Opha May Johnson

Opha May Jacob was born on May 4, 1878, in Kokomo, Indiana. She graduated from the shorthand and typewriting department of Wood's Commercial College in Washington, D.C., in 1895.{{cite news|title=Local Mention |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1895-06-04/ed-1/seq-12/|access-date=2 January 2015|publisher=Evening Star (Washington D.C.)|date=4 June 1895}} As salutatorian of her class, she "entertained the audience with a carefully prepared paper."{{cite news|title=Business Careers Opening|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062244/1895-06-05/ed-1/seq-4/|access-date=2 January 2015|publisher=The Washington Times (Washington D.C.)|date=5 June 1895}} Jacob married Victor Hugo Johnson (1873–1950) on December 20, 1898, at the Sixth Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.{{cite news|title=The Social World|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1898-12-24/ed-1/seq-7/|access-date=2 January 2015|publisher=Evening Star (Washington D.C.)|date=24 December 1898}} At the time of their marriage, Victor Johnson was the musical director at the Lafayette Square Opera House.{{cite news |title=Amusements |url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1895-08-28/ed-1/seq-12/|access-date=6 January 2015|publisher=Evening Star (Washington D.C.)|date=28 August 1895}} Prior to joining the Marines, Johnson was in the Civil Service, working for the Interstate Commerce Commission.{{cite news|title=Women Marines anxious to serve United States|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045389/1918-09-01/ed-1/seq-24/|access-date=2 January 2015|publisher=Richmond Times Dispatch|date=1 September 1918|page=2}}

File:Opha Johnson and Katherine Towle in 1946.png (far left). They are looking at Opha Johnson's uniform being worn by PFC Muriel Albert.]]

Johnson became the first known woman to enlist in the Marine Corps on August 13, 1918, when she joined the Marine Corps Reserve during World War I.{{cite news|title=Girl Joins Devil Dogs|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1918-08-14/ed-1/seq-1/|access-date=2 January 2015|publisher=Evening Star (Washington D.C.)|date=14 August 1918}} Johnson, due to being first in line that day,{{cite web|last1=Soper|first1=Susan|title=Opha Mae Johnson: Semper Fi|url=http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/opha-mae-johnson-semper-fi/582/|publisher=Legacy.com|access-date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150523001402/http://www.legacy.com/news/legends-and-legacies/opha-mae-johnson-semper-fi/582|archive-date=23 May 2015}} was the first of over 300 women to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve during World War I. She was 39 years old at enlistment.{{cite web |last1=Simkins |first1=J.D. |title=The very few, the proud: 100 years of women in the Marine Corps |url=https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2018/08/13/the-very-few-the-immensely-proud-100-years-of-women-in-the-marine-corps/ |website=Marine Corps Times |access-date=19 September 2019 |date=13 August 2018}}

According to 1918 newspaper articles, as well as the published history of Women Marines in World War I, Johnson's first duties were as a clerk at Headquarters Marine Corps, managing the records of other female reservists who joined after she did. She was promoted to sergeant in September, and was the highest-ranking woman in the Marine Corps during her time in service.{{cite news |last1=Ackerman |first1=2nd Lt. James |title=The first woman Marine |url=https://www.quantico.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/690019/the-first-woman-marine/ |access-date=1 February 2019 |work=Unit News |publisher=Marine Corps Base Quantico |date=10 March 2016}}

On July 11, 1919, the American Legion granted a charter to the first post of women's Marine Corps reservists. Known as Belleau Wood Post No. 1, its membership consisted of 90 women who had worked at Headquarters Marine Corps.{{cite journal|title=Girls in Washington were first in Legion|journal=The Recruiters Bulletin|date=September 1919|volume=8|issue=5|page=18|url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details/United_States_Marine_Corps_Recruiters_bulletin?id=eTtHAQAAIAAJ|access-date=2 January 2015|publisher=United States Marine Corps}} Johnson was a charter member of this post.{{cite news|title=Marinettes here form Legion Post|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1919-06-12/ed-1/seq-21/|access-date=2 January 2015|publisher=Evening Star (Washington D.C.)|date=12 June 1919}}

At the end of World War I the Marine Corps, like all services, began the steady disenrollment of women, including Johnson, from active service. After her brief military career, she became a clerk in the War Department,{{cite web|title=United States Census, 1920|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RNX-4XM?mode=g&i=12&cc=1488411|website=FamilySearch|publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|access-date=8 February 2017}} and worked for the Marine Corps as a civil servant until retiring in 1943.

