Ella Elvira Hobart Gibson: Nineteenth-Century Teacher, Lecturer, Author, Poet, Feminist, Spiritualist, Free Thinker, and America's First Woman Military Chaplain

Despite having died decades earlier, the tenacious spirit of Ella Elvira Gibson prevailed when at last, in 2001, she gained the presidential appointment she initially sought from Abraham Lincoln. Her named was buried in the 384-page National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 signed by P...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:A journal of church and state 2016-03, Vol.58 (1), p.1-37
Main Authors: Stathis, Stephen W., Strizek, Daniel Canfield
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American Civil War
Armed forces
Gibson, Ella Elvira
United States
Women
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Despite having died decades earlier, the tenacious spirit of Ella Elvira Gibson prevailed when at last, in 2001, she gained the presidential appointment she initially sought from Abraham Lincoln. Her named was buried in the 384-page National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 signed by President George W. Bush. By signing, the president posthumously appointed Gibson to the grade of captain in the Chaplains Corps of the Army for service as chaplain to the first Wisconsin Heavy Artillery regiment during the Civil War. Here, Stathis and Strizek discuss Gibson's contribution or unique historic role as America's first woman military chaplain and the only woman to serve in that capacity until 1973.
ISSN:0021-969X
2040-4867
DOI:10.1093/jcs/csu077