Lenah Higbee
Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (born May 18, 1874 in Chatham , New Brunswick , Canada , † January 10, 1941 in Winter Park , Florida , United States ) was the superintendent of the United States Navy Nurse Corps from 1911 to 1922 .
Born as Lenah H. Sutcliffe, the woman trained as a nurse at the New York Postgraduate Hospital in 1899 and shortly afterwards entered a private medical practice. Lenah Higbee trained at Fordham Hospital, New York City in 1908 and was one of the first women to join the newly formed US Navy Nurse Corps. These twenty women, later referred to as "The Sacred Twenty" in the Navy, were the first women to formally serve in the United States Navy.
In April 1909, Higbee was promoted to Chief Nurse at the Norfolk Naval Hospital. Higbee, meanwhile widowed by Lieutenant Colonel John Henley Higbee, was transferred to the position of Superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in 1911 . She became the successor to the first superintendent Esther Hasson . In this position, she led the US Navy Nurse Corps during the First World War . When she was awarded the Navy Cross in 1918 in recognition of her service , she was the first living woman to receive the honor. On November 23, 1922, she said goodbye to the military.
She was buried in Arlington National Cemetery after her death . When the warship USS Higbee (DD-806) named after her entered service in 1945 , it was the first warship in the United States to be named after a member of the Navy Nurse Corps.
literature
- Doris M. Sterner: In and Out of Harm's Way. A history of the Navy Nurse Corps . Peanut Butter Publishing, Seattle WA 1997, ISBN 0-89716-706-6 .
- Susan H. Godson: Serving Proudly. A history of Women in the US Navy . Naval Institute Press et al., Annapolis MD et al. 2001, ISBN 1-55750-317-6 .
Web links
- Photos by Lenah Higbee at history.navy.mil (engl.)
- Nurses and the US Navy - overview and image selection at the Naval Historical Center, at history.navy.mil
- Biography on the website of the National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery (Engl.)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Esther Voorhees Hasson |
Superintendent of the US Navy Nurse Corps 1911–1918 |
Josephine Beatrice Bowman |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Higbee, Lenah |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Higbee, Lenah H. Sutcliffe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chief Nurse of the US Navy Nurse Corps |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 18, 1874 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chatham , New Brunswick , Canada |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 10, 1941 |
| Place of death | Winter Park , Florida , United States |