Gabrielle Pressley
M.A. Student
advisor:
Leisa Meyer
Current Research:
Women and Gender History, Military History/War and Society, Women in Wartime
Email:
[[gsgranger]]
Bio
Gabrielle is a Williamsburg local who obtained her Bachelor of Arts in History at High Point University in North Carolina. During her time there, she worked as both an academic tutor and supplementary instructor for history courses while also studying secondary education. She graduated cum laude as a member of both Phi Alpha Theta, history honors society, and Kappa Delta Pi, education honors society. Post-graduation, she worked as a high school social studies teacher in Texas and Virginia before returning to Williamsburg. Upon her return, she accepted positions as a historical interpreter at Jamestown Settlement and a storyteller at Colonial Williamsburg before joining the graduate program at William & Mary.Her primary areas of interest include women and gender history, military history as it relates to war and society, and women in wartime. She is particularly interested in how women responded to war and periods of significant social upheaval. She has previously published newspaper articles on the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps, the only black WAC unit sent overseas during the Second World War. During her time at William & Mary, she has researched women who attached themselves to the Continental Army in the American Revolution and will present that work at the 2024 NC State History Graduate Student Conference and Society for Military History Annual Conference. Moving forward, she will continue her research on the Women's Army Corps in World War II and be interning at the U.S. Army Women’s Museum at Fort Gregg-Adams, developing educational programming and assisting with their upcoming “Six-Triple-Eight” exhibit. In addition, she is the history graduate apprentice for The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation, where she assists with various oral history and community outreach efforts. She is also pursuing a graduate certificate in public history through the National Institute for American History and Democracy at William & Mary.
