Lenah Higbee

Lenah Higbee. World War I. Ms. Higbee immigrated to the United States from Canada, completed her nursing training in 1899, and began working as a surgical nurse. She joined the United States Navy in 1908 as one of the original “Sacred Twenty," the nurses who started the Navy Nurse Corps. These nurses were the first females to serve in the United States Navy, but they were excluded from holding Navy rank. During her 14 years of service, she rose to become the second superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps. During her career, Ms. Higbee directed the evolution of the Navy Nurse Corps from infancy to permanence. Her recruitment efforts grew the Nurse Corps from 160 to 1550 nurses. She trained and managed thousands of nurses during World War I and the influenza pandemic of 1918. She lobbied for expanded healthcare for military dependents, helped expand the role of women nurses in military medicine, formalized the Navy nursing uniforms, created the Navy nurse corps insignia, and generally advanced the status of women in the military. For her efforts, she was awarded the Navy Cross in 1918. She was the first woman so recognized., Higbee passed away in 1941 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery beside her husband, Lt Col John Henley Higbee (USMC). Her impact on both the Navy Nurse Corps and the Surface Navy continues to be seen today. , In 1945, the Navy commissioned the USS Higbee, the first combat warship to be named for a female member of the U.S. Navy. The ship earned one battle star in World War II and seven battle stars in the Korean War. The "Leaping Lenah” screened carriers as their planes launched heavy air attacks against the Japanese mainland. The ship also helped clear Japanese mine fields. Following World War II, the USS Higbee made two peacetime Western Pacific cruises and continued to participate in fleet training exercises.