Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-04-26
NurseCorps
Planning
Celebration

NURSE corps Will ceiepfate lts
5ist year Wednesday. May
Is. with . tea from 2:sO TO
$50 pm. at the Nurses
Quarters. National Naval
Medical Center.
The Nurses Corps. United
States Navy. was established
by act Of Congress on May
Is, 1908. On August 8 Of that
year Esther Voorhees, Benson
was appointed first superin-
tendent, and by october /,
20 nurses, who later came
to be called the Sacred 20"
had reported to the USN
Hospital here for duty.
Theirs is a proud heritage
dating back to 1911, nine
years before Florence Night
ingale was bornl
A young Navy surgeon, DR..
William Paul Crillon Barton.
who later became the first
chief Of the Nays Bureau
Of Medicine and Surgery.
was commissioned by the
Secretary of the Navy to
submit his recommendations
"for conducting hospitals and
institutions for the sick"
He wrote, THE nurses whose
number should be proper
tionate to the extent Of the
hospital and number Of pa
tients, should be women Of
humane disposition and ten
der manners: active and
healthy and are to at
tend with fidelity and care
upon all the sick committed
to their charge :"
1t Grew and Grew
The Corps has grown since
1909 when there we're A en-
rolled. 1910 saw the first
members to serve outside the
United States in the Philip
pines. Later they went to
Guam, Honolulu, Japan, Sa-
moa, Virgin Islands and
Cuba.
In 1916 the total enroll
ment was 466; in 1918, the
number was 1885, and in
December Of that year the
first nurses regularly assigned
to transport duty reported
aboard the USS George
Washington on which Presi-
dent Wilson went to France.
August. 1920, saw the first
Navy nurses serving aboard
a hospital ship-the USS Re-
lief.
The intervening years gave
the corps time for growth
and greater recognition.
Legislation provided for re-
tirement with pay for mem
berS of the regular Nurse
Corps mourning physical
disability in the line of duty.
When the Japanese cap
tured Guam in 1941 five
nurses were taken prisoners
Of war and sent to a military
prison at zentusji, Japan.
They were returned to the
United States in 1912. That
same year IL nurses were
taken by the Japanese at
Manila. Interned at Santo
Tomas, later moved to Los
Banos, Philippine Islands,
they survived 81 months as
prisoners of war and were
liberated in 1945.
During World War II the
Nurse Corps increased to
11,086. They brought nurs-
ing care to the front lines
aboard IL hospital ships, in
air evacuation of casualties
and to foreign lands where
American women had never
before been seen. When the
surrender was signed aboard
the USS Missouri, nurses
were stationed aboard the
three hospital ships Of the
Sd Fleet waiting to 60 ashore
to administer care to allied
prisoners and evacuate them
from Japan.
Superintendent HOnored
The destroyer USs Hig-
bee, first combat ship to be
named for a woman Of the
service. was launched at
Bath, Me-, in November, 1914,
to honor Lenah S. Higbee,
second superintendent of the
Nurse Corps.
And so it goes down
through the years through
the Korean conflict and the
cold war, the corps has
served the Navy wherever it
may be assigned.
Comdr. Ruth Erickson,
chief of nursing service at
the Naval Hospital. will act
as hostess for the anniversary
and the traditional cake
cutting ceremony. More than
500 are expected to attend,
and this event will be re-
peated all over the country
wherever members of the
corps are stationed.
Lit. Comdr. Ethel Quadrini
has charge of the arrange
with 1t. Margaret
as cochairman, 1t.
Comdr. Aileen E. Lanihan,
invitations; 1t. Comdr. Mar
garet Mackay. reception; 1t. |
Comdr. Margaret O'Neill. re-
freshments. and 1t. Comdr. |