Kopp Sisters on the March

This fifth installment of the Kopp Sisters series (after Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit) opens with real-life Beulah Binford trying to escape her scandalous past and its ensuing newspaper headlines by enrolling in the National Service School, a training camp in New Jersey for young women who want to help with war duties. The Kopp sisters, led by Norma and her pigeons, arrive at the same time that Beulah does, and both parties quickly realize that their camp’s purpose is more decorative than functional. After an accident catapults Constance into the role of camp matron, the routines at the camp improve, and the sisters each begin to find a new purpose as they learn new skills. Just as Beulah is adjusting to her new life, Fleurette, the youngest Kopp sister, arranges a visit from a vaudeville troupe to entertain the women. The troupe’s arrival means Beulah’s secrets are no longer safe, which forces her and Constance to become unlikely allies against the gendered double standards of 1917.