Marine Corps historians have pointed out that errors concerning Johnson have been circulated and published, the first of which concerns her middle name. Although many have identified the spelling of her middle name as Mae, Johnson spelled her middle name May on her enlistment form.{{cite web|last1=Ellis|first1=Samuel|title=First female Marine, Opha May Johnson's, 95-year legacy|url=http://www.quanticosentryonline.com/news/features/article_804586c6-09c2-11e3-8b86-0019bb30f31a.html|website=Quantico Sentry Online|publisher=Quantico Sentry, BH Media Group Holdings, Inc.|access-date=31 December 2014|date=25 August 2013}}

The second fallacy typically published is her age when she enlisted. Although many report her birth year as 1900, placing her in her late teens at the time of her enlistment, she is known to have been 39 at enlistment.

A third error involves her official photograph. Another well known photograph of three female Marine PFCs (Mary Kelly, May O'Keefe, and Ruth Spike) in 1918, was cropped to show just the center figure and published correctly as being May O'Keefe. At a later date, that cropped picture was erroneously attributed as being Johnson and subsequently used by otherwise reliable sources.:File:OphaMaeJohnson.jpg

Johnson died on August 11, 1955, at Mount Alto Veterans Hospital in Washington, D.C. Services were held at Warner E. Pumphrey Funeral Home on Saturday, August 13, 1955, 37 years to the day from when she stood first in the line of women answering the call to become a U.S. Marine. Buried near her husband and parents in Rock Creek Cemetery, her grave was unmarked.{{cite web|last1=Sheppard|first1=Kathy|title=FUNDRAISER: First Woman Marine – Opha May Johnson Tribute Monument|url=https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fundraiser-first-woman-marine-opha-may-johnson-tribute-monument-tickets-40059025624?aff=eac2|access-date=31 January 2018}} In late 2017 the Women Marines Association began raising funds to place a marker at her burial site.{{cite web|author1=10 November 2017|title=Opha May Johnson Project|date=10 November 2017|url=https://womenmarines.wordpress.com/2017/11/10/opha-may-johnson-project/|publisher=Women Marines Association|access-date=31 January 2018}} On August 29, 2018, she received a grave marker which celebrated 100 years of women in the Marines.

File:Opha May Johnson monument 29 August 2018 01.jpg

In late 2017 the Women Marines Association began raising funds to place a marker at Johnson’s burial site. On August 29, 2018, she received a grave marker which celebrated 100 years of women in the marines.

The Marine training center at Grissom Air Reserve Base was renamed the Sergeant Opha May Johnson Marine Reserve Center on November 10, 2022, which was the 247th anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps. The next day, a monument honoring Johnson was unveiled in Kokomo, Indiana.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tribstar.com/news/features/a-kokomo-native-first-female-marine-honored-at-grissom-air-reserve-base/article_8bd5da4c-5d9f-5341-aa15-b23a261ed983.html|title=A Kokomo native, first female Marine honored at Grissom Air Reserve Base|first=James Bennett III Kokomo|last=Tribune|website=Terre Haute Tribune-Star}}{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/first-female-marine-honored-local-000800991.html|title=First female Marine honored at local American Legion's birthday|website=news.yahoo.com}}

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Category:1878 births

Category:1955 deaths

Category:People from Kokomo, Indiana

Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I

Category:American women in World War I

Category:United States Marine Corps reservists

Category:Female United States Marine Corps personnel

Category:United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers

Category:Military personnel from Indiana