Snapshot taken by Lt. Metter, India, ca. 1944. National Museum of American Jewish History, 2012.33.120, Gift of Martha G. Metter Fritz.

Virtual Installation

Military Nursing During WWII

Over 70,000 women served our nation as military nurses during World War II – including Jewish women from all over America.

About Artifact Highlights Press In Memory of D. Walter Cohen z"l Explore

"I Shall Appear Fearless..." - Pledge of the Army Nurse

For generations, sick or injured patients were nursed back to health by family members—often the women of the household. This role moved out of the home and into the professional sphere during military conflicts. Nearly 23,000 military nurses served in the First World War. Their legendary dedication, along with increasingly rigorous scientific and medical training, earned new respect for the field of nursing.

During World War II, even more nurses served: over 70,000. Their experiences were in some ways similar to today: most Americans spend far less time with physicians than with the nurses who listen to their symptoms, chart their progress, perform many procedures, and advocate for their best care. In World War II, military nurses received officer’s commissions along with free education and dependent and retirement benefits. They also found themselves closer to the front lines than ever before. Join us as we explore the stories of three Jewish nurses who answered the call.

All images, unless otherwise indicated, are from the collection of the National Museum of American Jewish History.

Right Image:

American Red Cross poster
Washington, DC: Office of War Information, ca. 1944
UNT Libraries Government Documents Department

Artifact Highlights

Scroll to the right and click each of the thirteen artifacts to learn more.

Prayer Book

New York, New York, 1943

Organized days after the United States entered World War I, the National Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) ministered to the spiritual needs of Jewish armed forces personnel by supplying prayer books like this one, as well as Bibles and Jewish calendars. The JWB also recruited Jewish chaplains and arranged for kosher food in barracks. Gift of Martha G. Metter Fritz, 2012.33.48

Cherry Ames: Army Nurse

by Helen Wells

New York, New York, 1944

The daughter of Jewish immigrants Henrietta and Henry Weinstock, Helen Wells published the first in a series of young adult novels about a mystery-solving nurse named Cherry Ames in 1943. Reflecting on Miss Ames’s military experience, the narrator of Cherry Ames: Army Nurse confided that, “for all the tragic things she saw, there was no horror … she only felt, more strongly than ever before, the glory, the beauty almost, of the service she could give.”

Lt. Minnie Kauffmann

ca. 1944

Many parents worried that nursing was not respectable employment for young ladies because it required contact with male patients in an unchaperoned environment. Nevertheless, thousands of young women like Minerva Kauffman entered nursing school during the Depression, when the need for a nurse’s expertise helped keep many employed. Gift of Marlene Guss and Stephen M. Vineberg Family, 2018.2.7

Army Nurse Corps Cloak

worn by Lt. Minnie Kauffman

1944

In the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI), soldiers were preparing for a planned invasion of Japan through China. Lt. Kauffman treated American soldiers – more than half of them African American – as well as Chinese, British, Indian, and African troops, and local tribespeople employed by the military. She quickly learned to work around language barriers and cultural differences. Gift of Marlene Guss and Stephen M. Vineberg Family, 2018.2.2

“Jungle Hospital”

by Howard Baer

Burma, 1944

American medical personnel in the China-Burma-India Theater encountered diseases and conditions they never saw in the United States – scrub typhus, diphtheria, tropical ulcers, and venomous snakebites – as well as injuries from plane crashes and battles in Japanese-occupied Burma. Courtesy of Army Art Collection, U.S. Army Center of Military History

Army Nurse Corps

Lt. Martha G. Metter (bottom left) and fellow nurses

ca. 1944

After fulfilling a childhood dream to train as a nurse, Martha Goldie Metter enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps without hesitation. Her first assignment: supervising the 69th General Hospital – a sprawling, muddy array of tents and thatched buildings near an Indian village. Lt. Metter treated illnesses and injuries suffered on the Ledo Road, a thoroughfare for troops and supplies headed from India to China. Gift of Martha G. Metter Fritz, 2012.33.147

