerged in democratic nations around the globe drawing upon the liberal philosophies of the Enlightenment. In New Zealand campaigners such as Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann argued that an extension of the franchise would increase the moral tone of politics and do more to protect the family, which was seen as the traditional sphere for women. These arguments persuaded a number of male politicians to support universal suffrage including John Hall, Robert Stout, Julius Vogel and William Fox - all of whom held office as Prime Minister of New Zealand.

In 1878, 1879, and 1887 the lower house of parliament passed amendments to electoral bills granting votes to women, but on each occasion the upper house, called the Legislative Council, blocked the amendment. In 1893 the Electoral Bill, which extended the franchise to all adult females (including Maori women), passed the House of Representatives. It would have been vetoed by the upper house as before had it not been for the heavy handed tactics of the Liberal Prime Minister, Richard Seddon.

Seddon opposed votes for women, but realising that a large proportion of his own party supported an extension of the franchise he decided to publicly support the Bill while applying pressure on members of the Legislative Council to veto it. In the opinion of two councillors, he applied a little too much pressure and they switched position in protest voting to support the measure, which the Council then passed by twenty votes to eighteen. On 19th September 1893, the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Glasgow, gave Royal Assent to the bill, and in November and December of that year, women voted for the first time in the national election.

The New Zealand History online site includes a number of pages dedicated to 'New Zealand women and the vote', including articles, a timeline and a gallery.

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First session of Finnish Parliament: 23rd May, 1907
The world`s first woman Prime Minister: 21st July, 1960

On this day in history: Only woman officer in the Confederate States Army, 1861

In July 1861, the first major engagement of the American Civil War took place. The First Battle of Bull Run (a.k.a. the First Battle of Manassas) resulted in a flood of wounded soldiers into Richmond, Virginia. The existing hospitals were soon full and the Confederate government called upon the public for assistance.

Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833-1916) was one of those who responded, organising and raising funds for a hospital in a house donated by Judge John Robertson on the corner of Main and Third. The Robertson Hospital opened on 31st July 1861 and discharged its last patients on 13th June 1865. Of the 1,333 soldiers who received treatment at the Robertson Hospital only seventy-three died, the lowest mortality rate of any hospital during the conflict.

This high quality of care saved the hospital when President Jefferson Davis ordered that all private hospitals be closed in order to end the charging of excessive fees by some private hospitals. Tompkins made a personal plea to the President, who decided to offer her a commission effectively placing the hospital under military control. Consequently, on 9th September 1861, she became a captain of cavalry (unassigned), although, she chose not to take a salary.

After her death in 1916, Captain Tompkins was buried with full military honours at Christ Church in Mathews County and a monument placed over her final resting place.

To learn more about Sally Tompkins visit Ron Maggiano's web pages at the George Mason University site.

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On this day in history: The world`s first woman Prime Minister, 1960

In 1947, the British Colonial office created the role of Prime Minister of Ceylon, in preparation for the island's Dominion status and independence, which was granted a year later. The first three incumbents of the position all represented the conservative United National Party (UNP), but following the 1956 elections, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) formed a coalition government, with the party's founder, Solomon Bandaranaike, as Prime Minister. Three years later a Buddhist monk assassinated Solomon Bandaranaike for reasons that are still not clear, consequently his wife, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, took over as president of the SLFP.

On 21st July 1960, following a campaign in which she became known as 'the weeping widow' because of the amount of tears she shed on the campaign trail while vowing to continue her husband's policies, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, led the SLFP to an election victory and became the world's first elected woman Prime Minister. Her pro-Sinhalese policies alienated the Tamil population creating a conflict that rages to this day. In 1965, the UNP took power once more but they were again defeated by the SLFP in 1970, and Bandaranaike became Prime Minister for her second term, during which she oversaw Ceylon transformation into the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1972.

To learn more about the world's first woman Prime Minister, see the BBC website page dedicated to Sirimavo Bandaranaike following her death in 2000.

