Deborah Sampson: podcast appearances and interviews

Deborah Sampson Gannett, born in Plympton, Massachusetts, was a woman who disguised herself as a man to serve in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Under the name Robert Shirtliff, she served for seventeen months before her sex was discovered in 1783 after she required medical treatment while in Philadelphia. Following her discharge at West Point, she married Benjamin Gannett in 1785. In 1802, she became one of the earliest women to undertake a lecture tour, sharing her experiences from the war. Her contributions and bravery have been recognized officially; she was proclaimed the Official Heroine of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1983 and was awarded the Commemorative Medal by the United States Capitol Historical Society in 1985. Deborah Sampson died of yellow fever in Sharon, Massachusetts, in 1827. Her life exemplifies courage and pioneering spirit, and her story remains an enduring part of American history.