Second Lieutenant bar insignia worn by Lt. Louise Lomax
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1943
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: During World War II, 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. For her war service she was awarded a World War II Victory Medal and an American Campaign Medal.
label: Caption
content: The Army originally denied African American nurses entry into the ANC at the start of the war. However, pressure from the NACGN, as well as political and civil rights organizations, forced them to rescind this policy, although they instituted strict enlistment quotas. By the end of the war, only approximately 500 Black nurses had been allowed to serve compared to approximately 59,000 white nurses. Because of segregation in the Army, Black nurses served in segregated units and were limited to caring for African American soldiers and prisoners of war. Even under these restrictions, African American nurses served with distinction at home and abroad, including in Africa, England, Burma, and the Southwest Pacific.
label: Description
content: A Second Lieutenant bar military insignia pin worn by Lt. Louise Lomax as part of Army Nurse Corps uniform. The insignia pin is a rectangular bar of bronze-colored metal. The bronze is heavily tarnished and most of it has been removed.
place: label: Place used
content: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
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: Tuskegee Airmen
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: Awards, Medals, and Insignia
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: 2022.42.2.1.4
objectType: label: Type
content: insignias
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No known copyright restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 5/16 × 7/8 × 3/16 in. (0.8 × 2.2 × 0.4 cm)