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New Zealand women gained the right to vote: 19th September 1893
First session of Finnish Parliament: 23rd May 1907

On this day in history: First doctorate conferred on a woman, 1678

On 25th June 1678, the University of Padua conferred the first ever doctorate on a woman: Lady Elena Lucrezia Cornaro-Piscopia. She was born in the Palazzo Loredano, Venice, on 5th June 1646 to John Baptist Cornaro-Piscopia, Procurator of San Marco, and his wife Zanetta Giovanna Boni. At the age of seven Elena began her studies under the mentorship of the Aristotelian John Baptist Fabris. Fabris persuaded Elena's father to do all he could to further his daughter's education. Having the money and influence to do so he recruited Professor Alexander Anderson of Padua, Professor Luigi Gradenigo - the librarian at San Marco, and other tutors to school Lady Elena in a variety of disciplines. She became fluent in at least seven languages, including ancient Greek and latin, and because of this became known as Oraculum Septilingue. She also studied mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and theology - the latter two being her favourites.

In 1672 Lady Elena's father sent her to the University of Padua to complete her studies. Initially she had no intention of attaining academic qualifications, rather she simply wanted to continue learning. Nevertheless, because of her father's insistence and in spite of the resistance of some academics and churchmen, who would not permit a woman to become a Doctor of Theology, she was eventually allowed to prepare for the examination for Doctor of Philosophy with Professor Carlo Rinaldini as her tutor.

Six years later, the Cathedral in Padua hosted the public ceremony in which Lady Elena received the doctoral insignia: the laurel wreath placed on the head; the ring on the finger; and the ermine cape over her shoulders. In attendance were the professors of the University of Padua, invited academics from the Universities of Bologna, Ferrara, Perugia, Rome, and Naples, as well as other notable scholars and many of Venetian politicians.

Elena turned her back on the life of privilege and devoted herself to charitable works, becoming a Benedictine oblate. On 26th July 1684, eight years after receiving the doctorate, and at only thirty-eight years of age, Lady Elena Lucrezia Cornaro-Piscopia died of what is believed to have been tuberculosis. The whole city of Padua mourned the loss of this remarkable woman who continues to be remembered: a year after her passing the University of Padua struck a special medal in her honour; a statue of her still stands outside the University; and further afield, Vassar College, New York, has a stained glass window that depicts her presenting her thesis on that day Cathedral of Padua when she became the first woman to receive a doctorate.




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On this day in history: Mumtaz Muhal died, 1631

On 17th June 1631, the third wife of the Islamic ruler of India, the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, died during childbirth. Mumtaz would probably have been lost to posterity had it not been for the mausoleum that the Emperor had built in her honour. One of the greatest buildings of the world and a testament to love: the Taj Mahal.

Mumtaz Muhal was born Arjumand Banu Begum in April 1593. Her father was a Persian noble and brother of the wife of the Emperor Jahangir. At the age of fourteen she was betrothed to marry Prince Khurram Shihab-ud-din Muhammad, but the court astrologers delayed their marriage for five years until the most conducive date for a happy marriage in 1612.

Whether by craft or coincidence the astrologers were proven right: the couple were inseparable. Arjumand - now renamed Mumtaz Muhal ('Chosen One of the Palace') - accompanied Khurram on his travels across the Mughal Empire even travelling with his entourage on some of his military campaigns. After ascending to the Peacock Throne in 1628, Prince Khurram - now Shah Jahan ('King of the World') - gave Mumtaz his imperial seal, because he loved and trusted her so.

Three years later, while accompanying her husband on a campaign in the Deccan Plateau, Mumtaz went into labour in the town of Burhanpur but died during the birth of their fourteenth child, a daughter called Gauhara Behum. According to contemporary accounts Shah Jahan was heartbroken: he mourned in solitude for a year after which he emerged a broken man. He set about having a tomb built that would be a suitable memorial to their love. The result was the Taj Mahal in Agra.

The plinth and tomb took twelve years to build, and further buildings were added over the next ten years. Following the completion of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan's third son by Mumtaz, Aurangzeb, seized power and confined him to the nearby Agra Fort. When Jahan died, eight years later he was interred alongside his beloved Mumtaz.



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On this day in history: First woman in space, 1963

Immediately after the Soviet Union's success in putting the first man into space in 1961, the head of cosmonaut training on the Russian space programme, Nikolai Kamanin, suggested to his superiors that it was their patriotic duty to again beat the Americans by being the first to put a woman into space. Chief Designer Korolev agreed and in October 1961 the search began for likeable woman who was an avowed Communist with experience of parachuting - piloting skills were not required as the Vostok spacecraft flew automatically. Five women received the call to train as cosmonauts, including Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, a textile worker and daughter of a war hero.

