Deborah Sampson (1760-1827) is well-remembered for her actions during the Revolutionary War. She decided it was her calling to serve in the Continental Army, so she disguised herself as a man and enlisted.

She served successfully for 17 months in an area near West Point, known as Neutral Ground. The discovery of her gender occurred when she was sent with her regiment to Philadelphia. Many of the soldiers—including Deborah- became seriously ill. Sampson’s fever became so high that she lost consciousness, and a doctor treating her must have realized her circumstances. He did not turn her in at that time.

To fully measure Deborah Sampson’s grit, readers must see that her bravery was not a temporary wartime impulse, but her defining trait. She grew up in poverty. Because she was placed as an indentured servant, she realized that overcoming difficulty meant rejecting traditional boundaries. Throughout her life, Sampson had to forge her own way.

Growing Up in Massachusetts

Deborah Sampson (also spelled Samson in some sources) was born in Plympton, Massachusetts. She came from parents of notable lineage. Her father Jonathan was descended from Henry Samson who crossed to the colonies on the Mayflower. Her mother was the great-granddaughter of William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth Colony.

Despite this heritage, her parents could barely get by in this new country. The couple soon had seven children. Jonathan Sampson announced he could help them by going to sea, leaving his wife at home with seven children and little money.  (If Jonathan did go to sea, he never returned home. Later he was found living in Maine with a new wife.)

In that era, mothers who were overwhelmed often placed some of the children with other families. This was the option that Deborah’s mother chose, and Deborah was one of five who were sent elsewhere. Initially, Deborah lived as a companion with an elderly relative, but Deborah was only five at the time, so her mother found another option. Deborah was moved to live with a woman referred to as Widow Thatcher. (Widow Thatcher is thought to be the person who taught Deborah to read and write.) But when the widow died, Deborah’s mother needed yet another solution.

Indentured Servant

Deborah’s mother saw that she needed a more permanent placement for Deborah.  The Jeremiah Thomas family in Middleborough, Massachusetts had many children, and one of their daughters lived at home with children of her own. The Thomas family wanted an indentured servant (a person who remained with them for a guaranteed number of years in return for room and board).  They accepted Deborah and made an arrangement with her mother that she would stay with them until she was 18. Deborah worked hard and was kept very busy.

Jeremiah Thomas was not a mean man, but he saw no need to provide Deborah with anything but her basic needs of food and clothing. He also saw no need for women to be educated. Sampson saw a way around that. She suggested that she stay with the children when they were being tutored so that she could help them with their homework.  Thomas eventually agreed that she could do so if her other work was done.

Living with the Thomas family was not a happy situation for Deborah Sampson, but she created opportunities for herself when she could. While living in their household, she learned woodworking and weaving—two tasks that were beyond the scope of most servants, and ones that were helpful to her later on.

After Her Indentured Service

When Deborah Sampson finished her servitude with the Thomas family, she knew she could rely only on herself. She talked to families in the area whom she thought might need tutoring for their children and/or weaving of cloth for their clothes. Several families welcomed her, so she moved from household to household on an as-needed basis.

One of the tasks she often did for families was run errands, and this frequently took her in and out of the local taverns where the war was being discussed. The Thomas family sent several sons to war, and some of the churches in Middleborough stood against being under the thumb of Great Britain. As Deborah went around the town, she heard much talk about the importance of liberty. After her time as a servant, she felt it, too.  

Deborah Sampson’s Determination to Enlist

While Deborah Sampson’s interest in enlisting was unusual, she had few things holding her back. Her mother was rarely in touch, and Deborah had no lasting ties to the community. She lived as an independent woman. Her exposure to the Patriots’ cause in the taverns and around town must have increased her interest in finding a way to participate. She agreed with the cause for which the Patriots were fighting. The option of adventure and better payment may have persuaded her to come up with the ruse of dressing as a man and enlisting.

She was tutoring and weaving at a home where the family’s son was off to war. Since Deborah stayed in the son’s room, she investigated the clothes he left behind and began experimenting with her appearance. She was a tall (about 5/7”), big-boned woman. She bound her chest and tried on the clothing in his room. They were larger than she needed, but she could see possibilities. When the family was out of town, Sampson tried going out in male garb and must have felt comfortable enough. 

As she developed her plan, Deborah used the young man’s clothing as a pattern for sewing the clothing she needed to make for herself.

Why Did Recruiting Take Place After Yorktown?

Cornwallis surrendered to the Continental Army at Yorktown in the fall of 1781.  But the war was not yet over. The British still occupied New York City, Charleston, and Savannah. Washington knew that if he disbanded the army, the British would re-initiate major attacks. In the meantime, skirmishes occurred up and down the coast for two more years.

For that reason, the towns in Massachusetts were still actively recruiting in the spring of 1782, and Deborah felt ready.

We know from the book she permitted Hermann Mann (The Female Review: Life of Deborah Sampson) to write that her enlistment was her second attempt to join the Army.  Her first attempt was in her local area. Though she felt well-disguised, someone remarked that she looked familiar. Deborah was spooked and gave up the signing bonus she had been promised if she enlisted.

But she didn’t give up. She traveled to another area, Uxbridge, Massachusetts (south of Worcester). No one there knew her, and she signed up as “Robert Shurtleff,” (the records spell her name multiple ways).  Some sources say she had a deceased brother by this name, but ancestry records show that is not true.

Assigned to the 4th Massachusetts

Upon her enlistment on May 20, 1782, she was assigned to Captain George Webb’s company within the 4th Massachusetts Regiment. This unit functioned as “light infantry”—the 18th-century equivalent of an elite, rapid-response force. Reserved exclusively for the army’s most agile and physically fit soldiers, the light infantry specialized in high-stakes reconnaissance, advance skirmishing, and critical rear-guard actions that demanded exceptional endurance.

The regiment was soon deployed to the Hudson Highlands and Westchester County, a chaotic region flanking the strategic American stronghold at West Point. Designated as “Neutral Ground,” the area was anything but peaceful. With the British firmly entrenched in nearby New York City, this No Man’s Land dissolved into absolute lawlessness, defined by constant, bloody skirmishes.

Loyalist marauders routinely terrorized the countryside, turning daily life into a psychological nightmare for local families. Desperate to protect their livelihoods, farmers hid their livestock in nearby swamps and abandoned their beds at night, sleeping in the woods to avoid being attacked in their own homes.

