Who is Martha Settle Putney from The Greatest Generation and what is their importance?

Martha Settle Putney is one of eight children born in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She obtains a master's degree in history from Howard University in Washington DC and works as a statistical clerk for the War Manpower Commission and then enlists in the WACs. As a black woman, she experienced a great deal of discrimination and is instrumental in having a black band on base and allowing blacks to use the base swimming pool. After the war, she marries Bill Putney and has a son. When Bill dies in 1965 she obtains a PhD in history from the University of Pennsylvania and teaches at Bowie State College and then at Howard University. After retirement, she works as a volunteer at the Smithsonian.