Sunday, November 11, marked two very important dates. Not only was it Veterans Day, but also Armistice Day and the day that marked the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
World leaders signed an armistice on Nov. 11, 1918, ending the four-year war that killed millions. It wasn't only men who risked their lives for the war effort, but also many women.
"This first thing that everyone should realize is that women played a very large role in WWI," said Dr. Marcia Goldstein, a historian with the Center for Colorado Women's History. Many women from Colorado dedicated their lives to the war effort.
"In Colorado, women were very diverse in their contributions to the war effort here locally. Everything from medical services, to raising money, war bonds, raising support for the troops that were going overseas," Goldstein said. "And something that people just really don't realize is that there are a number of women that did actually go to the frontlines in World War I, in France and Germany and other European countries."
A look back at Colorado womens' role in World War I
Josephine Evans was one of those women.
"[Evans] was helping with the Red Cross and like many other women who went overseas... Everything from bandage rolling to driving ambulances to providing any kind of assistance or help in the hospitals there," Goldstein explained. "Josephine was a perfect example that we can draw from in showing what women's role even here in Denver, Colorado how important it was overseas."
Josephine Evans lived in the Byers-Evan House, which is now a museum, in downtown Denver at the corner of Bannock Street and West 13th Avenue. She lived there along with Anne Evans, another Colorado woman who played a large role in the war effort.
"[Evans] was very instrumental in a lot of civic affairs in Denver already, including starting the Art Museum and the Central City Opera, and lots of cultural activities, but she turned that talent that she had to organize people around cultural activities into organizing women to support the war effort," Goldstein continued. "She was instrumental in encouraging people to plant what they called Liberty Gardens, where people would grow food in their yards, or the parks, as part of the war effort. She was very, very instrumental in the fundraising activities."
The Evans family's accomplishments are highlighted at the Byers-Evans House Museum.
You can learn a lot about what they did during the war, and about their lives surrounding that time.
Two Denver women dedicated their lives to the WWI effort
Many other Colorado women who helped with the war effort are also featured at the museum.
"We talk about Helen Ring-Robinson who was the first women's state senator," said Jillian Allison, the director of the Byers-Evans House Museum. "We have a number of women that you may recognize like Margaret Brown, Molly Brown, Josephine Rouch, other Colorado women who you may know from other things, but who were also influential during World War I."
All efforts Goldstein said helped pave the way for women's rights.
"Like many other wars people gain a certain amount of equality by serving their country and this is what women were hoping for and actually accomplished," Goldstein said.
About two years after the war ended, the 19th Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote.
"I'm hoping that people will look at what women were able to contribute in a time of war and see that as a resource in all aspects of society," said Goldstein.