Beulah Ream Allen
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Beulah Ream Allen (January 26, 1897March 17, 1989) was an American nurse, physician, and civilian physician during World War II. After graduating with a nursing degree in 1922, she worked as a supervising nurse and headed the educational department for the
LDS Hospital LDS Hospital (formerly Deseret Hospital) is a general urban hospital and surgical center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The hospital was originally owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), but is now owned and operated by I ...
in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
. She worked as a hospital inspector for the state of Utah until 1928, when she moved to San Francisco to attend medical school. While earning her degree at the
University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...
, she worked as a nurse in the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...
. Upon her graduation in 1932, she moved to the Philippines, where she opened a medical practice. During World War II, she volunteered as a civilian surgeon for the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
. She was stationed in
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", ...
and was responsible for the care of nearly 30 soldiers, when the rest of the Army retreated to the
Bataan Peninsula Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga, Bataan, Balanga while Mariveles, ...
. Taken prisoner in 1941, she was held in three
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
camps before being liberated. Returning to the United States, she resumed her practice in the Bay Area. She was awarded the
Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
in 1946. In 1960, she moved her practice to
Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...
, where she served as
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of the Brigham Young University College of Nursing until 1964. Allen retired in 1979 and in that year married and relocated to
Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...
, where she lived until her death in 1989.


Early life and education

Beulah Estelle Ream was born on January 26, 1897, in
Dingle, Idaho Dingle is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Bear Lake County, Idaho. It is located in the southeastern part of the state. Despite being unincorporated, it has the zip code 83233. History Although a fur trapper and blacksmith ...
, to Nora Ellen (née Crockett) and William Dewine Ream. She was raised on her father's farm with a large family of siblings including: William Wesley (1886), Mitchell Alvin (1888), Lee Emerson (1890), Fabian Dewine (1891), Ida Nora (1893), George Douglas (1895), John Rodney (1900), Milton Parke (1901) and Kenneth Durward (1903). She attended public schools and graduated from the Academy of Idaho in 1916 with teaching credentials. She began teaching in 1917, but the outbreak of the
1918 flu epidemic The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...
led her to enroll in nursing school at the (program merged in 1926 into the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
's School of Nursing and ceased to exist in 1929). She completed her
registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...
requirements in 1922.


Career


Nursing and further education (1922–1932)

After her graduation in 1922, Ream moved to
Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...
, where she worked at the
LDS Hospital LDS Hospital (formerly Deseret Hospital) is a general urban hospital and surgical center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The hospital was originally owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), but is now owned and operated by I ...
as a supervising nurse until 1923. She then served as head of the education department until 1925 and worked as a nurse, before becoming a hospital inspector for the State of Utah between 1927 and 1928. Keen to improve her ability to assist her patients, Ream decided to return to school to become a physician and completed her
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in 1928 at the
University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
. She then transferred to the
University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...
, where she worked as a nurse in the
Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...
until earning her
Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...
degree in 1932. She completed her internship at the Women's and Children's Hospital of San Francisco.


Physician in the Philippines (1933–1945)

