[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO MARTHA PUTNEY

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 13, 2009

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute 
and honor the life and legacy of Martha S. Putney, of Washington D.C. 
Mrs. Putney passed away December 11, 2008, at age 92.
  Mrs. Putney was one of the first black women to serve in the Women's 
Army Corps during World War II. She is also a renowned historian and 
made strong contributions to the African American history literature.
  Martha Settle was born in Norristown, Pa. She attended Howard 
University in Washington D.C. from which she earned a bachelor's degree 
in 1939 and a master's degree in history in 1940.
  Martha encountered racial barriers when trying to start a teaching 
career. Unable to find a job, she entered the government's War Manpower 
Commission as a statistical clerk. In 1943 she was one of the first 
black women to join the Women's Army Corps, then less than a year old. 
In the Army, she experienced segregation and racial discrimination.
  In 1946, Martha Putney left the women's Army Corps with the rank of 
first lieutenant. She married William M. Putney in 1948. She eventually 
began her dreamed teaching career after earning a doctorate in European 
history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955. She became a 
history teacher at Bowie State College in Maryland, where she chaired 
the history and geography department until 1974. She then taught at 
Howard University in Washington D.C. until 1983.
  Dr. Putney wrote ``Black Sailors: Afro-American Merchant Seamen and 
Whalemen Prior to the Civil War,'' in 1987 and ``When the Nation Was in 
Need: Blacks in the Women's Army Corps During World War II'' in 1992. 
She also published a number of scholarly articles on African American 
history.
  Madam Speaker, Mrs. Putney was an outstanding mother, soldier, 
teacher and author. I know the Members of the House will join me in 
expressing our sincere condolences to Mrs. Putney's son, William M. 
Putney Jr. On behalf of Congress, I thank Mrs. Putney for her great 
contributions to our nation and for her role in educating our children.

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