The Women of the Postage Stamps—Part 5

by Jennifer Uhlarik 

Happy June, everybody! This year of 2026 is nearly half over already, and I’m simply shocked! Aren’t you?

 

Let’s continue with our series on the women who have been featured on the U.S. Postage Stamps. Last month, we left off with stamps issued in 1981. Today, we pick up in the same year with Edna St. Vincent Millay. Millay picked up the pen early in life, writing poetry from childhood until her death. After entering a poem in a contest where one judge prematurely awarded her first prize, then had that award stripped and came in fourth overall, she gained a bit of notoriety. This led to a supporter offering to send her to Vassar College in 1917. Her time there wasn’t exactly peaceful, as Millay refused to live by the code of ethics for young ladies. However, she managed to graduate, and during the 1920s, Millay rose to fame through her lyrical poetry. In 1928, she became the second person (and first woman) to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. During World War II, she joined the Writers’ War Board, where she wrote propaganda for the American war effort. Her fame as a poet took a hit because of this, though Millay didn’t allow that to stop her. She died in 1950 after breaking her neck due to a fall down the stairs in her home.

 

Our next lady of the stamp is Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Before she became a renowned in other ways, Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrickson competed in and won sewing competitions, as well as made some professional music recordings. Her major claim to fame, though, was as an amateur athlete in multiple sports. While working as a secretary for an insurance company, Babe was allowed to compete on the company’s amateur team in basketball. She was named an All-American athlete for her work on this team three years in a row, and in 1932 they even competed in the championship. During the same timeframe, she represented the same company in the 1932 Amateur Athletic Union Championships, where she entered eight of ten events and won first place in five of them. Later the same year, she represented the United States in track and field events in the Summer Olympics, where she brought home three medals—two golds and a silver. She also competed in baseball, bowling, billiards…but her greatest claim to fame was in golf. Babe Zaharias was the first woman to ever compete in a regular PGA tournament, was a founding member of the LPGA when it was created a few years after she took up the sport, and was said by New York Times writer Charles McGrath that “Except for perhaps Arnold Palmer, no golfer has ever been more beloved by the gallery.”

 

Dr. Mary Walker is the next woman featured on a postage stamp, this time in 1982. I’ve written about Dr. Walker before, so if you’d like more information on her, please refer to my earlier post here. She was an abolitionist, a Civil War surgeon, a prisoner of war for four months during 1864, received a medal of honor, and fought for women’s suffrage and many other things after the war’s end.

 

In 1982, Dorothea Dix earned her place in postal history due to her work for the poor and indigent mentally ill. It was during a stay in Europe during the 1830s that Dix first became aware of the plight of the mentally ill. After returning to America, she began to investigate how the mentally ill were treated when they had no family who could or would take care of them. In Massachusetts, she found that many were locked away in the darkest basement cells in prisons or almshouses, relegated to the areas reserved for the worst criminals. The air was often putrid and foul, with no light by which to see. After presenting her findings to the state legislature, she moved on to a similar task in New Jersey, Illinois, North Carolina, and many other states. All told, her efforts resulted in opening thirty-two mental hospitals in various states, as well as schools for children with learning disabilities, schools for the blind, and nursing schools.

 

Next up is Pearl S. Buck, a renowned novelist best known for The Good Earth, which earned her a Pulitzer Prize. Raised by her missionary parents in China, Buck spent much of her life in this country, developing a deep love for it and its people. Many of her writings focused on her experiences in China and Japan. After moving back to the United States, Buck spent her later years advocating for the adoption of mixed-race children from other countries. She began the first foster home for such children, located next to her own home—and when it quickly became too crowded for simply fostering these kids, she turned it into the first international adoption agency. She also started orphanages in various other countries.

 

As we wind down our post for today, let’s take a look at Lillian M. Gilbreath, who was featured on a postage stamp in 1984. This interesting lady was mother two twelve children, and also both a psychologist and an industrial engineer. Along with her husband Frank, she paired her two areas of expertise to do studies on how workers used machinery and find ways to streamline those machines to make them more productive. She and Frank were on the cutting edge of this burgeoning industry of “industrial and organizational psychology” (a precursor to our modern-day ergonomics). The husband and wife team worked with many large companies like Macy’s and Johnson & Johnson, and after Frank’s death, Lillian continued her business. She also found ways to streamline the tasks of the typical housewife to make her household chores and duties faster, so that she could seek work outside the home. In that vein, Lillian is credited with created the “work triangle” setup of many modern kitchens. Two of her children—Frank Jr. and Ernestine—wrote two humorous books about life in the Gilbreath family. You’ll certainly recognize at least one of the titles. They were Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes.

 

It’s Your Turn: Which of the women who were honored with their own stamp do you find the most memorable, and why?

 

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered western novels at twelve when she swiped the only “horse” book from her brother’s bookshelf. Across the next decade, she devoured westerns and fell in love with the genre. While attaining a B.A. in writing from the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. She has finaled in and won numerous writing competitions and appeared on various best-seller lists. Besides writing, she’s been a business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, a historical researcher, a publisher, and a full-time homemaker. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband and fur children.

