Three female graduates were among the 65 or so who made up the July 1946 Legion College class: Wilma Gray of Arkansas, Jessie Karstad of Idaho and Vivian Watson of Indiana. When the National Headquarters program to help teach new member veterans about The American Legion first debuted, two terms were held each year.

An exhibit in the fourth-floor library of National Headquarters in Indianapolis displays Legion College memorabilia from the 1940s to today: photographs, pins and coins, magazine articles, and even copies of the 1940s-era Legion College newsletter Debris. The exhibit will be open during Fall Meetings in October. The 2013 Legion College will be Oct. 26-Nov. 1; the Internal Affairs Division estimates that about 20 percent of current-day students are women.