The five women began the exhaustive period of training and testing: centrifuge rides; isolation tests; rocket theory; parachute jumps; piloting jet fighters, physical exercise; and, weightless flights. In spite of being the least qualified - the other four had received higher education, and included engineers and test pilots - Tereshkova faired better in front of the Communist selection board than the other finalist, Valentina Ponomareva, who had excelled in all the other tests. Since the flight was essentially a propaganda exercise, Korolev nominated Tereshkova, and Premier Krushchev - who had the final say - agreed.

On the morning of 16th June 1963, Vostok 6 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the call sign "Seagull". While in space Tereshkova kept a log and took photographs, while the ground staff monitored her physical condition. Controversy surrounds the flight: some reports claimed that she became emotionally distraught, and she certainly vomited during the flight; however, the flight lasted longer than initially intended leaving her nothing to do with no support from the ground staff; she claimed that rather than the weightlessness it was the poor food she had been given that made her sick; and - as was later confirmed - she noticed that there had been an error in the automatic orientation of the capsule, which the ground crew confirmed and corrected.

Tereshkova's ordeal did not end until she safely returned to earth. After ejecting out of the capsule during its final descent (as all cosmonauts did) she noticed that she was parachuting towards lake that was to large for her to swim to the edge of in her state of exhaustion. Fortunately the wind blew her back over dry land. Nevertheless, from a propaganda point of view the mission was a complete success. Tereshkova's flight had a longer duration than all the American space-flights, thus far, put together. She was also significantly younger than all the NASA astronauts. The Soviet hierarchy quashed any attempts to discredit her, whether based in fact or chauvinism.

After the flight, Tereshkova married another cosmonaut, Andrian Nikolayev (an event which was again used for propaganda purposes leading some to think it had been contrived by the Soviet leadership), graduated as a engineer, and became a prominent politician and international representative of the USSR.

To read a biography of Valentina Tereshkova see the Encyclopedia Astronautica site.

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On this day in history: First execution in Salem witch trials, 1692

Between February 1692 and May 1693, the fear of witchcraft drove the communities of three counties in the colonial state of Massachusetts into a panic that cost the lives of at least twenty-five people.

The hysteria began when two young cousins, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams (aged nine and twelve respectively) began to suffer from uncontrollable fits and behave in an unruly manner. Soon other girls in Salem village began behaving in a similar manner. With no obvious explanation for this behaviour, the villagers suspected that it was the work of witches.

Initially, three women had accusations levelled against them. Each woman lived on the margins of the dominant puritan society: Tituba a servant of non-European ethnicity who accused the other two while under interrogation; Sarah Good, who relied on charity to survive; and, Sarah Osborne, who married her indentured servant and rarely attended church.

Over the next few months, a spate of accusations resulted in a series of arrests in Salem and nearby villages. Those arrested included two churchgoing women: moral propriety was no longer a protection against accusation. By the end of May, the magistrates held sixty-two people in custody. Early the next month the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened in Salem to prosecute the cases.

The first case brought before the Chief Magistrate, William Stoughton, was that of the fifty-nine year old Bridget Bishop, who had a reputation for being outspoken and dressing in a flamboyant manner by puritan standards. Her trial took place on 2nd June without a counsel for the defence. She was found guilty the same day and sentenced to execution by hanging.

On the 10th June 1692, Bridget Bishop was hanged - the first of fourteen women and four men to suffer that fate before the hysteria had run its course. In October 1711, the Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (the grand title of the state legislature) passed an act exonerating twenty-two of the executed, but not Bridget Bishop. 1957 another act exonerated the rest of those executed as a result of the witch trials, but only one - Ann Pudeator - was named. Finally, in 2001 the Court passed an act declaring all the accused to have been innocent.

The University of Virginia hosts the web pages of the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project - an excellent collection of primary source materials.

