On a busy stretch of Canal Street in New Orleans, under the shade of old live oaks, stands a woman in uniform. Locals call her Molly Marine. She has been there since 1943, and she was the first statue in the United States to show a woman in military service uniform. Her story is also the story of how women first earned their place in the Marine Corps, a history worth knowing whether your son or daughter is heading to boot camp or already wears the uniform.
Quick Facts About Molly Marine
- Location: Canal Street at Elk Place, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Sculptor: Enrique Alférez, a Mexican-born artist who lived and worked in New Orleans
- Dedicated: November 10, 1943, the Marine Corps birthday
- Purpose: To help recruit women into the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during World War II
- Inscription: “Free a Marine to Fight”
- Distinction: The first statue of a woman in service uniform erected in the United States
- Replicas: Bronze copies stand at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Quantico, Virginia
Before Molly: Opha Mae Johnson and the First Women Marines
Women served in the Marine Corps a full generation before Molly Marine was carved. During World War I, the Corps needed people to handle clerical and administrative work so more men could go to the front in France. On August 13, 1918, Opha Mae Johnson became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve. She was reportedly first in line at the recruiting office, and by the end of the war she had reached the rank of sergeant.
Johnson and the women who joined after her served mostly in offices, but their work mattered. They proved that women could meet the Corps’ standards and keep the institution running. When the war ended, their service ended too, and it would take another world war before women were welcomed back.
World War II and the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve
On February 13, 1943, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Thomas Holcomb, announced the creation of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. Its first director was Ruth Cheney Streeter, who led the organization until December 1945. At its peak, the Women’s Reserve numbered roughly 18,500 women: 831 officers and 17,714 enlisted Marines.
The idea behind the program was summed up in its recruiting slogan: “Free a Marine to Fight.” Every woman who took over a stateside job as a clerk, mechanic, radio operator, driver, or instructor allowed another Marine to deploy to the Pacific. Recruiters needed a way to get that message in front of young women across the country, and in New Orleans, one recruiter had an idea.
How Molly Marine Was Made
A local Marine recruiter named Charles Gresham wanted something more lasting than a poster. He commissioned Enrique Alférez, a sculptor who had moved to New Orleans in 1929, to create a statue of a woman Marine that could stand in a public place and inspire others to serve. Alférez donated his work on the project.
Wartime rationing created a problem. Bronze and other metals were needed for the war effort, so Alférez could not cast the figure the traditional way. Instead he used a cement mixture with crushed granite and marble chips. The result is a figure dressed in the Women’s Reserve uniform, holding a clipboard in one hand, with a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck. Her gaze is lifted upward, giving her a look of quiet determination.
The statue was unveiled on November 10, 1943, the 168th birthday of the Marine Corps. The base carries the same words that drove the recruiting campaign: “Free a Marine to Fight.”
Why the Statue Mattered
Statues of soldiers and sailors were common in American towns by the 1940s, but they almost always showed men. Molly Marine changed that. She told every woman who walked past that service in the Marine Corps was open to her, and that her contribution was worth honoring in stone.
Over the decades, the statue has needed care. In 1998, the Marine Corps League, a Marine support group in New Orleans, and the Women Marines Association formed the Molly Marine Restoration Society to look after her. In the late 1990s, a mold was taken from the original, and bronze replicas were placed at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and at Quantico, Virginia. That means many women who train at Parris Island today pass a copy of the same figure that once helped recruit their predecessors.
The Molly Marine Award
The statue also gave its name to an honor. The Molly Marine Award was approved in 1969 to recognize outstanding women Marines, including top graduates of recruit training. The award is a small statuette modeled on the original figure, and it remains a meaningful tradition among women Marines and the organizations that support them.
What Molly Marine Means for Your Family
If your daughter is preparing for boot camp, she is joining a line of service that runs from Opha Mae Johnson in 1918, through the thousands of women of the World War II Women’s Reserve, to the women who train and lead Marines today. Women now train at both Parris Island and San Diego and serve across the Corps. The title they earn is the same one every Marine earns.
Even if your recruit is a son, Molly Marine is part of the heritage he will be asked to learn and respect. Marine Corps history is taught at boot camp because it reminds new Marines that they did not start the story; they are continuing it. Sharing this history at home, or making a stop at the statue if you are ever in New Orleans, is a simple way to show your recruit you understand what they are becoming part of.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Molly Marine statue located?
The original statue stands on the neutral ground at Canal Street and Elk Place in New Orleans, Louisiana. Bronze replicas are located at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina and at Quantico, Virginia.
Who was the first woman to join the Marine Corps?
Opha Mae Johnson enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on August 13, 1918, making her the first woman Marine. She served during World War I and rose to the rank of sergeant.
Why wasn’t Molly Marine made of bronze?
During World War II, metals like bronze were restricted because they were needed for the war effort. Sculptor Enrique Alférez used a cement mixture containing granite and marble chips instead.
What does “Free a Marine to Fight” mean?
It was the recruiting slogan of the World War II Women’s Reserve. Women took over stateside jobs so that the Marines who had been doing those jobs could be sent to combat units overseas.