Ruth Cheney Streeter

Ruth Cheney Streeter (October 2, 1895 – September 30, 1990) was an American military officer who was the first director of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve (USMCWR). In 1943, she became the first woman to attain the rank of major in the United States Marine Corps when she was commissioned as a major on January 29, 1943. She retired in 1945 as a lieutenant colonel.

Life and military career Born Ruth Cheney on October 2, 1895, in Brookline, Massachusetts. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1918.

On June 23, 1917, she married Thomas W. Streeter; they went on to have four children. They lived in Morristown, New Jersey, where she was involved in civic affairs, and served as the first woman president of the Morris County, New Jersey Welfare Board.

At the age of 47, Streeter earned her commercial pilot's license, with the intention of joining either the WAVES or the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) as a ferry pilot in the war effort. After being rejected five times by the WASPS on account of her age, however, Streeter chose to give up flying altogether, and instead joined the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve. On January 29, 1943, she was commissioned as a major and appointed director of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve. She was in office on the official creation date of MCWR on February 13, 1943. She was promoted to lieutenant colonel later that year, and breveted to full colonel in 1944. During Streeter's tenure, the Women's Reserve grew to a size of 831 officers and 17,714 enlisted.

In 1947, she was appointed as a member of the New Jersey Constitutional Convention.

Streeter died of congestive heart failure on September 30, 1990, in Morristown, New Jersey. She is buried in Peterborough, New Hampshire.