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On this day in history: First session of Finnish Parliament, 1907

In 1809, following occupation by Russian forces during their war against Sweden, the four estates of Finland (clergy, aristocracy, burghers and peasants) pledged loyalty to the Russian Tsar Alexander I, who became the Grand Duke of Finland. He granted the territory a degree of autonomy and their own legislative assembly, which became known as the Diet of Finland.

This assembly met infrequently and became dominated by two parties: one representing the Finnish speakers; the other, those who spoke Swedish. This domination marginalised the liberal parties and hampered constitutional reform. Hope of reform were further eroded by increasing Russification of Finland at the end of the nineteenth century, which brought the country under imperial rule, weakening the power of the Diet. The Finns reacted to this increasing oppressive Russification by calling a general strike during Russia's disastrous war with Japan. The Emperor responded by returning powers to the Diet and promised regular parliaments, elected by universal suffrage.

Around a year and a half months later, on 23rd May 1907 the Parliament of Finland met for the first time. This unicameral legislature was the first in the world elected under a system that granted full political rights to women. Not only did women have the same voting rights as men, they also had the right to stand for election. Indeed, of the two hundred members elected to the first Parliament, nineteen were women.

Tsar Nicholas II limited the powers of the Parliament during a second phase of Russification. When the February Revolution forced the abdication of the Tsar, the Finnish Parliament took its chance and declared independence in 1917. Nevertheless, Finland was far from united: republicans and monarchists fought a bitter civil war a year after independence. The result of which was the foundation of the Republic of Finland in 1919.

The Parliament of Finland website includes pages about the History of the Finnish Parliament and also offers a variety of brochures for download in pdf format including one on its history.

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Frankfurt Parliament convened: 18th May 1848
New Zealand women gained the right to vote: 19th September 1893
Prohibition ended in Finland: 5th April 1932

On this day in history: American Woman Suffrage Association formed, 1869

In January 1866, at a meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone proposed the creation of a new organisation with the goal of universal suffrage. On 10th May, Anthony and Stone founded the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass. The relationship between black rights activists and woman suffragists was a difficult one, exposing the differences between the two, particularly regarding working with political parties and the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave citizenship to former slaves and their descendants.

These differences resulted in a split within the association during its May 1869 conference. While most participants welcomed the proposed Fifteenth Amendment, which would prohibit the denial of voting rates based on a man's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude", as a step in the right direction towards universal suffrage, a small group led by Anthony and Stanton that opposed any constitutional change that did not give votes to women. Within days of the end of the conference, Anthony and Stanton formed the woman-only National Woman's Suffrage Association (NWSA) to promote equal rights for women in all aspects of society.

On 24th November 1869, Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe and Josephine Ruffin formed the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). This group, which was open to members of both sexes, sought to continue the work of AERA in not only calling for votes for women, but also supporting the Fifteenth Amendment. The following year, the AWSA founded their own national magazine, the Woman's Journal, edited by Stone.

The passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 removed one of the main points of contention between the two groups. The woman suffragists also began to see the downside of having two rival groups who were working to the same ends. After years of negotiation, the NWSA and AWSA merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890.

Related posts
New Zealand women gained the right to vote: 19th September 1893
First session of Finnish Parliament: 23rd May 1907
The world`s first woman Prime Minister: 21st July 1960

On this day in history: Parisian women brought Louis XVI back to Paris, 1789

A few months after the storming of the Bastille, a large crowd of women that gathered at the Hôtel de Ville - the city hall of Paris - on 5th October to complain about the price of bread and other necessities. They forced their way into the building and threatened to set fire to the official papers, saying that they were all the city council had busied themselves with since the revolution. One of the vanquishers of the Bastille, Stanislas Maillard, arrived and attempted to persuade the women to meet with the council to discuss their grievances; but instead, they chose to take their complaints to the National Assembly in Versailles.

During the march the crowd of women - now six or seven thousand strong, many of whom carried weapons - sang about how they would remove King Louis XVI from the foreign influences of the court (particularly those of his wife and her favourites) and bring him back to Paris. When the women arrived at Versailles, hundreds of them invaded the National Assembly, disrupting the proceedings by hurling abuse at the clerical deputies. Following some way behind the women were a contingent of the National Guard led by The Marquis de Lafayette.

