American Red Cross nursing during World War I: Opportunities and obstacles

The United States formally became involved in World War I with their declaration of war in April of 1917. While historians have documented institutional histories, experiences of elite nurses like Jane Delano who worked during this time, and some on the role of the Red Cross as an institution, little attention has been given to the role of the American Red Cross (ARC) rank-and-file nurse during World War I. This dissertation addresses that historical gap, examining the opportunities that war offered some American women. It also examines the obstacles faced by lower-class and African American women as they volunteered to participate in the war efforts, but were excluded on the basis of their class and race. The documented experience of Camilla Louise Wills, a Caucasian upper-class Southern ARC nurse who served with the University of Virginia Base Hospital ;Numerous primary sources used in this project included the diaries and personal correspondences of Misses Hastings, Cozous-Walker, Starr, Edgars, Brown, and Manning held by the Imperial War Museum, London, England, issues of the Alumnae Magazine of the Johns Hopkins Nurses featuring stories of nurses working with Base Hospital ;Even with their training, ARC rank-and-file nurses were ill-prepared to deal with the injuries sustained by soldiers from advanced weaponry including mustard gas. Despite their lack of preparedness for the situations of war, they overcame many challenges including scarcity of personnel, pandemic influenza, decreased the morbidity and mortality of American troops, and advanced the science and practice of nursing with the use of technology.