Early Life
Martha Settle was born to Oliver and Ida Settle of Norristown, Pennsylvania, on November 9, 1916. Her father worked as a laborer to support his wife and eight children.
As a young woman, she helped garner black votes for a candidate for Congress whom she had heard speak. The candidate won, and with his help she got a scholarship to Howard University, where she received a bachelor's degree (1939) and master's degree in history (1940).
She remained in Washington where, despite her academic credentials, she was unable to get a teaching job. She settled instead for a statistical clerk position with the War Manpower Commission. In 1943 she enlisted in the Women's Army Corps, which had been created the previous year. Interviewed years later, she explained her decision this way: "The Corps, which was then less than a year old, promised an opportunity to become a commissioned officer. Though I had a master's degree in history, I refused to go any further south for a job, so the promise of a commission was the best option available."
Read more about this topic: Martha Settle Putney
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