Esther de Berdt Reed (1746-1780) – Born in London, England, de Berdt moved to Philadelphia after marrying American lawyer Joseph Reed in 1770. In 1780, the fifth year of the Revolutionary War, she created the Ladies Association of Philadelphia to raise funds to assist the Continental Army, which had been suffering from food and clothing shortages. Esther strategically invited the wives of influential men to join her effort and published and distributed a broadside entitled, Sentiments of an American Woman to urge more women to help the Continental Army. The Ladies Association became the largest women’s Revolutionary War organization, raising a large sum of money for the army and stitching much-needed shirts for the American soldiers. De Berdt Reed died shortly after creating the Ladies Association, and Sarah Franklin Bache (Benjamin Franklin’s daughter) stepped in to continue her project.