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Overview:

American Women had a lot of influential work during World War One on both the home front and on the warfront. There were many important roles that American women took, as well as working for the Armed Forces, in factories, and as nurses for the war.

Influential Women in World War One:

Julia Hunt Catlin Park DePew Taufflieb:

The first American woman to be awarded the French Croix de Guerre and Legion d’honneur, because she had transformed her mansion into a hospital near the front lines of battle in France. The hospital held 300 beds, and its location was prime for aiding wounded troops. She inspired many other Americans to join the war effort by opening up their own hospitals. This is a woman who worked with the privilege and money she had to help the Ally powers during the war.

Jane Arminda Delano:

Jane worked as an army nurse during the Spanish-American war, and continued her work with the Red Cross after that time. During World War I, Jane stayed on the homefront and organized nurses to go overseas and work with wounded soldiers. She was in charge of over 20,000 nurses, who all worked in vital roles overseas in the war. In 1918, Jane went to Europe to attend a nursing conference and to continue her work. However, she fell ill there and passed away in 1919. Because of her illnesses, she could not work as much as she liked, and her last words were “I must get back to my work”. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the Secretary of the US Army.

Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee:

A Canadian-born US Army nurse, Lenah was the first woman for which a US Naval Ship was named. Lenah was one of the first twenty women to join the Navy Nurse Corps in 1908. She rose through the ranks and served as the second Superintendent of the US Navy Nurse Corps during World War I. She was one of four women to be awarded the Navy Cross, and the only one out of the four to be alive at the time of receiving the award. After her death in 1941, the USS Higbee, a US Naval warship, was commissioned in 1945.

Edith Wharton:

Edith was an American woman who lived in France for many years. She was a writer and recorded many aspects of France during the war. She opened up workshops in 1914 where woman could make clothing to support the war effort. She also worked with many of the displaced people who came to France during the war. About helping the refugees she said: “The worst of doing good is that it makes one forget how to do anything more interesting”. Edith called out America for not doing as much to help during the war, and it was clear that she was passionate about the war effort.

Mary Borden:

Mary was the daughter of a Chicago millionaire, who used her inheritance to create a mobile hospital for the French military. She wrote about her experiences in the war and on the warfront, providing a lot of literary sources for the war. In France, Mary also served as a nurse on the front line, and worked as the head of the biggest war hospital during the battle of Somme. Mary was awarded with medals for her bravery during the First World War, and also ran hospitals during the Second World War.

Women in the Navy in WWI:

With the Naval Act of 1916, there was a loophole present that allowed women to enlist in the Navy. And so they did, and on March 19th, 1917, women were beginning to be recruited into the Navy. They were able to become radio operators, nurses, chauffeurs, and working on the industrial line. Most of the women who joined the navy at that time became yeomen, which are people who perform clerical work and do most of the behind the scenes actions for the Navy. Women donned uniforms for the Navy, and at the end of their time received discharge papers like those who also served. Many women worked in call centers and managed communications abroad, and would occasionally be faced with combat situations.

Women on the home front:

Women who did not enlist in the Navy or travel abroad to work as nurses still had work to do at home. They joined the workforce, and many women worked in factories helping the war efforts. Those who remained at home also had a huge influence on the war effort, and without women stepping into what had been traditionally mens roles, the war effort could not have been supported as much.

Army Nurse Corps:

Before the war, there were only 403 women in the Army Nurse Corps. However, by 1917, there were over 20,000 United States women who went abroad to serve as nurses near battlefields. Women were stationed sometimes right near battlefields, and saw combat situations as well as working as nurses for the injured soldiers, some of whom were brutally injured. These women worked long hours and often got sick because of that. Without the Army Nurse Corps, these would have been many more lives lost in the war.