Josephine Beatrice Bowman was the third superintendent of the

United States Navy Nurse Corps The United States Navy Nurse Corps was officially established by Congress in 1908; however, unofficially, women had been working as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals for nearly 100 years. The Corps was all-female until 1965. Pre-19 ...

Early life

Josephine Beatrice Bowman was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, on 19 December 1881. She graduated from nurses' training at the Medico-Chirurgical Hospital,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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, in 1904 and soon enrolled with the American Red Cross Nursing Service. In the spring of 1908, Bowman took part in the first Red Cross disaster relief operation after a tornado caused extensive damage around

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Navy Nurse Corps career

On 3 October 1908, Bowman joined the newly established

U.S. Navy Nurse Corps The United States Navy Nurse Corps was officially established by United States Congress, Congress in 1908; however, unofficially, women had been working as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals for nearly 100 years. The Corps was all-fe ...

as one of its first twenty members (the " Sacred Twenty"). She was promoted to Chief Nurse in 1911. Chief Nurse Bowman temporarily left the Navy in October 1914 and spent the next several months as a Red Cross nurse caring for war casualties in

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. As the supervising nurse of Unit D, she served at

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, for six months. She returned to the Navy in May 1915. In early 1916 she arrived in

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to conduct a two-year course with three other nurses in modern midwifery and practical nursing at the Navy Nurse's training school in

for the local Chamorro women. She also chaired the Department of Physiology and Hygiene at the normal school. After the U.S. entered

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 became chief nurse at the Naval Hospital,

Great Lakes, Illinois Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only current boot camp, located near North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois, along Lake Michigan. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training C ...

, and guided its nursing staff during that facility's great expansion to meet the needs of war and the 1918-19 influenza epidemic. She also served as chief nurse at

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, a Navy tuberculosis sanitarium for sailors and marines. In 1919, Chief Nurse Bowman led the first contingent of Navy nurses assigned to the hospital ship USS ''Relief'' (AH-1), the first Navy women to serve at sea. She became superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in December 1922 and held that position for over twelve years, until her retirement at the beginning of 1935.

Contributions as superintendent

As superintendent, Bowman worked hard to recruit nurses for the Navy Nurse Corps and to improve the pay benefits and uniforms for the nurses. She advocated for military status and encouraged postgraduate education. Inspections were increased for the purpose of establishing uniform standards across all naval hospitals.

Later life

ANCExplorer Josephine Beatrice Bowman grave

Following her departure from active duty, she made her home in

and stayed active in national and local nursing affairs. When Navy nurses were included in the Navy's ranking system, she received the retirement rank of lieutenant commander in recognition of her service as Nurse Corps' superintendent. Bowman died on 3 January 1971 in

and is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

.Arlington National Cemetery
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References

External links