Strong Women: Cathay Williams

Sometimes the title "warrior woman" is more than just a metaphor.

I mentioned Cathay Williams in passing in my piece on New Mexico's Buffalo Soldiers a few weeks ago (and a couple of years ago). Her story is so unique that she deserves her own post.

Her father was a free man, but her mother was enslaved, and so she was born enslaved — in 1844, as nearly as anyone can tell — in Independence, Missouri. It appears she took the name of her birthplace seriously.

She spent her childhood as a "house slave" on a plantation owned by a man named Johnson, in the area of Jefferson City. In 1861, however, when she was seventeen, Union forces arrived in Missouri and took control of Jefferson City. Young Ms. Williams saw an opportunity, and she took it.

The U.S. military was busily pressing young Black men, slaves and former slaves, into service on behalf of the Union. In the U.S., some definitions of "freedom" never change. But freedwomen were regarded as suitable cannon fodder, as well, even though they were relegated to supporting, rather than combat, roles. And seventeen-year-old Cathay Williams was no exception: Because, as a slave, she was property rather than a person, she was now classified as "contraband," giving Union forces the right to seize and dispose of her as they saw fit. That "disposition" turned out the be service in the 8th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

That service was the catalyst by which Cathay Williams became William Cathay, Buffalo Soldier.

Strong Women: Angelina Sanchez and Rosaura Revueltas

Angelina Sanchez
Photo credit: Sanchez family; all rights reserved.

Since today is International Women's Day, it seemed appropriate to incorporate a bit of an international theme. Okay, so it's only two countries, both in North America: the United States and Mexico. But both play a role in this story of two strong women brought together by an important event in New Mexico's history, an event that would wind up testing both in vastly different yet undeniably related ways.

Even if you live in New Mexico, unless you live in a very specific area of the state and have knowledge of a specific incident from more than an half-century ago, you've probably never heard of Angelina G. Sanchez. She was not a native New Mexican, but she moved to the state as a young woman, intent on dedicating herself to protecting the rights of Mexican-American and women workers. She joined the Ladies' Auxiliary of the United Mineworkers of America, and she played a significant role in the UMA's strike against the Empire Zinc Mine in Bayard, New Mexico, in 1951.

Strong Women: Soledad Chávez Chacón

Today, I'd like you to meet one of the most significant people in New Mexico political history that almost no one's ever heard of:  Soledad Chávez Chacón.

Why one of the most important?

Because she was the first Hispanic woman in New Mexico to be elected to statewide office, the first woman in the state to serve as Acting Governor, and the first woman in the entire country to be elected as her state's Secretary of State. In 1922.

Coming Up:

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Later today, I'll have another entry — this one a local-ish one — in my Strong Women series.

This week, watch for more on Indian issues; more New Mexico topics; more on the environment; and another post for someone (known to many of you) who needs our help. Lots to cover this week, in a very small amount of spare time.

And as always, much as I hate it, if you'd like to support coverage of these topics, you know what to do.

Strong Women: Radmilla Cody

March is Women's History Month, so we can expect the usual paeans to the usual pantheon of famous women. I want to use this month to introduce you to some strong, powerful, beautiful women that you've probably never met.

We begin today with Radmilla Cody, GRAMMY-nominated, NAMMY-winning singer from the Navajo Nation. And I do mean "singer" in the fullest Indian sense of the word.

Diné and African American, Ms. Cody has a special perspective on what it means to be a multiracial woman straddling multiple cultures and lifeways, one that I understand (in some ways, all too well). She's a survivor of domestic violence, another issue that is close to my heart for many reasons, and she has become a fierce anti-domestic violence activist. She also does what I will never be able to do if I live to be a thousand: Sing. In the most hauntingly beautiful voice.