The 4^th Massachusetts was among the units trying to defend the residents, and it was brutal, guerilla-style combat.

Living With the Men

Living in tight quarters in huts with men presented its challenges. Deborah was discreet when she had to take care of personal needs or change clothes. Perhaps because of her size (she was taller than many men who enlisted), no one suspected anything. She learned all the gun maneuvers, marched well, and took orders.

On one occasion she offered to help a fellow soldier mend his uniform, but she soon realized that she shouldn’t make a practice of demonstrating her sewing skills. 

Injured

As a member of Captain George Webb’s elite light infantry unit, “Robert Shurtleff” was part of a 30-man scouting patrol sent south from West Point. Their mission was to hunt down a notorious band of heavily armed Loyalist raiders—frequently called “Cowboys”—who had been terrorizing local Patriot farmers.

Near Tarrytown, the scouting party ran headfirst into an ambush. The fighting quickly devolved from a distant firefight into a chaotic, hand-to-hand melee amidst the brush and trees.

Shurtleff/Sampson sustained two wounds—ono was a saber slash to the head; the other was two musket balls to the thigh. Other members of the company insisted Shurtleff seek medical attention. Deborah was terrified of discovery, so she focused on her head wound while minimizing what happened to her thigh. After her head was bound by the doctor, she left the medical office quickly and used a pocket knife to dig the musket balls out of her leg.

Unfortunately, the wound was serious, and the men were always on the move. Her leg never healed properly, and she was left with a limp. But Sampson was relieved. She accomplished her main goal. No one realized she was female.

New Assignment

Shurtleff/Sampson was a good soldier and was well-respected by the officers in her unit. When a request was sent out for an orderly to work for General John Paterson who was stationed near West Point, Shurtleff was selected. Sampson was concerned about leaving the familiar, but she didn’t have a choice.

All went well with her service for General Paterson, but Paterson needed send soldiers out on another assignment. The provisional government still had not worked out its finances. There was disagreement about currency, and the paper money issued had decreased greatly in value. Soldiers were  not being paid, and they were ready to go home.

 In June of 1783, a mob of roughly 400 unpaid, angry soldiers from the Pennsylvania Line marched on the State House in Philadelphia, blocking the doors and demanding their back pay from Congress.

A panicked Congress ordered George Washington to send federal troops to restore order. Washington dispatched a detachment from West Point under General John Paterson.  As a member of Paterson’s light infantry, Shurtleff/Sampson marched to Philadelphia with the unit, arriving in late June/early July (1783) to put down the rebellion.

 In Philadelphia, this coincided with an outbreak of “malignant fever.” (Disease experts speculate it was malaria.) Many in the city were ill, and those newly arrived, including the soldiers, were susceptible. A good number became ill, including Deborah. Her fever spiked, and she became unconscious. 

Very Sick

At that point, Sampson encountered great good luck. The doctor treating her, Dr. Barnabas Binney (1751-1787), took a look at the young patient and realized he was a her. Amazingly, Binney remained mum. Perhaps the doctor understood how much this soldier had given to the country. He lived with his wife and children, and he sent her to his own home to give her time and space to get better. 

After several weeks, Deborah was ready to live on her own. She feared the worst as she knew she needed to return to the military, but she was steadfast in accepting whatever happened to her.

Dr. Binney arranged for a carriage to take her back to Paterson’s headquarters. She carried with her a note from him to General Paterson. Sampson worried the whole trip about her fate, but when she got there, Paterson took the letter from her. Before reading it, he sent her off to her former quarters where the men were happy to welcome Robert back.

A few days later, she was summoned to come see General Paterson. He asked about her experience, thanked her for her service, and provided her with an honorable discharge on October 25, 1783.

After the Military

Fewer details are known about the next stage of Deborah Sampson’s life. She married Benjamin Gannett, a farmer who inherited a small farm in Sharon, Massachusetts, about 20 miles south of Boston. She became Deborah Sampson Gannett. The couple had 4 children, later adopting a fifth when the little girl was orphaned.

Unfortunately, their life was not easy. The land in Sharon was rocky, and the farm was too small to be able to compensate for the poor soil. The family was barely able to scrape by.

Petitioned for Back Pay

Though Deborah received an honorable discharge, no provision was made for a pension payment given the strange circumstances. She also never received back pay that others in her company received. 

The back pay seemed the most attainable, so in January of 1792, Sampson petitioned the Massachusetts State Legislature for the amount she was due “as a private soldier, under the name of Robert Shurtleff.” After serious consideration, the legislature granted her petition. Governor John Hancock signed it.  She was awarded 34 pounds plus back interest following her 1783 discharge.

It wasn’t much but anything helped.

Lecture Tour

By this time, Deborah Sampson’s story was known locally, so Sampson began thinking more broadly. In 1802, Sampson came up with a plan to travel the area, giving lectures about her wartime service. 

As her performance was staged, Sampson began her speech dressed as a woman, talking about the importance of women during Revolutionary War time.  She then stepped off stage returning in her uniform to demonstrate execution of the military drill and gun maneuvers she learned while in the service.

Audiences enjoyed the lectures, but the income from ticket sales still didn’t provide the funds her family needed.

Paul Revere Helped

After the war, Paul Revere established a copper-rolling mill in Canton, Massachusetts, which was just one town over from Sharon. According to information from the Massachusetts Historical Society, Revere was curious about the “female soldier” he heard about and in 1804, he decided to ride over to visit the Gannett family.

When Revere arrived, he was surprised. Instead of meeting a rough-hewn masculine- seeming woman, he found Deborah to be a refined and articulate woman who was exhausted by her circumstances. She still suffered greatly from the musket ball wound to her leg. Farm work was a struggle for her because of this. 

Details from manuscripts from the Paul Revere House show that Paul Revere noted firsthand how the family struggled. He was moved by her plight and outraged by the government’s neglect of a legitimate veteran, and Revere decided to use his massive political capital to help her. (Paul Revere House)

On February 20, 1804, Revere wrote a passionate letter to his district’s U.S. Congressman, William Eustis. In the letter, Revere didn’t just ask for a favor; he demanded justice. He wrote:

“I think her case much more deserving than hundreds to whom Congress have been generous… we may expect but little from the State Government; if she receives any relief, it must be from the Nation.”  (Massachusetts Historical Society: Object of the Month).

