Volunteerism - Lighting the Way, Historic Women of the SouthCoast

Florence Eastman

The only woman to enlist in World War I from Mattapoisett, Florence Eastman (1894-1918) became the Head Army Nurse of the Isolation Hospital at Camp Mills, Mineola, Long Island, with 20 nurses and over 100 orderlies under her supervision.

Photograph Of Mary Ann Hayden - An Older Woman With Short Grey Hair And Round Glasses, She Is Wearing A Floral Print Dress

Mary Ann Flanagan Hayden

A “second mother to many South End boys” in New Bedford, Mary Ann Flanagan Hayden (1873-1946) founded the Donaghy Boys Club, becoming the first female director of a Boys Club in America.

Margaret Ryckebusch

Educator and labor leader Margaret A. Duggan Ryckebusch (1940-1998) was a professor, department head, and union leader at Bristol Community College.

Sarah R. Delano

“If you bulldoze your heritage, you become just anywhere,” have become the most repeated words of Sarah R. Delano (1904-1994).

Kathleen Comiskey Roberts

Dartmouth educator and author Kathleen Comiskey Roberts wrote a history for children in 1959 so that students could learn about their town.

Valentina Almeida

The child of Cape Verdean immigrants, Valentina Almeida (1913-2009) is best known for her advocacy work with immigrants within the local Cape Verdean community.