Lenah Higbee

Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (May 18, 1874 – January 10, 1941) was a pioneering Canadian-born United States Navy military nurse, who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I. She is best known for being the first female recipient of the Navy Cross.[1]

Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee
Born	May 18, 1874 Chatham, Dominion of Canada
Died	January 10, 1941 (aged 66) Winter Park, Florida, U.S.
Place of burial	Arlington National Cemetery (Section 3, Site 1797-WS)
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1908–1922
Rank	Chief Nurse
Commands held	Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps (1911–22)
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Navy Cross
Spouse(s)	LtCol John Henley Higbee, USMC

Early life and education

Higbee was born Lenah H. Sutcliffe in Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada, on 18 May 1874.[2] She completed nurses' training at the New York Post-Graduate Hospital in 1899 and entered private practice soon thereafter. Lenah Higbee took postgraduate training at Fordham Hospital, New York in 1908.

Career

In October 1908, she joined the newly established U.S. Navy Nurse Corps as one of its first twenty members. These nurses, who came to be called "The Sacred Twenty", were the first women to formally serve as members of the Navy.[3]

She was promoted to Chief Nurse in 1909. Lenah Higbee became Chief Nurse at Norfolk Naval Hospital in April 1909.[4]

In January 1911, Higbee became the second Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps.[5] For her achievements in leading the Corps through the First World War, Chief Nurse Higbee was awarded the Navy Cross. She was the first woman to receive that decoration.

Navy Cross citation

Date of Action: 1918 The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Superintendent Lenah Sutcliff Higbee, United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of her profession and unusual and conspicuous devotion to duty as Superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps.[6]

Later life and death

She resigned from the position of Superintendent and retired from the Navy on 23 November 1922.[7]

Higbee died at Winter Park, Florida, on 10 January 1941 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.[8][2]

Legacy

The US Navy has named two ships in her honor;

• USS Higbee (DD-806), a Gearing-class destroyer commissioned in 1945, as the first U.S. Navy warship to bear the name of one of its female members.[9]
• USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123), a planned Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer scheduled to enter the fleet in 2024.[10]

References

1. "Mabus Names DDG After First Woman Awarded Navy Cross". United States Naval Institute. 14 June 2016.
2. Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons. McFarland. p. 339. ISBN 978-1476625997.
3. Greenwood, John T.; Berry, F. Clifton (2005). Medics at War: Military Medicine from Colonial Times to the 21st Century. Naval Institute Press. p. 61. ISBN 1-59114-344-6.
4. "Mabus Names DDG After First Woman Awarded Navy Cross". 14 June 2016.
5. Skaine, Rosemarie (2011). Women in Combat: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 121. ISBN 978-1598844597. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
6. "Highbee Navy Cross citation". militarytimes.com. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
7. "Higbee, Lenah Sutcliffe-Text".
8. "Burial Detail: Higbee, Lenah S. (Section 3, Grave 1797-WS)". ANC Explorer. Arlington National Cemetery. (Official website).
9. Thorpe, JR. "10 Heroic Women Who Helped Win WWI, Because The Great War Wasn't Only Fought By Men".
10. Public Affairs, Secretary of the Navy. "Secretary Mabus Names Destroyer after Pioneering US Navy Nurse". United States Navy.

Further reading

• Sterner, Doris M. (1997). In and Out of Harm's Way: A history of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Seattle, WA: Peanut Butter Publishing. ISBN 0-89716-706-6.
• Godson, Susan H. (2001). Serving Proudly: A History of Women in the U.S. Navy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-317-6.

External links

• Photos of Lenah Higbee
• Nurses and the U.S. Navy –Overview and Special Image Selection Naval Historical Center
• Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee Naval History and Heritage Command
• Lenah Higbee at Find a Grave
• "Lehah H. Sutcliffe Higbee". at ArlingtonCemetery•net. (Unofficial website).