A letter from the highly-respected Patriot Paul Revere carried immense weight. Thanks directly to his intervention and political muscle, Congress finally broke through its bureaucratic gridlock. In 1805, Deborah Sampson was officially placed on the federal invalid pension list, securing her an annual payment that saved her family from financial ruin.

Death of Deborah Sampson

In 1827, Deborah Sampson died and was buried at Rock Ridge Cemetery in Sharon, Massachusetts.

Four years later, her husband Benjamin Gannett petitioned Congress for a pension as the spouse of a veteran.  Several years later (1837), the committee overseeing the history of the Revolution surprisingly agreed. Gannett was awarded a pension but died before he could receive it. 

Recognition Comes Eventually

Today, Deborah Sampson is well-remembered in Massachusetts for her pioneering spirit. In Sharon, she is commemorated by a life-sized bronze statue outside the Sharon Public Library. Her grave at Rock Ridge Cemetery remains a major historic landmark, uniquely bearing both her legal name and her military alias, Robert Shurtleff.

In 1983, Massachusetts further recognized her when they proclaimed her the Official Heroine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. That year the legislature also established May 23rd (the anniversary of her 1782 enlistment) as Deborah Sampson Day, ensuring that the woman who once had to conceal her identity to serve her country is now publicly celebrated by name every spring.

National Recognition

Sampson was also recognized on a national basis. In December of 2020, the Deborah Sampson Act was signed into law to “eliminate barriers to care and services” faced by women veterans. It also provides for an office of women’s health in the Office of Veteran Affairs.

Though the current administration has taken actions to reverse certain parts of the Deborah Sampson Act, the Act itself remains intact because it is a federal law. Structural changes like privacy provisions and specialized medical staffing are still mandated. Recent executive orders dial back some training programs and reproductive health services.

Despite these changes, the woman who once had to completely erase her identity just to serve her country is now the face of the law ensuring modern service women should not have to be invisible again.

***

For another story about women during revolutionary times, see Sybil Ludington, 16, Helped Patriots. There are some who question the full accuracy of the story but it provides an excellent look at the people and the times.

Margaret Knight is best remembered as the inventor of the machine that makes flat-bottomed paper bags.  This was a 19th-century innovation that still influences machinery today. However, that single achievement only scratches the surface of her story.  

Knight had a brilliant mind for mechanical problems, and she was confident in her abilities.  Early in her career, a machinist copied her invention and tried to patent it for himself. When Margaret Knight realized what had happened, she did not hesitate. She scraped together her money and hired a patent attorney to right the wrong.

To understand Margaret Knight, people need to recognize her for her creativity and her grit. She was a talented problem-solver who never stepped away from defending her accomplishments.

Growing Up

Margaret Knight (1838–1914) was born in York, Maine, the youngest of three children. Perhaps influenced by her two older brothers, she never played with dolls and loved crafting toys for herself and her brothers. She became known in the area for her superior kites and sleds.

The family was torn by the death of her father when Margaret was still a child. Margaret’s mother heard there was work in New Hampshire in the cotton mills, so the family moved there. Mrs. Knight and her boys took jobs at Amoskeag Manufacturing Company. When Margaret was 12, she joined them.

Mill Work

Margaret was at work on the line one day when a shuttle flew off its moorings. Shuttles are very sharp, and one flying loose was  dangerous. This one injured a woman working near Margaret.

Because Margaret witnessed the accident first hand, she was able to puzzle through what happened and why. She came up with two solutions—one that would keep the shuttle from flying off the loom; the other was a way to cover the tip of the shuttle to reduce the danger.

Knight approached management with her solutions on how to prevent another accident. The supervisor put Margaret’s idea into practice, and it made for a safer workplace. Margaret Knight was too young to know about patents then, so she did not profit financially from her extra work. However, the experience offered her an excellent education for the future.

Illness

While working at the cotton mill, Knight became ill and had to leave her job. There is no documentation as to what caused her illness, but many mill workers suffered from “brown lung” from the cotton dust and lint that blew around the factory. This caused workers to be prone to suffer chronic coughing, asthma, and severe respiratory failure.

Once she was feeling better, she looked for other employment. For a time, she worked at an upholstery shop and then moved on to a company specializing in photography.

Paper Bag Company

In 1867, Margaret Knight was living in Springfield, Massachusetts, and working at the Columbia Paper Bag Company.  Women were paid one-third of what male coworkers received, but she was glad for the work.

The factories at that time had simple machines that made V-bottom bags. Flat bottom bags were also made by the factory, but they had to be put together by hand.

Knight’s first job was as a bag bundler, tying up the machine-made envelope-style bags for shipping. From her vantage point at the end of the production line, she could see the workers guiding the simpler bags along from machine to machine. She also watched as another group—mainly women— painstakingly cut, folded, and glued what would be each flat-bottom bag. Because this labor-intensive process was so slow, flat-bottom bags were an expensive luxury item for merchants.

As Knight worked at her job each day, she also thought about how these processes could be automated.

Crafting Her Ideas

At the end of each day, she returned to her boarding house to test out what she felt would work. Her first invention was for a machine that improved on the V-bottom paper bag. For the patent, she called it a “paper feeding machine.” In 1870, she received a patent on that invention. She then applied her efforts to figuring out how a machine could be used to make a flat-bottom bag.

Working Model for Flat-Bottom Bag Machine

A few months later, she had a working wooden model that she was pleased with. Some who saw the device said it was “rickety,” but it cut, folded, and glued over 1,000 bags during her testing phase.

Just as she had done with her application for the “paper feeding machine,” Knight needed to find a mechanic’s shop where they could make her a working model in iron. She chose a machinist in Boston to help her.

The machine was extraordinarily complex, so in addition to leaving all her paperwork for the machinist, she checked in regularly to oversee what was being done.

Here’s How It Worked

The process starts with a roll of brown paper. A feeding mechanism draws the paper into the machine, where the paper is cut to size and then rolled into a tube.

Folding arms guide the edges of the paper inward to make a seam, along which a paste wheel applies adhesive. The paper is then pressed flat.

To create the flat bottom, special blades fold the sides of the paper inward. The top is left open and then the machine folds the two remaining flaps down over each other to create the flat bottom. As the folding arms move the flaps into place, glue applicators (timed by the machine’s gears) stamp onto the flaps the exact amount of adhesive to hold them shut. Finally, the completed bag is pushed through a set of heavy pressing rollers to firmly seal the glued bottom.