 

Available Now: Love and Order: A Three-Part Old West Romantic Mystery

 

Wanted: 

Family, Love, and Justice

One Old West Mystery Solved Throughout Three Short Romantic Stories

Separated as children when they were adopted out to different families from an orphan train, the Braddock siblings have each grown up and taken on various jobs within law enforcement and criminal justice.

 

Youngest child, Callie, has pushed past her insecurities to pursue a career as a Pinkerton agent. Middle child, Andi, has spent years studying law under her adoptive father’s tutelage. And the eldest and only son, Rion, is a rough-and-tumble bounty hunter. 

 

When the hunt for a serial killer with a long history of murders reunites the brother and sisters in Cambria Springs, Colorado, they find themselves not only in a fight for justice, but also a fight to keep their newly reunited family intact. How will they navigate these challenges when further complicated by unexpected romances?

 

 

 

 

Who's Insane? By Nancy J. Farrier

 I read something recently about the insane asylums in the 1800s and early 1900s that sparked my interest. I decided to see why women were sent to asylums. The answer shocked and saddened me for the many women who had no choice but to do what the men in their lives dictated—which included being committed for reasons beyond their control.

Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, New York City
Public Domain

 

In the 1800s, many doctors considered women insane because they had female reproductive organs. Being able to bear a child was a count against women already. If they disagreed with their husband and stood up for their opinion, a doctor would have no problem signing them into an asylum and putting a label such as childbirth, or overexertion.

 

In ancient Egypt, it was thought women had a “wandering uterus” that could attach itself to various body parts as it moved around in the body. In Greece, this was called “hysteria.” This phenomenon was thought to cause insanity in women by nature of their gender.

 

Toledo State Hospital for the Insane, 1895
Donated by Toledo-Lucas County Public Library      
Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Women who suffered from post-partum depression in today’s culture, would have been committed for “insanity from childbirth.” One woman was diagnosed insane after giving birth to her first child. She then worried too much about the safety of the baby and had an episode where she was disoriented and unable to function properly. Instead of helping, she was consigned to an institution.

 

The gynecologists and psychiatrists of the day had no real training in women’s issues. They didn’t know or understand the body or the mind and often trusted in old beliefs that held no truth. Most women were institutionalized for one of the following: mental excitement, domestic troubles, religious fantasy, heredity, childbirth, overexertion, and the most common, “insanity by unknown causes.” 

 

The Interior of Bedlam, A Rake's Progress              
by William Hogarth
Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

It was common for women to be committed for overexertion. Those women often had 7 or 8 children and a household to keep running. They were expected to do all the meals, raise the garden, do the laundry (an all day job), make many of the domestic items used such as clothing, and many other tasks. Was it any wonder they were overly tired?

 

Husbands had the power to institutionalize their wives. The Law of Coverture meant that the wife’s husband had total control over her and all her goods. While a man would have to go through court to be committed, a husband simply had to show up at the asylum with his wife to have her held there against her will. She had no recourse but to obey, since this was a forced incarceration. The doctor on hand would admit her simply on the testimony of her husband. If the woman was not married, the male head of her family had the power over her. Once at the asylum, women were kept under control through sedation and other drugs that left them disoriented. 

Elizabeth Packard
Public Domain
Wikipedia Commons

 

There are many famous cases of women being committed unfairly. Elizabeth Packard is one example. Her husband had her committed because she disagreed with his religious views. She was at the asylum for three years and suffered much. In the end, she had her day in court and was declared sane. She went on to fight for women’s rights and to bring light to the atrocities happening in the asylums. (You can read more about Elizabeth here in one of our earlier posts here.)

Many women have fought hard to come out from under these misbegotten beliefs. Dorothea Dix visited asylums in the 1840s, and appalled at the conditions, lobbied for years to get better regulations. Others like Elizabeth Packard brought awareness to light and did much good for the plight of those women.

 

Nellie Bly, 1890
Photo by H.J. Myers
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons  

In 1887, journalist Nellie Bly went undercover as a patient at a New York City asylum. Her shocking expose, titled Ten Days in a Madhouse, not only boosted Nellie’s career but also brought about important changes to institutions for mental health. Slowly, the conditions improved, although they were still deplorable.

 

We can be thankful that our lives are much better today. However, whenever I hear about a woman being hysterical, I have to remember what that Greek term stood for and wonder what they are saying about that person. I am thankful that doctors today are much more knowledgeable and understand women better, even if there is room for improvement.

 

Have you ever read anything about insane asylums in the 1800s? Have you read any of Nellie Bly’s work? You can find her book, Ten Days in a Madhouse here. 

While researching this topic, I had to stop and think about which of those symptoms I might have. Overexertion? Religious fantasies? (Sometimes, this was simply having a differing opinion.) What about you? Are there any that stood out to you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Nancy J Farrier is an award-winning, best-selling author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats and dog, and spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.