Army Nurse Corps uniform

worn by Lt. Martha Metter

ca. 1944

After the war, Metter earned a Bachelor of Science degree specializing in pediatrics and public health from Simmons College and Boston University. She raised a family, worked as a public school nurse for decades, and reached out to women in need of healthcare for Planned Parenthood. Gift of Martha G. Metter Fritz, 2012.33.1

Army Nurse Corps member

photographed by Lt. Martha Metter

Margherita, India, ca. 1944

With a shortage of doctors in the area, Lt. Metter sometimes had to make the difficult decision to transport severely sick or wounded soldiers on a dangerous journey to better-equipped hospital ships in the Bay of Bengal. Gift of Martha G. Metter Fritz, 2012.33.145

Villagers

photographed by Lt. Martha Metter

Margherita, India, ca. 1944

Gift of Martha G. Metter Fritz, 2012.33.143

Carlisle Model First Aid Packet

Johnson & Johnson

ca. 1943

Gift of Jeffrey and Joan Ollendorf in memory of Dr. Paul Lieberman, 2007.12.7

Cadet Nurse Beverly Mach

Syracuse, New York

ca. 1943

Fresh out of high school, Beverly Mach left Central New Jersey’s farmland behind to join the Cadet Nurse Corps, a federal program established in 1943 to train young women for medical careers. Created by an Act of Congress, one of the program’s goals was to replenish the stateside ranks of civilian nurses as well as those in the armed forces. Gift of Beverly Mach Geller, 2011.120.6

scrub brush

used by Cadet Nurse Beverly Mach

Syracuse, New York, ca. 1944

Following an accelerated track of study at Syracuse University, Cadet Nurse Mach moved into field rotations at four different nearby hospitals. She vividly remembered scouring her hands with this brush and a bar of soap for ten minutes before donning sterile gloves and entering the operating room. Gift of Beverly Mach Geller, 2011.121.2

Mortar and pestle

used in preparing pharmaceuticals

ca. 1940s

Gift of Seldia Blatman in memory of Morris E. Blatman, 1996.68.1

Press

The World Health Organization has designated 2020 'The Year of the Nurse and Midwife'

Press Release

In Memory of D. Walter Cohen z"l

With deep gratitude for his long-time support and service, the National Museum of American Jewish History, honors D. Walter Cohen z”l, longtime Board member who served as President for ten years. During Dr. Cohen’s 35-year career at the University of Pennsylvania, he mentored generations of dental students, served as dean from 1972-1983, and established the Department of Periodontics and served as its first chairman. In 1986, the D. Walter Cohen and Betty A. Cohen Professor and Chair in Periodontal Research was dedicated at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and in 1997, the Hebrew University dedicated the D. Walter Cohen, D.D.S., Middle East Center for Dental Education in Israel. He also helped establish the Betty A. Cohen Endowed Chair in Women’s Health at Drexel University. Dr. Cohen taught and advised in Philadelphia and around the world, and took special interest in creating opportunities for women. In 1994 he co-founded the Executive Leadership Program for Women in Academic Medicine (ELAM). Many of the over 700 graduates have advanced to leadership positions in medical and dental schools around the country.

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Virtual Installation

Military Nursing During WWII

"I Shall Appear Fearless..." - Pledge of the Army Nurse

Artifact Highlights

Prayer Book

Cherry Ames: Army Nurse

by Helen Wells

Lt. Minnie Kauffmann

Army Nurse Corps Cloak

worn by Lt. Minnie Kauffman

“Jungle Hospital”

by Howard Baer

Army Nurse Corps

Lt. Martha G. Metter (bottom left) and fellow nurses

Army Nurse Corps uniform

worn by Lt. Martha Metter

Army Nurse Corps member

photographed by Lt. Martha Metter

Villagers

photographed by Lt. Martha Metter

Carlisle Model First Aid Packet

Johnson & Johnson

Cadet Nurse Beverly Mach

Syracuse, New York

scrub brush

used by Cadet Nurse Beverly Mach

Mortar and pestle

used in preparing pharmaceuticals

Press

The World Health Organization has designated 2020 'The Year of the Nurse and Midwife'

In Memory of D. Walter Cohen z"l

VIRTUAL NMAJH

LAST CHANCE: Jonah Platt, Sarah Podemski, and Lani Apo