Ultimately, the finished bag is then ejected from the machine.

Margaret Knight clearly knew what she was doing. Her machines worked.

Knight’s Idea Stolen and Copied

During the time the machinist in Boston was working on Knight’s iron model, Charles Annan, another machinist, stopped in to visit. He noted what his friend was working on for Knight.

Annan saw the brilliance of what she developed, and he felt there was money to be made. He copied as many of the materials as he could and raced back to his own shop to make his own working model. He then submitted a patent application under his own name.  

When Margaret Knight received a message that her prototype was completed, she stopped by and picked it up. She brought with her the detailed paperwork she had prepared and took everything to the Patent Office.

Only then did she learn that someone had filed for the same device days ahead of her. 

But Charles Annan underestimated her. Knight was resolute, knowing full well who had put in the thousands of hours of sketching, problem-solving, and building to make the machine a reality. She was fully prepared to prove it though it would be costly. She scraped together what money she had and hired a patent attorney. She then sued Charles Annan for patent interference.   

Annan’s Defense

Annan claimed his device was somewhat different, and therefore, he deserved the patent. However, other sources noted that he told some people that he didn’t believe a woman possessed the mechanical ability to conceptualize such a complex machine.

Knight was a meticulous worker and had complete documentation of all the steps she took in creating her invention. She gathered her early journal entries and detailed mechanical drawings. She also gathered testimonies from everyone from the people in her rooming house to the machinists who built her prototypes.

The court case took 16 days, proving very costly for Knight, but she was determined. Ultimately, the judge for the patent office ruled in her favor. Charles Annan’s patent was thrown out, and Margaret Knight was rightfully granted the flat-bottom paper bag machine.

Knight’s machine was an important invention. It turned the flat-bottom paper bag from an expensive, hand-crafted luxury into the cheap, disposable basic bags we use today.

Knight’s Company Already Making Bags

In 1870—before her patent was granted–Margaret Knight and a business partner set up Eastern Paper Bag Company to make the bags. Knight overcame resistance as a factory boss because workers saw that she had complete command of the machinery and the factory process.

Once she received her patent, Knight made a new arrangement with her business partner. She asked for a royalty on the profits (capping her take at $25,000). The business partner was left to run the factory, and Knight was free to focus on inventing.

More Work Ahead for Margaret Knight

Her 1871 patent victory was just the beginning of a long, prolific, and highly unusual career for a woman in the 19th and early 20th centuries. She spent the rest of her life as a full-time, professional inventor.

She rented space in Framingham, Massachusetts. This gave her a place to experiment with what she was working on. Most of her devices had to do with manufacturing. One was a machine for boring holes, another was for a numbering machine, and yet another pertained to making windows and sashes. These were the types of challenges that interested her.

But Framingham was the seat of shoe manufacturing, so she heard new stories and wondered about ways to improve shoemaking. Between 1883 and 1894, she received six patents for massive, complex shoe-manufacturing machines. These included devices for cutting shoe soles and stitching different parts of the shoe together, which helped further automate another major American industry.

Automotive Industry

The automotive industry was making progress in the early 20^th century, and though Knight was in her 60s by this time, she paid attention to what was happening there.  Between 1902 and 1914, she designed and patented several components for internal combustion engines and rotary motors. She also patented a sleeve-valve automobile engine, a motor drive, and a compound rotary engine.

It was virtually unheard of for a woman of her generation—let alone one in her 70s—to be designing heavy automotive engines.

Fame Much Later

Margaret Knight passed away in Framingham in 1914. She was 76 At her death, she held patents for 22 inventions and had assigned patents for an estimated 60 more to her employers or financial backers.

Margaret Knight never cared about being interviewed or photographed for her inventions. She was always thinking about her next challenge, so the lack of recognition probably didn’t bother her.

But she was too talented to ignore. In 2006, she was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Halls of Fame for her flat-bottom paper bag machine (Patent No. 116,842).

And the Smithsonian Institution has permanently preserved her working model of the paper bag machine. This is an honor afforded to only a few inventions of the 19^th century.

Margaret Knight is often remembered for one particular invention, but the true acclaim she deserves lies in her brilliant, problem-solving mind, her tenacity, and her indomitable spirit. She was far more than the creator of a single machine; she was a visionary who never backed down from a challenge. The work she did resulted in automating many businesses.

“The road to success is always under construction,” says Cheryl McKissack Daniel, President, CEO and now Chair of the Board of McKissack & McKissack, a New York construction company involved in many major infrastructure projects.

In her position as company head, Cheryl Daniel represents the fifth generation of the oldest family-run minority and woman-owned design and construction firm in the country. For more than a century, McKissack family members have stood on the shoulders of the previous generation to build what is now a multimillion-dollar company with almost 200 employees.

The company was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1905 by Cheryl’s grandfather, Moses III (1879-1952). Cheryl McKissack Daniel’s father, William DeBerry McKissack (1925-1988), took over in 1968 and ran the company until 1983 when he suffered a heart attack. Next, his wife and Cheryl’s mother, Leatrice Buchanan McKissack, stepped in to manage and grow the business. She was succeeded by her daughter, Cheryl McKissack Daniel, who still runs the business.

Today their clients include infrastructure projects ranging from transit hubs to data centers.  As of 2026, the firm is currently a key player in several “generational” projects that will define NYC for the next decade. This includes the $9.5 billion New Terminal One at JFK Airport and the ongoing LaGuardia Airport redevelopment. Their involvement in these massive, multi-year contracts provides a stable financial “floor” for the business through the late 2020s.

About 15 years ago, I had the good fortune to write a story about McKissack & McKissack. I’m updating it and reprinting it here because Cheryl McKissack Daniel’s story is now in book form. The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers by Cheryl McKissack Daniel and Nick Chiles, published by Atria (Aug 2025). 

The Family Story in the U.S. Began with Slavery

For the family, working in the building trades to the first family member to arrive in this country. Their ancestor, Moses, was kidnapped from his home in West Africa; he was only 12 at the time. He arrived in the U.S. in 1790 and was purchased by a Scotsman named John McKissack. McKissack provided him with a surname and put the slave to work in the brick-building and construction business McKissack ran with his son, William.

