Alice Fitzgerald
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Alice Louise Florence Fitzgerald
ARRC ARRC may stand for: * Advanced Radar Research Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA * Advanced Institute for Research on Religion and Culture, Hyderabad, India * Advanced Rocket Research Center, NCTU, Taiwan * Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, ...
(March 13, 1875 — November 10, 1962) was an American nurse who served in Europe during and after
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. She earned a
Florence Nightingale Medal The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...
from the
International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...
in 1927, for her achievements.


Early life

On March 13, 1875, Fitzgerald was born as Alice Louise Florence Fitzgerald in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, Italy. Fitzgerald's American parents were Charles H. Fitzgerald and Alice Riggs Lawrdson, both from
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
.


Education

Fitzgerald studied in Europe before attending
Johns Hopkins School of Nursing The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing is the nursing school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1889, it is one of the nation's oldest schools for nursing education. Orig ...
, graduating in the class of 1906.Alice Fitzgerald Collection
, in the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
The several languages she learned in a European childhood would prove useful in her adult work. Fitzgerald was fluent in English, French, German, and Italian.


Career

Fitzgerald returned to Italy in 1908 to assist the Italian Red Cross in the aftermath of an earthquake in
Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
, volunteer work for which she received the Italian Red Cross Disaster Relief Medal. She was head nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1909 to 1910, at
Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...
from 1910 to 1912, with further supervisory posts in
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...
,
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, and
Wellesley, Massachusetts Wellesley () is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Wellesley is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of M ...
.American National Red Cross
''History of American Red Cross Nursing''
(Macmillan 1922): 583-595; 1082-1084.
During World War I, she was named the first "Edith Cavell Memorial nurse" from Massachusetts, funded to work with the British Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service at
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
and
Méaulte Méaulte () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D329 road, some northeast of Amiens. Population Personalities * Henry Potez (1891–1981), aeroplane maker, wa ...
from 1916 to 1917, and then with the
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
. Outside France, she served at a refugee hospital in
Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...
. Her postwar work included organizing nursing schools, recruiting bilingual nurses, serving as Chief Nurse of the American Red Cross in Europe, and as Director of the Nursing Bureau of the League of Red Cross Societies in Geneva. She founded the International School for Public Health Nurses. For her efforts, Fitzgerald was awarded medals and honors by Great Britain (
Royal Red Cross The Royal Red Cross (RRC) is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing. It was created in 1883, and the first two awards were to Florence Nightingale and Jane Cecilia Deeb ...
second class), France (Medaille d'honneur and other decorations), Italy, Poland, Serbia, Hungary, and Russia.Christine E. Hallett
''Nurse Writers of the Great War''
(Oxford University Press 2016): notes 14 and 15.
She worked in Asia in the 1920s, advising the Governor General of the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
on public health nursing, and founding a nursing program at
Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
. She did further earthquake relief in Japan after the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...
. She started a nursing school in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
in 1924, and studied nursing programs in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. In 1927, she was awarded the
Florence Nightingale Medal The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...
by the
International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...
. Back in the United States, she was director of nurses at Polyclinic Hospital in New York (from 1930 to 1936), and a housemother at
Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, known to many simply as Sheppard Pratt, is a psychiatric hospital located in Towson, a northern suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1853, it is one of the oldest private psychiatric hospitals in the n ...
in the 1940s. Fitzgerald retired in 1948.


Personal life

Fitzgerald died in 1962, at Peabody Nursing Home in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, New York. Fitzgerald was 87 years old.


Legacy

Fitzgerald's papers, including diaries, photographs, and medals, are archived at Johns Hopkins, with another collection of her papers, including an unpublished memoir, at the
Maryland Historical Society The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC), formerly the Maryland Historical Society (MdHS), founded on March 1, 1844, is the oldest cultural institution in the U.S. state of Maryland. The organization "collects, preserves, and interpr ...
. A biography for young readers, ''Nurse Around the World: Alice Fitzgerald'' by
Iris Noble Iris Noble (22 February 1922 in Calgary, Alberta – 30 June 1986 in Pátzcuaro, Mexico) was a Canadian-American journalist and a prolific writer of books, best known for writing biographies for teens. Iris Noble was born as Iris Davis in Canada t ...
, was published in 1967.


Awards and decorations

*
Florence Nightingale Medal The Florence Nightingale Medal is an international award presented to those distinguished in nursing and named after British nurse Florence Nightingale. The medal was established in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), f ...
* French Honour medal for courage and devotion *
Medal of French Gratitude The Medal of French Gratitude () was a French honour medal created on 13 July 1917 and solely awarded to civilians. The medal was created to express gratitude by the French government to all those who, without legal or military obligation, had ...
*Silver Medal of the Polish Red Cross * Serbian Red Cross medal *Italian Red Cross Disaster Relief medal *Russian Red Cross medal * British Royal Red Cross medal * British Campaign medal *
British Victory medal British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...


References


External links

*Christine Hallett
"Dedicated to Alice Fitzgerald"
a memorial page at the National Commemoration of the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme, illustrated with another photograph of Fitzgerald. * Katherine Burger Johnson
"Called to Serve: American Nurses Go to War, 1914-1918"
(Master's thesis, University of Louisville 1993). {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Alice 1875 births 1962 deaths American women nurses Johns Hopkins School of Nursing alumni American women in World War I Florence Nightingale Medal recipients Associate members of the Royal Red Cross