Created equal, a women’s history event set for Aug. 22

Created equal, a women’s history event set for Aug. 22

Published 10:17 pm Sunday, August 16, 2026

What did colonial women do during the Revolutionary War? Not much, you may think.

To help dispel that thought, their story will be the focus of a presentation, “Created Equal — Revolutionary Women’s Stories and Songs,” beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, on the porch at Liberty Hall, Wilkinson Street. All are invited.

Here’s a little about some of the women of that time and their deeds:

We have heard about Betsy Ross sewing the flag and about Martha Washington, just because she was married to George. And maybe a little more about Abigail Adams, but is that all that colonial women were doing?

Let’s see.

How about the woman who protected the family home of Ben Franklin, who was in Europe, when an angry crowd wanted to burn it down?

Oh, or how about the woman who wrote pamphlets and plays to promote the idea of independence from the British? Or the young, enslaved woman who, in her poetry, wrote with such eloquence about Freedom?

Or the intellectual woman who was called the “secret muse of the Bill of Rights”?

How about the Philadelphia-born woman who, while living in England, could talk her way into the homes of the British military leaders, overhear their secrets, and pass them to the American patriots?

Have you ever heard of Sybill Luddington? Probably not. Word is that she rode further than Paul Revere over terrain that was just as dangerous. And she didn’t get caught. She completed her mission.

Her story is disputed now only because it was not reported in a newspaper at the time. Shocking. That wouldn’t be the first or only time that the men running a newspaper ever overlooked the accomplishments of a girl or woman.

Do you know who figured out how to grow indigo in the soils of South Carolina, creating a new cash crop for the colonies? Yep, a woman.

How about those women whose work kept the colonial armies going? Napoleon and others have said that:

An army travels on its stomach!”

Who fed that stomach?

Who washed the lice ridden clothing and cooked the meals? Who tended to the sick and wounded? Were these camp-followers not noble people? We think they were.

When Our KY Women’s History Alliance decided to research Revolutionary War era women for Women’s Equality Day this year, we had no idea we would find so many fascinating women.

Like the young Emily Geiger, who volunteered to pass a message between commanders of Gen. Washington’s army through woods swarming with British soldiers. Her father was a Patriot, so she was trusted.

She was called in by Gen. Nathanael Greene, the message was written and given to her, but also read to her, for she had not been taught to read. It was a message to Gen. Thomas Sumter requesting they combine forces to attack British lieutenant colonel Francis Rawdon’s army.

She took on this dangerous task and was intercepted by the British. But, you see, at that time it was not proper for male soldiers to search a woman. So, while the British were sending for a woman to search her, she ate the message.

And when she searched, there was nothing to find. She completed her task, finding her way to Gen. Sumter’s camp and spoke the message to him absolutely accurately, word-for-word.

How about Mary Katherine Goddard, who was America’s first postmaster. She was also one of the most prominent publishers during the nation’s founding. She was the printer of the Declaration of Independence.

It was a tremendous risk to print that Declaration, now known as the Goddard Broadside, and yet that a woman took risk. Under the large signature of John Hancock, is printed her name. She was not allowed to sign, but without her willingness to print it, how would the work of the Declaration get out?

How about Elizabeth Ellet, the historian who preserved the stories of Emily Geiger and many others.

Or the women who organized and ran the War Widow’s and Orphan’s Home, which became the first social service agency in the new Republic?

And join us for the activities before the presentation.

The March from the Old Capitol to Liberty Hall at 9:30 a.m.

The Liberty Hall Gardens History trail, with coffee and pastries at 10 a.m.

We want to tell you some of these many stories, share what we have found, and inspire you to research further on your own.