The story expands when William McKissack’s daughter, Susan, caught the eye of a French Huguenot, but the young man’s father opposed the marriage. All the other men in the family lineage had married a “Sarah.” Nathaniel Frances Cheairs IV’s father wanted his son to hold out for a woman with the correct first name. However, William McKissack felt the two young people belonged together so he offered an incentive: free bricks for a new home for the couple and slave labor to build it.  The slave, Moses McKissack, would be part of the deal.

Susan and Nathaniel were married in 1841. Construction on the house was delayed and was finally finished in 1855. The mansion now known as Rippavilla Plantation in Spring Hill, Tennessee, still stands and is open to the public as a museum and an educational site. (Leatrice McKissack is on their Board of Directors.)

Moses McKissack Freed

At some point, William McKissack granted Moses his freedom. Moses married a Cherokee woman. Together, they had 14 children, 12 of whom survived. His ninth son, Gabriel Moses II, was the one who followed his father into the building trades. Gabriel worked out of Pulaski, Tennessee, and became well-known as a craftsman and builder. He was highly sought-after for his intricate work building spiral staircases and adding beautiful finishing touches to buildings.

Two sons of Gabriel’s were interested in construction — Moses III (born in 1879) and Calvin (born in 1890). This is the generation that started the family business that exists today. Moses III began work in Pulaski but started getting jobs in other locations. He soon moved to Nashville where he formally began the business in 1905.

McKissack’s first big commission occurred in 1908 when he was hired to build the Carnegie Library at Fisk University. He obtained other plum assignments, building the home of Governor A.H. Roberts, dormitories at Roger Williams University, the AME Sunday School Union Building, and many residences and other churches. Four of the Nashville buildings built by the McKissacks are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Younger brother Calvin started his own company in Dallas, Texas. After building in both Texas and Oklahoma, he accepted a teaching position and came to Nashville where he devoted part of his time to helping his brother with the business.

New Requirement for Licenses in Architecture

The McKissacks were very much in demand, but in 1922. But Tennessee — along with some other states — began requiring building designers to be licensed. Up until this date, builders developed designs and executed what they planned.

Moses and Calvin began taking a correspondence course to learn the technicalities they would need to pass the exam. When they appeared before the state licensing board, the administrators did not want to permit the two Black men to take the test. This was unheard of.

“After discussing it among themselves, the board supervisors reluctantly decided it wouldn’t do any harm,” explains Cheryl McKissack Daniel. “It was unlikely that the men would pass the test anyway, so why not let them take it and fail?”

Both men passed, sending the administrators back into a huddle. Now what could they do to keep the men from getting their licenses?

By that time, the national press heard the story and was writing about the discriminatory practice. Negative publicity about Tennessee was increasing, so the board of administrators decided to award the licenses.

Then the board itself pushed for the men to be given licenses in 22 additional states.

Company Continues to Grow

Moses and Calvin were getting work throughout the South. As black businessmen, they knew the only safe time to travel was during the day, and they could not stop along the way because of Jim Crow laws. They had to carefully plan their travel and eating so that they could be at a friend’s or relative’s home by nightfall.

Both men were community leaders. Moses was director of the National Negro Business League of America and was a major stockholder in Penny Savings Bank of Nashville and the Universal Life Insurance Company of Memphis. Calvin was president of the Negro Board of Trade and was also a trustee at Fisk University.

In 1942, the men received national recognition when they secured the contract to build the 99th Pursuit Squadron Air Base at Tuskegee, Alabama. The job grew to be an almost $8 million dollar deal. At the time, it was the largest government contract ever awarded to African Americans. In 1942, Moses and Calvin were awarded a Spaulding Medal for operating the outstanding Negro business for that year.

During the Roosevelt administration, Their College Hill housing development in Nashville had come to national attention. The McKissack plans were for a master-planned community that directly challenged the discriminatory housing practices of the mid-20th century.  The plans included over 400 families living in a mix of single-family homes, duplexes, and apartment units. (Some of it is still standing.) As a result of this work, Moses McKissack was invited to the White House to confer on housing issues.

Succession

At Moses’ death in 1952, Calvin stepped in. Calvin had no children, so when he passed away in 1968, Moses’ son, William, succeeded him.

William had three daughters, Andrea, and twins, Cheryl and Deryl. Given the era, his initial dream was that the girls would marry and sons-in-law would join the business. But perhaps from the beginning, his parenting style went against this plan. On many nights and weekends when William returned to work, he took the girls with him. They were kept busy tracing documents or working with T-squares and rulers.

Clearly, the underlying family message was one of equal opportunity.

Graduation

In 1983, Leatrice traveled to Washington, D.C. The twins were graduating from Howard University. Leatrice would attend the ceremony, while William remained at home to organize a big graduation party. 

Unfortunately for the family, William McKissack suffered a heart attack. He never fully recovered, so other plans needed to be made for the business. After some thought, Leatrice knew she was best suited to step in. Lea had been a homemaker, but she was well-educated and aware of the issues her husband dealt with. She frequently accompanied him on trips to various jobs, so she heard him talk about the various client issues.

Telling the Extended Family

Many relatives worked in the business or had money invested, and they were all concerned. When Lea and the girls returned to Nashville, a meeting was scheduled, and over some objections, Lea announced her plan. “My husband ran a wonderful business, and I often said, “The good Lord let me rest for 15 years and then put me to work.”

“I found it more trouble being a woman than being an African American,” Lea said recently in a phone interview. “I had four brothers; I was the only daughter. We were all given the same education, and my parents always told me I could be anything.”

She took the company in hand and ran with it. In 1990, Leatrice B. McKissack was honored by President George Bush with the award for National Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

McKissack & McKissack Today

Cheryl McKissack Daniel grew up knowing she would work in the building industry in some way. She trained as a civil engineer, and an early job involved working as part of the team building missile silos. After a couple of years at Weidlinger Associates, she moved on to the “estimate” division at Turner Construction, a job she describes as excellent training for anyone.

Cheryl was not the only family member to follow the family passion; older sister Andrea was trained as a civil engineer and spent many years as an interior designer for Stickley, only recently retiring. Cheryl’s twin sister Deryl became an architect and runs McKissack & McKissack of D.C. The company provides architecture, engineering, program and construction management services in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles, and Deryl was the chief architect for the Martin Luther King Memorial, established on the Mall in Washington in 2011.)

