“This Day in Navy Medicine History” is a periodic feature highlighting acts of heroism, important innovations and notable milestones in the history of our Medical Department.
13 May 1908. President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Naval Appropriations Bill that authorized the establishment of the Nurse Corps as a unique component of the Navy. Applications to the Nurse Corps were sent to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery from around the nation. Candidates were required to travel to Washington, DC, at their own expense and take an oral and written examination. The nucleus of this new Nurse Corps was a superintendent (Esther Hasson), a chief nurse (Lenah Higbee), and 18 other women—all would forever be remembered as the “Sacred Twenty.” Applicants to the Navy Nurse Corps were required to be graduates of a two-year hospital training program with clinical experience in the care of medical and surgical patients and patients with contagious diseases. Original public domain image from Flickr