A battlefield surgeon. A Medal of Honor recipient. And, by the end of her life, a woman most of the women's suffrage movement wrote off as too radical.

This episode of “Keeping the Hysteria in American History” traces how Dr. Mary Edwards Walker's fight for women's rights became too hot to handle, and why her story feels more relevant now than ever.

#herstory #womenshistory #hiddenhistory #ushistory #americanhistory #civilwarhistory #womensrights #votingrights #19thamendment #ERA #EqualRightsAmendment #suffrage #suffragette #bloomercostume #bloomerdress #dressreform

On the 4th of July in 1863, the popular newspaper Harper's Weekly reported that 756 people had just been freed. The Declaration of Independence had been signed 87 years earlier.

But for these enslaved Americans, that promise didn't arrive with those words. It arrived because of one brave woman and a regiment of Black soldiers.

That same year, the Battle of Gettysburg had just ended. The Siege of Vicksburg was finally over. Months later, President Lincoln would stand at Gettysburg and call this war our nation's "new birth of freedom."

Today marks 250 years since some Americans declared their independence from the British monarchy. As we celebrate, let's never forget: a new birth of freedom is always possible. We owe that lesson to people like The General.

Our first president, George Washington, was also a general. She earned that title too, from the men who followed her into enemy territory. She just never got to wear it officially in her lifetime.

Can you name our Civil War General?

#IndependenceDay #America250 #civilwar #HERstory #womenshistory #americanhistory #JohnBrown #militarywomen #womenwarriors #womeninthemilitary #history #heroine #AmericanHero

We're posting this one a little later than planned since Canada Day was July 1st, but this Canadian immigrant soldier spent decades waiting for the United States, the country she made her own, to recognize what she'd done for it, so a short delay on our end feels almost fitting. Better late than never.

Born on a farm in New Brunswick, Canada, Sarah Emma Edmonds crossed into Michigan under a new identity right on the cusp of the American Civil War. By 1861 she'd enlisted as a man, and what followed makes that sound like the easy part.

Edmonds was far from the only Canadian who showed up for a fight that wasn't theirs. Our northern neighbors have stood with us in conflict after conflict since, and today's as good a day as any to say thank you. Happy (belated) Canada Day!

Recognition's overdue, help speed it up. Share this with someone who needs to meet Canadian-American Civil War soldier Sarah Emma Edmonds!

#HERstory #WomensHistory #CanadaDay #CivilWar #AmericanHistory #CanadianHistory #ImmigrantHistory #USHistory #MilitaryWomen

She fought and died for her country. Policy took a century and a half to catch up.

2026 marks the ten-year anniversary of the Combat Exclusion Policy being fully lifted, opening every military combat role to women. Now the Pentagon is asking all over again, “Are women really effective in combat roles?” History already answered that question!

Her gravestone still says “Lyons Wakeman.” That’s not who’s buried there. 162 years ago this month, on June 19th, 1864, Sarah Rosetta Wakeman died under that name, having fought at the Battle of Pleasant Hill as a private in the Union Army. She might have stayed buried under that alias forever.

So how did her secret finally come out? Watch “Keeping the Hysteria in American History” to find out.

#HERstory #WomensHistory #HiddenHistory #WomenInCombat #CombatExclusionPolicy

She served with the United States Colored Troops, never got paid, never got a pension — and made sure history couldn't erase her. And she started it all at just 14 years old!

Just in time for Juneteenth: meet the Gullah Geechee heroine of freedom.

J.R. Hardman is your friendly neighborhood Civil War Reenactress, here with another edition of “Keeping the Hysteria in American History.” 🎬

Thanks to historian Hermina Glass-Hill for keeping this story alive. 📖 Learn more about the Susie King Taylor Women's Institute and Ecology Center: https://www.susiekingtaylorinstitute.org/

📚 Read her memoir for free online: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73499

#militarywomen #USHistory #womenveterans #HERstory #Juneteenth #civilwar #coloredtroops #USCT #history #americanhistory #freedomday #emancipation

In this edition of “Keeping the Hysteria in American History,” we’re honoring the United States Colored Troops (USCT).

Following USCT Heritage Month in May and leading up to Juneteenth, we wanted to highlight a woman most people have likely never heard of. She committed the “crime” of trying to fight for her freedom, and her arrest record is all that survived to tell the tale.

You can check out the original documents about Lizzie Hoffman's arrest in the National Archives online catalog here: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28035229

Thanks to Charles Pendleton of Vicksburg Civil War Museum for designating May as United States Colored Troops Heritage Month since the Bureau of Colored Troops was established in May 1863. Learn more about the museum at: https://www.vicksburgcivilwarmuseum.org/

Thanks to @reenactress and veteran Yvette Blake (pictured in our video) for bringing this little-known historic figure to our attention and to Shelby Harriel-Hidlebaugh, author of Behind the Rifle and the Forbidden, Hidden, and Forgotten: Women Soldiers of the Civil War blog, for directing us to the original documents found in the National Archives. Learn more about Forbidden, Hidden, and Forgotten here: https://forbiddenhiddenforgotten.blogspot.com/2021/03/paying-price-consequences-of-discovery.html

#keepingthehysteria #hystericalhistory #HERstory #USCT #womenshistory #Blackhistory #Juneteenth #UnitedStatesColoredTroops #freedomfighter #womenwarriors #militarywomen #historicpreservation

The Pentagon is removing women from military leadership and reviewing whether they are effective in combat roles. 🫡

But history has already answered this question. Back in the 1860s, the women of LaGrange, Georgia, formed an all-female militia called the Nancy Harts to defend their town. And there’s a famous photo to prove it. Except… it might not actually be them in that photo. 🤔

Watch the latest “Keeping the Hysteria in American History” from your friendly neighborhood Civil War @reenactress

#HERstory #womenshistory #womenwarriors #womenincombat #militarywomen #womenveterans #militia #LaGrange #GeorgiaHistory #AmericanHistory #USHistory #hystericalhistory #NancyHarts

April is often commemorated as Confederate Heritage Month, but not everyone who lived in the Confederacy during the Civil War was a fan. Take Elizabeth “Crazy Bet” Van Lew.

Civil War @reenactress J.R. Hardman is here to tell you about the crazy bet that Elizabeth made to help the other side in this edition of “Keeping the Hysteria in American History.”

Bet was also the first person to raise the U.S. flag over Richmond at the end of the Civil War.

#womenshistory #HERstory #spy #spycraft #confederateheritagemonth #civilwar #abolition #AmericanHistory #USHistory #hysteria #flagday #starsandstripes

Have you ever heard of a Black, teenage Civil War solider named Maria Lewis? What about George Harris? What if I told you they were actually the same person? And what this person did was kind of incredible!

According to Executive Order 14253: “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” you’re not supposed to learn about Maria Lewis. But we’re going to tell you her story anyway in "Keeping the Hysteria in American History"!

#civilwar #ushistory #womenshistory #HERstory #hysteria #CivilWar #blackhistory #militarywomen #womenwarriors

He fought with them in 40 battles. His unit had his back for life. Before anything else, Albert D.J. Cashier’s identity was “veteran.”

What does “cohesion” mean to you? Who has your back when you need a friend? What history should we preserve next in “Keeping the Hysteria in American History”?

#TDOV #History #TransHistory #TransgenderHistory #cohesion #hysteria #PrideMonth #CivilWar #LGBTQHistory #USHistory #ExecutiveOrder #RestoringTruthandSanity #transgendermilitary #transgenderveterans #SPARTAPride