Moved to Nashville

Shortly thereafter, Cheryl, then living in New York City, decided she could ease the burden on her mother by commuting to Nashville to help out for a couple of days each week. After a couple of years of commuting, Cheryl Daniel set up a New York office. She began specializing in design and planning, but she soon found that she preferred construction. “The jobs span a longer time, and for that reason, they can be more profitable,” she says.

In 1999, her mother was ready to get out of the business, so Cheryl bought the company from her. Now her mother sits on her board of advisors, and the New York office is the hub of all activity.

Other Jobs

Cheryl McKissack Daniel’s first big job was the Germantown High School in Philadelphia, and while the company still does some work in Philadelphia, the firm mainly works in the New York area. The company was also hired to relocate the Atlantic rail yards in Brooklyn so the Barclay Center could be built. During that time, the company also had to move Carlton Street Bridge.

McKissack & McKissack also worked to build the World Trade Center Transportation Hub as well as the construction of the more recent Tappan Zee Bridge.

Being a minority and woman-owned business helped McKissack& McKissack get a foothold on certain jobs. “The challenge — and a place where we have succeeded — is converting that client contact into a long-term relationship,” says Daniel.

In 2005 McKissack & McKissack was hired to demolish Harlem Hospital in preparation for its re-building. They were kept on as a subcontractor for the construction phase. One of the issues Daniel felt strongly about was hiring workers from the community. As they began accepting resumés, Daniel saw that they had so many applicants that they could funnel workers to other businesses looking to hire. McKissack now has a Harlem office on 125th Street and still helps companies who are looking for qualified applicants.

Success Continues

Today McKissack & McKissack manages a portfolio of projects valued at over $50 billion (including the $9.5 billion JFK New Terminal One and the massive LaGuardia redevelopment).

This is quite an accomplishment for any business owner, but particularly notable because their success tells a particularly great American story.

***

During the time the McKissacks were building their business, another Black architect was finding a way for himself as well. Read Paul Revere Williams,Prominent L.A. Architect.

• Performed with many circuses as a tiger trainer and had the center ring with Ringling Brothers in the early 1920s
• Worked with the big cats for 57 years despite 18 separate maulings and multiple minor injuries

Mabel Stark (name at birth, Mary Haynie) was one of seven children born to a farming couple in Tennessee; the family may have moved to Kentucky during her childhood but Stark’s early years are hard to verify.

At age 17 she began training to be a nurse and got a job at a hospital in Kentucky. To pick up additional money, she became a carnival dancer (known as a “hoochie coochie” dancer).

The Lure of the Menagerie

After a failed marriage, she returned to the carnival. When not working, Stark spent time with the menagerie overseen by Al G. Barnes. Barnes eventually decided to start his own show, and he invited Mabel Stark to come with him.

Al Barnes hired Louis Roth, a famous Hungarian animal trainer, who was first to use food and positive reinforcement to train the animals instead of violence. Stark worked as Roth’s assistant, and they married for a time, but Roth was a drinker and his act and his marriage suffered from it. Barnes fired him, and Mabel, whose own popularity was growing, divorced him.

In 1913, she opened her own act for the Barnes circus, working with 10 tigers in the ring. It was the biggest act being done in the U.S. at that time. Her trademark look was a white bodysuit.

Adopted Tiger Cub

At about this time, Stark adopted a sickly tiger cub and nursed him back to health. She found that Rajah, as she called him, was very affectionate, so she developed a way to encourage his behaviors to create a wrestling act. In Stark’s autobiography, Hold That Tiger (1938), she writes: “Rajah would run straight toward me. Up he went on his hind legs, his forefeet around my neck. We turned around once or twice, I threw him to the ground and we rolled three or four times. I opened his mouth and put my face inside, then jumped to my feet.”

For audiences, the act was thrilling, even frightening. Word-of-mouth grew, and this brought the press. The reporters wrote about the act and that sold tickets. Mabel had made it to the big time.

Mabel Stark had a simple theory about her success with animals. She saw each as having its own personality and temperament that a trainer needed to understand. She also emphasized that there was no such thing as a “tamed wild animal.” “They can be subdued, but never conquered,” she said, and she liked nothing better than matching wits with them.

Ringling Takes Notice

In 1920 Ringling Brothers hired her away from Barnes and gave her the center ring. She gained all the status of a star. She had top billing and her own train car. At her peak, she performed with 18 tigers and a black panther.

She also married the circus accountant, but that did not work out well. The accountant was embezzling from the Ringlings. He was let go, and Mabel’s career took a hit as well. In 1925 Ringling decided to terminate the cat acts.

The circus press agent stated that the reason for the change was that the cats were dangerous,, and parents disliked the cat acts because they were too frightening. The steel cage was also difficult to set up and take down during the run of the show.

Stark suspected differently—that she was being punished for her connection to the embezzler. The Ringlings maintained cat acts in two of their stadium locations, but they brought in newcomer Clyde Beatty.

Stark was still under contract, and she was placed in a horse act. She hated it.

New Love Interest

One more love interest entered her life during the Ringling years. The menagerie boss, Art Rooney, was a fellow who had never dated and wore makeup and nail polish, but the two married and were very happy. Rooney died shortly after, so Stark’s one true romance came to a quick end.

In 1926 she was traded by Ringling to a medium-sized circus, the John Robinson Circus, and it was with this group that she suffered one of her worst maulings.

Danger in the Ring

In the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries, trainers were sometimes injured seriously, even killed, in the ring. The cats were known to lash out with their paws, and while the cuts were not usually fatal it could leave nasty gashes. Other accidents could and did happen.

Each trainer took into the ring their own choice of training tools; Stark always used a whip and a stick, and sometimes a gun loaded with blanks.

In 1928 the Robinson circus train was fighting bad weather to get to Bangor, Maine, for a performance, and the train pulled into town late. This generally would have meant cancellation of some of the animal acts since the animals wouldn’t have been fed or given time to calm down after the trip. Stark, however, decided to continue with her act.