Many of the women marchers and guards were angered by rumours that foreign troops had abused the symbols of the revolution. After dark a group of these broke into the Palace, killed two of the Royal bodyguards, and ransacked Marie Antoinette's chambers while she escaped through a secret passage. The crowd gathered outside and demanded that she show herself, which she did. Impressed by her bravery, the crowd's abuse turned to acclaim.

That night, a small deputation of women met with the king who agreed to return with them to Paris the following day. So, on the 6th October 1789, a long procession set off from Versailles to Paris comprising the king and his family, the delegates of the National Assembly, the National Guard and, in pride of place, the women of Paris, who sang “We Have the Baker, the Baker’s Wife, and the Baker’s Son. We Shall Have Bread.” The baker was the king who had ordered that the royal supply of flour be brought back to Paris as part of the procession.

The Liberty, Fraternity, Equality pages on the George Mason University web-site includes Stanislas Maillard's testimony of the Women’s March to Versailles.

Related posts
Meeting of the French Estates-General: 5th May 1789
The Tennis Court Oath: 20th June 1789
Feudalism abolished in France: 4th August 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen: 26th August 1789
France reorganised into 83 départements: 4th March 1790
Paris celebrates la Fête de la Fédération: 14th July 1790
Guillotine used for first time: 25th April 1792
September Massacres began: 2nd September 1792
Louis XVI executed: 21st January 1793

On this day in history: New Zealand women gained the right to vote, 1893

During the nineteenth century women's suffrage movements emerged in democratic nations around the globe drawing upon the liberal philosophies of the Enlightenment. In New Zealand campaigners such as Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann argued that an extension of the franchise would increase the moral tone of politics and do more to protect the family, which was seen as the traditional sphere for women. These arguments persuaded a number of male politicians to support universal suffrage including John Hall, Robert Stout, Julius Vogel and William Fox - all of whom held office as Prime Minister of New Zealand.

In 1878, 1879, and 1887 the lower house of parliament passed amendments to electoral bills granting votes to women, but on each occasion the upper house, called the Legislative Council, blocked the amendment. In 1893 the Electoral Bill, which extended the franchise to all adult females (including Maori women), passed the House of Representatives. It would have been vetoed by the upper house as before had it not been for the heavy handed tactics of the Liberal Prime Minister, Richard Seddon.

Seddon opposed votes for women, but realising that a large proportion of his own party supported an extension of the franchise he decided to publicly support the Bill while applying pressure on members of the Legislative Council to veto it. In the opinion of two councillors, he applied a little too much pressure and they switched position in protest voting to support the measure, which the Council then passed by twenty votes to eighteen. On 19th September 1893, the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Glasgow, gave Royal Assent to the bill, and in November and December of that year, women voted for the first time in the national election.

The New Zealand History online site includes a number of pages dedicated to 'New Zealand women and the vote', including articles, a timeline and a gallery.

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First session of Finnish Parliament: 23rd May, 1907
The world`s first woman Prime Minister: 21st July, 1960

On this day in history: Only woman officer in the Confederate States Army, 1861

In July 1861, the first major engagement of the American Civil War took place. The First Battle of Bull Run (a.k.a. the First Battle of Manassas) resulted in a flood of wounded soldiers into Richmond, Virginia. The existing hospitals were soon full and the Confederate government called upon the public for assistance.

Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833-1916) was one of those who responded, organising and raising funds for a hospital in a house donated by Judge John Robertson on the corner of Main and Third. The Robertson Hospital opened on 31st July 1861 and discharged its last patients on 13th June 1865. Of the 1,333 soldiers who received treatment at the Robertson Hospital only seventy-three died, the lowest mortality rate of any hospital during the conflict.

This high quality of care saved the hospital when President Jefferson Davis ordered that all private hospitals be closed in order to end the charging of excessive fees by some private hospitals. Tompkins made a personal plea to the President, who decided to offer her a commission effectively placing the hospital under military control. Consequently, on 9th September 1861, she became a captain of cavalry (unassigned), although, she chose not to take a salary.

After her death in 1916, Captain Tompkins was buried with full military honours at Christ Church in Mathews County and a monument placed over her final resting place.

To learn more about Sally Tompkins visit Ron Maggiano's web pages at the George Mason University site.

Related posts
Paracelsus died: 24th September 1541
Iron lung used for first time: 12th October 1928