1976
Women Inducted into U.S. Naval Academy
In Annapolis, Maryland, the United States
Naval Academy admits women for the first time in its history with the induction
of 81 female midshipmen. In May 1980, Elizabeth Anne Rowe became the first
woman member of the class to graduate. Four years later, Kristine Holderied
became the first female midshipman to graduate at the top of her class.
The U.S. Naval Academy opened in Annapolis in
October 1845, with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors. Known as the
Naval School until 1850, the curriculum included mathematics, navigation,
gunnery, steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy, and French. The Naval
School officially became the U.S. Naval Academy in 1850, and a new curriculum
went into effect requiring midshipmen to study at the Academy for four years
and to train aboard ships each summer–the basic format that remains at the
academy to this day.