As the cats entered the ring, one of the quiet ones took the wrong stool, angering one of the meaner cats, Sheik. Sheik responded by taking a severe swipe at Stark’s left leg, almost severing her lower limb. Her assistant, working outside the ring, started rattling the door, the signal for the animals to return to the entry tunnel. In the chaos, two cats arrived at the tunnel entrance at the same time. Sheik turned back and charged Stark who reacted by jamming the training stick into the back of the tiger’s throat. Another cat, Zoo, picked up on the disruption and also attacked.

Somehow Stark got her right hand free and pulled out her pistol, loaded with blanks, and fired directly into Zoo’s face. This permitted her to break free, though she passed out soon after and was dragged from the performance ring unconscious. She was hospitalized. She was also told her injuries would require about two years of treatment. However, within a matter of weeks, Stark returned to perform, now sporting bandages and using a cane.

Stunt Performer for Mae West

In 1932, I’m No Angel, starring In Mae West was being filmed. The character must perform in a lion-taming act. Of course, Mabel Stark was the perfect stunt double for Mae West. This job brought Stark to Southern California where in 1938 she was hired full-time by Jungleland in Thousand Oaks, California.

When World War II began, Stark took time away from the cats to work at Lockheed Aircraft for two years.

More Injuries

In 1950 she suffered another particularly terrible accident; her right arm was severely mangled, meriting 175 stitches.

When injuries happened, Stark never blamed the cats: “I always blame myself—not the tiger…Maybe it is an ulcerated tooth, a sore paw, a grudge against the world for no good reason at all that has upset the cat.”

While injections to prevent tetanus were not available during Stark’s early years of performing, it is notable that Mabel Stark lived through so many incidents. The wounds were often deep, and penicillin was not commonly available until the late 1930s.

Jungleland Sold

In late 1967 Jungleland was sold, and the new owner disliked Stark, age 79, and fired her. The animals had to remain at Jungleland. After her departure, one of the tigers escaped and was killed as the men tried to re-capture it. Stark was angry and felt if she had been called, she could have gotten the tiger safely back to the compound.

Three months later she took an overdose of barbiturates and died. The ending of her autobiography, written in 1938, brings us as close as we will come to understanding why:

“Out slink the striped cats, snarling and roaring, leaping at each other or at me. It’s a matchless thrill, and life without it is not worthwhile to me. I hope each new season until my number is up will find me shouting, ‘Let them come!'”

***

For a story of another circus performer, read “How Jumbo Joined the Circus.”

In the early 19th century, the American medical field was almost exclusively a men’s club. However, a few resilient women refused to accept the status quo, stepping forward as pioneers to carve out a new path.

Today, that landscape is shifting dramatically. While men currently account for 61% of active physicians in the U.S., women now make up the majority of medical students and residents. We are standing on the brink of a major demographic shift.

Below are the stories of six unsung women who challenged the establishment and moved the field of medicine forward.

Women Medical Leaders: Lydia Pinkham

Lydia Estes Pinkham (1819-1883) was one of the first people to take women’s health issues seriously.  She opened a closed door on the health matters that are unique to women. To help friends and neighbors, she created a vegetable tonic that helped with “women’s ills.” The family decided to package the product, and her sons soon took to the road to help place the tonic in stores.

Up until this time, women had no resources for health advice. Because Pinkham’s product became so popular, women wrote her for advice. Her responses were mostly common sense (eat well, exercise, and avoid the tight, restrictive clothing that was popular in the 19^th century). Eventually some of the advice was collected in pamphlets.

Though the compound has evolved to meet modern FDA standards, Lydia Pinkham’s Compound (now owned by Numark Brands) can still be found online and in major drug stores.

Clara Barton

Clara Barton (1821-1912) is well-known as the “Angel of the Battlefield”for her work during the Civil War. Later she brought the Red Cross to the U.S. and formed the American Red Cross.

Barton is less well-known for running the Office of Missing Soldiers. During the Civil War, the military had no official identification system. Sometimes soldiers caried a note in their pocket or wallet. Other times, their buddies buried them with something saying who they were.

Clara Barton set up an office in Washington, D.C. that operated from 1865-1867. She received 63,000 letters from families whose loved ones were missing, and she or her staff answered them all. They also managed to identify 22,000 soldiers.

Dr. Rebecca Crumpler

Dr. Rebecca Crumpler (1831-1895) was a Black woman who worked as a nurse for several white doctors in Massachusetts in the 1860s. She was so well-regarded by the men that they recommended her for admission the New England Female Medical College; she became the first African American to be admitted.  

Once she became a physician, she cared for Black patients in the Massachusetts area at a time when white doctors refused to treat people of color. At the end of her career, she wrote a home health guide for women about everything from nursing a newborn to managing cuts and wounds.  For the first time, households had a reliable reference as to how to manage various health issues.

Dorothy Harrison Eustis

Dorothy Harrison Eustis (1886-1946) was a dog breeder who became interested in training guide dogs for the blind.  While she was not a medical professional, her service to humanity was important to the health of people with impaired vision.

Eustis trained the first seeing eye dog brought to this country (1928). She went on to dedicate the rest of her life to breeding and training guide dogs. She and Morris Frank, the fellow who received the first dog she trained, created the school, The Seeing Eye. The school still operates today and continues to train and place dogs.

Dr. Virginia Apgar

Dr. Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) hoped to be a surgeon but she graduated from medical school during the Depression when men were taking all the available jobs.  She went into the relatively new field of anesthesiology. This placed her in delivery rooms where she had the opportunity to observe what happened with mothers and babies shortly after birth.

Apgar was alarmed that babies were only cursorily evaluated before being sent off to the hospital nursery. To solve the problem, she developed a method for assessing newborn health.  She originally called it the Newborn Scoring System, and it greatly changed the mortality rate for infants. The system is still used today but it is now referred to as the Apgar Score.  She then went on to run the March of Dimes.

Dr. Antonia Novello

Dr. Antonia Novello (1944–  ) grew up in Puerto Rico and became a physician. She is the first Latino to ever serve as U.S. Surgeon General. Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, she made many contributions to public health, among them working to improve medical care for women and minorities. 

Dr. Novello also targeted underage drinking and smoking, which involved a focus on cigarette advertising.  The cartoon image of Joe Camel was a particular target that she felt made smoking attractive to the young.

***

This information is based on my six-volume history of medicine as well as a speech I gave at Arizona State University for their Barrett Honors Program. If you’d like to see the full presentation given at ASU, click here:

Little-Known Women in Medicine Presentation with Kate Kelly.

