Cathay Williams was born as a slave in 1844 in a Jackson County shotgun cabin.

In 1861, a fierce war broke out in the United States and Cathay bravely wanted to help.

When she was 17, she changed her name to William Cathy and fooled everyone into believing she was man.

The only person that knew she was a female in the Union Army, was one of her friends and her cousin.

Cathay was able to trick everyone for almost two years before her true gender was found out by a post doctor.

Cathay was then honorably discharged but that didn't stop her from her fighting.

She then Volunteered in the black army group called, The Buffalo Soldiers and kept fighting for her rights.

Cathay Williams, then began to work as a seamstress in her later years after serving as a soldier.

Cathay Williams then died at the age of Eighty-Two, in 1893. After her death she was honored with a statue of her located in Kansas City.