Pin reading "U.S.A." worn by Lt. Louise Lomax
date: label: Date
content: after 1953
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Unidentified
label: Distributed by
content: United States Army Air Force, American, 1941 - 1947
label: Owned by
content: Louise Virginia Lomax, American, 1920 - 2011
notes: label: Caption
content: Louise Lomax joined the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) as a 2nd Lieutenant in March 1943 and trained as a psychiatric nurse at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. By September 1943 she was stationed at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, home of the Tuskegee Airmen. Lomax remained at Tuskegee during the war, where she was eventually promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
label: Caption
content: After the war, Lt. Lomax went on to serve at Lockbourne Army Air Base in Ohio; Provident Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland; at VA hospitals in Downey, Illinois; and Perry Point, Maryland; and finally at the Army’s Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. Lt. Lomax retired from active duty in March 1949 and transferred to the Reserve Corps, where she served for four years. She was honorably discharged from the ANC in April 1953.Lomax likely wore this veteran pin after her retirement from the ANC. The "U.S.A." indicated her service with the U.S. Army, while the hanging lieutenant bar indicated her 1st Lt. rank at retirement. With the passage of the Army-Navy Nurses Act of 1947, the ANC was established as a permanent corps of the Regular Army. It also enabled nurses to receive permanent commissioned officer status, as opposed to temporary relative rank.
label: Description
content: A non-uniform "U. S. A." pin worn by Lt. Louise Lomax, Army Nurse Corps. The pin is gold with a clasped backing and in the shape of the letters: [U.S.A]. It has a metal lieutenant bar hanging from the letters by two small chains.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Medicine
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Nursing
label: Topic
content: Segregation
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1945-1953
label: Topic
content: Women
label: Topic
content: World War II
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Jewelry and Adornment
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pia Marie Winters Jordan in memory of her mother, First Lieutenant Louise Virginia Lomax Winters, Army Nurse Corps; and her uncle, Sgt. Henry James Lomax, U.S. Army
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2022.42.2.4.5
objectType: label: Type
content: insignias
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown – Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 1 × 7/8 × 3/16 in. (2.5 × 2.2 × 0.5 cm)