Edmonia Lewis was a groundbreaking sculptor who achieved international fame during the 19th century. She was born to a Black Haitian father and a mother of Native American (Ojibwe) and African descent.

Sculpture was not a common art form in America at that time. The fact that Lewis achieved what she did is nothing short of remarkable.

Working almost entirely in white Carrara marble, Lewis’s style was neoclassical, but her subject matter often related to her upbringing. She created art forms that expressed her interest in social justice, racial identity, and gender. 

The artwork she left behind is extraordinary. Eight of her pieces are part of the Smithsonian collection.

Early Life

Edmonia Lewis (1844?-1907) and her family lived near Albany, New York, in what is now Rensselaer.  Her mother was a gifted craftsperson and weaver and may have inspired Edmonia’s love of beauty.

When Edmonia was a child, both parents died within a year of each other. She and her older half-brother were sent to live with her mother’s sisters. The women supported themselves by selling their hand-woven baskets to tourists visiting Niagara Falls and Buffalo.

Education

When her brother was old enough to leave home, he traveled West and had success as a gold prospector. Edmonia must have shown academic promise as he made an extraordinary offer for the era. He arranged to send Edmonia to college. 

She started at New York Central College, but it did not go well. Her brother suggested that she try Oberlin, a school that included women and people of color. 

Despite the school’s intended inclusiveness, Edmonia Lewis struggled. Other students mocked and shunned her. She was forced to leave before her last semester.

Learning from Abolitionists

She left the school with contacts that led her to a town just outside Boston (Woburn, Massachusetts) where many abolitionists lived. Self-taught sculptor Edward Augustus Brackett (1818-1908) was among the inhabitants, and she asked permission to study with him.

Written reports of her time there talked of how Brackett handed a lump of clay with an assignment: Make a foot (or a hand) and return for a critique. When she returned with what she crafted, he sometimes crushed it for her try again; other times, he offered advice and correction.

Edmonia Lewis came to the attention of journalist and social reformer William Lloyd Gararison who introduced Edmonia to people he thought might be future customers for her work. Union Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the white lawyer who commanded the all-Black 54^th Infantry during the Civil War, was a revered member of the community. Shaw commissioned her to create a bust of him.

When the sculpture was completed, other people offered to buy it as well. Lewis created 100 plaster copies and sold them all. This brought her commissions for other projects. She did medallion portraits of John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison.

She longed to study in Rome where many sculptors had gathered. With the success of her recent sales, she was able to afford to become part of that community.

Moves to Rome

Lewis was intrigued by the neoclassical artwork being produced in Rome. The availability of her favored marble –Carrara marble—and the influence of the artists made a rich environment for her. 

She was also heartened to find a small group of women who were also working in marble. (American sculptor Harriet Hosmer was among them.)

Though the subjects of her art were still often American, they were likely to be dressed in classical robes and posed as if they were from the ancient world. She also sculpted mythical figures such as those of Hiawatha from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem.

Challenges for Women

Being a female sculptor was not easy. Most men hired laborers to shape a large piece of stone so that it’s more manageable for artistic development.  But both Lewis and sculptor Hosmer saw that wouldn’t work for them. The moment men were let in to the women’s studios, rumors would circulate.

Even when the marble mass weighted several tons, the women did all the work themselves.

Work Chosen for Centennial Exposition

One of Edmonia Lewis’s big successes was having her work accepted for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. The work chosen for the exhibition was The Death of Cleopatra.

In art at that time, the Egyptian queen was usually portrayed as a sleeping beauty.  Lewis rejected that scenario. She saw Cleopatra’s death—said to have come about from the bite of the asp (snake)– as much different scene.

As she worked, she developed a more realistic portrayal. Cleopatra’s head tilts back at an odd angle. One arm hangs down as if in sleep (or death). The other hand is in her lap, holding the asp that brought about her death. It is an intriguing depiction, particularly when compared with the views of a sleeping woman.

Once The Death of Cleopatra was delivered to Philadelphia, it became a “must-see” attraction. When the Centennial Exhibition ended, the sculpture was sent to be exhibited at an industrial show in Chicago.  

After that, the two-ton sculpture that stood about five feet tall was put into storage and disappeared from view.

Strange but True

While the exact sequence of what happened to the sculpture is not easy to trace, the next time The Death of Cleopatra is thought to have been on display was at a saloon near Chicago. (The price of the sculpture must have fallen to next to nothing.)

At the saloon, The Death of Cleopatra was purchased by a racetrack owner. The man had owned a beloved racehorse named Cleopatra. He saw the sculpture as the perfect way to commemorate his beloved horse. He had it transported to his racetrack in Forest Park, Illinois.   

For decades, the statue sat by the entrance to the racetrack. Thousands of people must have passed by it, never knowing what the sculpture was or who the artist was who made it.

When the racetrack went belly up, the property was turned into a golf course. Still Edmonia Lewis’s masterpiece sat there—unidentified and unappreciated. Eventually vandals came along who hacked away at it. It was also painted over several times.

By the 1970s, it was largely forgotten, sitting in a storage yard under a tarp.

Re-Found

In the 1980s, a Forest Park resident who was active with the local historical society was shown the sculpture. The man must have known something about art, as he sent a photograph of the piece to someone at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. What did they make of it?

Good fortune prevailed. Despite the damage and the added paint, a curator at the Met thought of contacting Marilyn Richardson, an Edmonia Lewis scholar. Robinson had spent decades unearthing more information about Edmonia Lewis. Robinson called in other experts, and they definitively identify it as the lost masterpiece.

In 1994, it was donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Restoration experts began their work. Between the many years of exposure to Illinois winters and the destruction created by vandals, there was much to do.

Career Slows

Long before the disappearance of The Death of Cleopatra, Edmonia Lewis was struggling to get by, By the time the Centennial Exposition concluded, interest in the neoclassical style of art was fading. She wasn’t certain how to develop her work so that she could continue to sell what she crafted.  

She remained in Rome for a time, but then departed, intending to return to the United States.

No one seemed to keep track of her.  Later it was clear that she stopped off in London and never left. Years later, a researcher found a death certificate for her, noting her death in London in 1907.

This was a tragic conclusion for a remarkable artist who expanded the possibilities for artists from all backgrounds.  It is significant that eight of her works are owned by the Smithsonian. She will no longer be lost to time.