Opha Mae Johnson (born c. 1900) was an American soldier from the late 1910s.

Not much is clear about her life, including her death date. It is known, however, that she became the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, when she enlisted on August 13, 1918, in the midst of the first World War. Johnson was one of more than 300 women to enlist that day.

Her enlistment came half a century after Susan B. Anthony championed women's rights, and about twenty years after Alice Paul fought for the same cause. Johnson began to be seen as another example of early women rights movement fighters.

She was enlisted as a reservist, and she got the category of "F" (for female). She obtained those categories because, even as women were being allowed into the Marines, they were still not allowed to go to war. Opha Mae Johnson may have worked as a secretary, cook, military nurse or other jobs that the first Marine women were allowed to do. Meanwhile, her male colleagues were being sent to fight in France.

It wouldn't be until the 1940s that women Marines were actually allowed to fight in war.

External Links

list of famous Marines with Johnson on it