Lenah Higbee


Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee was a pioneering Canadian-born United States Navy military, 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.

Early life and education

Higbee was born Lenah H. Sutcliffe in Chatham, New Brunswick, Canada, on 18 May 1874. 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.
She was promoted to Chief Nurse in 1909. Lenah Higbee became Chief Nurse at Norfolk Naval Hospital in April 1909.
In January 1911, Higbee became the second Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. 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

Later life and death

She resigned from the position of Superintendent and retired from the Navy on 23 November 1922.
Higbee died at Winter Park, Florida, on 10 January 1941 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Legacy

The US Navy has named two ships in her honor;