Women in Military Service for America Foundation (U.S.)

The Women in Military Service for American Memorial Foundation (WIMSA) was founded to promote the building of a monument at the Arlington National Cemetery to honor all women who have served in the U. S. military. The site at the Ceremonial Entrance to the cemetery was approved in 1988. A design by Marion Gail Weiss and to restore and transform the gateway was approved in November. Ground was broken in 1995 and the memorial was opened to the public in October 1997.

In January 1990 Doris Brander, a naval veteran from Avon, Montana, began the campaign for Montana participation in the work of the foundation. She got the Governor, the seven Indian Reservations, and the 56 counties to pass resolutions in support. She then recruited an army of volunteers to document as many of the estimated 4800 female veterans in Montana as possible. The volunteers copied discharge papers from county records, enlistment records from the Adjutant General's records at the Montana Historical Society, and appealed to friends and relatives of veterans to provide information.

Brander also encouraged Montana women veterans to submit their names for inclusion in the records at the monument in Washington.

From the description of Women in Military Service for America Foundation records, 1945-1996. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 216724685

The Women in Military Service for American Memorial Foundation (WIMSA) was founded to promote the building of a monument at the Arlington National Cemetery to honor all women who have served in the U. S. military. The site at the Ceremonial Entrance to the cemetery was approved in 1988. A design by Marion Gail Weiss and Michael Manfredi to restore and transform the gateway was approved in November 1989. Ground was broken in 1995 and the memorial was opened to the public in October 1997.

In January 1990 Doris Brander, a veteran from Avon, Montana, began the campaign for Montana participation in the work of the foundation. She got the Governor, the seven Indian Reservations, and the 56 counties to pass resolutions in support. She then recruited an army of volunteers to document as many of the estimated 4800 female veterans in Montana as possible. The volunteers copied discharge papers from county records, enlistment records from the Adjutant General's records at the Montana Historical Society, and appealed to friends and relatives of veterans to provide information.

Brander also encouraged Montana women veterans to submit their names for inclusion in the records at the monument in Washington.

From the guide to the Women in Military Service for American Foundation records, 1990-1996, (Montana Historical Society Research Center)