Upon her graduation, Ream traveled to 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 ...
to visit her brother Fabian and his family. In addition to setting up a private practice in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, from 1934 she served as the chief medical officer of the
Mary Johnston Hospital Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
. In 1937, she married Major Henderson Wilcox "Sam" Allen, a U.S. Army officer from Kentucky. In 1940, their son Lee was born. Although she could have been evacuated because of the impending
Japanese invasion of the Philippines Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
, Allen chose to remain with her husband. He received a medical discharge in December 1941, but, before the family could leave, the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
occurred and Sam was called back to active duty. On December 8, 1941, Japanese bombers began an air raid 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", ...
in the Philippines, where the Allens had made their home. Establishing a makeshift hospital to care for the wounded, Allen volunteered her services to the Army as a civilian physician-surgeon. When the rest of the army retreated to the
Bataan Peninsula Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga, Bataan, Balanga while Mariveles, ...
, she was responsible for the care of nearly 30 soldiers. After the
Battle of Bataan The Battle of Bataan (; 7 January – 9 April 1942) was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Imperial Japan during World War II. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese invasion of the Phi ...
in April 1942, her husband was captured and forced to make the
Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March was the Death march, forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp ...
. Henderson Allen died June 17, 1942, in the Cabanatuan Internment Camp without seeing his family again. Allen was captured in late 1941 and initially interned with her son at
Camp John Hay Camp John Hay is a mixed-used development which serves as a tourist destination and forest watershed reservation in Baguio, Philippines which was formerly a military base of the United States Armed Forces. History Under United States managemen ...
. She worked as part of the medical staff at the camp hospital. On April 20, 1942, they were moved by bus with other westerners to
Camp Holmes Internment Camp Camp Holmes Internment Camp, also known as Camp #3 and Baguio Internment Camp, near Baguio in the Philippines was established in World War II by the Japanese to intern civilians from countries hostile to Japan. The camp housed about 500 civilian ...
, where her second son, Henderson Rey, was born on July 4, 1942. While in captivity, Allen had to pay "$75 for a pound of oatmeal, $300 for a pound of sugar and $25 for one egg." As before, Allen worked in the camp hospital, but had a difficult relationship with its head, Dr. Dana Nance. Allen pressed for improved sanitation controls to limit the cases of
dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...
and disease among the camp chickens, suggesting that all garbage be buried. She pushed for the isolation of new internees until it could be determined if they had communicable diseases. Nance ignored her suggestions, as well as her recommendation for the staff to move outside of the hospital so that the patients were not housed in tents. Conditions in the camp were poor and inadequate food supplies often led to
malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
. Allen gave yeast supplements to the patients to improve their health. Frustrated that women were not allowed to vote on the General Committee that operated the camp, Allen organized a Women's Committee and demanded that the General Committee include both men and women in camp governance. The committee polled the prison population, and though Allen's proposal won the majority of votes, the General Committee ignored the result and maintained a men-only voting policy. Eventually all of Allen's proposals were adopted at the camp, but she was no longer there to see the result. After 18 months of captivity, she asked for a transfer and took her boys to the
Santo Tomas Internment Camp Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo T ...
, where there was a shortage of physicians, in early 1943. Conditions at Santo Tomas were dire. By 1943, the shortages of drugs, sheets, blankets,
mosquito net A mosquito net is a type of meshed curtain or cloth that is circumferentially draped over a bed or a sleeping area to offer the sleeper barrier protection against bites and stings from mosquitos, flies, and other pest insects, and thus a ...
s and other basic supplies impacted the ability to treat patients. Relief supplies did not arrive until December 1943, requiring doctors to search for substitute medical treatments, but were again at critical shortage levels by the end of 1944 and starvation was a serious problem. There was no food source or regular supply of food, except from the
Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
. Though obligated to feed the prisoners, the Japanese commandant was unable to secure adequate funds. The General Committee asked for 55 cents per person per day, but the authorities were willing to grant only 35 cents. By late 1944, food supplies were so scarce that inmates were eating vegetable peelings, and the garbage disposal crews became obsolete. When Allen arrived, she was appointed to several committees and at various times headed the camp's children's hospital. She was assigned to serve both the children’s hospital and the isolation hospital along with D. Chambers, F. O. Smith, and Evelyn M. Withoff. In addition to her appointment on the Medical Board, Allen served on the Food Committee, Committee on Releases to Outside Hospitals, and Public Health Committee and was elected to the Parents' Association Board. On February 3, 1945, the camp was liberated by American troops. Within a few weeks, the Allen family were headed back to the United States, arriving in San Francisco on March 30, 1945. They were welcomed by Allen's family, the Reams. After her homecoming, an article in the ''
Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Oakland, California, and a predecessor of the '' East Bay Times''. It was published by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' ...
'' called Allen "a real heroine...who worked 'sometimes night and day' caring for the sick". Allen was awarded the
Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
(later known as the
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...
) by General
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...
. In 1947, she accepted the
Soldier's Medal The Soldier's Medal is an individual decoration of the United States Army. It was introduced as Section 11 of the Air Corps Act, passed by the Congress of the United States on July 2, 1926., Appendix 5, p. 126. The Soldier's Medal is equivalent ...
and
Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...
on behalf of her husband's service.


Later career (1945–1979)

Allen re-established her medical practice in California. Initially, she worked with her brother Dr. Milton P. Ream, who lived in
San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the south ...
and saw patients in
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
. She established a home for her sons and her mother in San Francisco and worked in San Francisco,
Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 60,38 ...
, and
Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
. She returned to the University of California, taking post-graduate courses. In 1960, she was hired as the dean of the Brigham Young University College of Nursing and moved to
Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...
. In this capacity, she instituted an
associate degree An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...
program for nursing students, which began to be offered in fall semester of 1963. After four years in the post, she returned to private practice until her retirement in 1979. That year, at the age of 82, she married Joseph Smith Jarvis and moved to
Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...
.


Death and legacy

She died on March 17, 1989, in Mesa. Her funeral was held March 20 at the Oak Hills 4th Ward Chapel in Provo, before she was interred at the
Golden Gate National Cemetery Golden Gate National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery in California, located in the city of San Bruno, California, San Bruno, south of San Francisco. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with San Francisco ...
, in
San Bruno, California San Bruno () is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, incorporated in 1914. The population was 43,908 at the 2020 United States census. The city is between South San Francisco, California, South San Francisco and Millbrae, Cali ...
. In 2001, Lucinda and Helen Bateman published ''Beulah, the Good Doctor: A Biography of Beulah Ream Allen''.


Explanatory notes


References


Citations


General bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Beulah Ream 1897 births 1989 deaths People from Bear Lake County, Idaho Idaho State University alumni University of Utah alumni University of California alumni American nurses 20th-century American women physicians Recipients of the Medal of Freedom American women nurses Physicians from Idaho American prisoners of war in World War II 20th-century American physicians Burials at Golden Gate National Cemetery