Myrtis May Coltharp (April 10, 1900 – September 18, 1993) was an American nurse, foreign service officer, and federal official. In 1946, she became the first foreign service nurse employed by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

, and she worked as a staff nurse at American embassies in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. From 1962 to 1963, she was the second Director of Foreign Service Nurses at the State Department.

Early life and education

Myrtis Coltharp was born in

Turnersville, Texas Turnersville is an unincorporated community in Coryell County, Texas, United States. As of 2004, the estimated population was 350. It is located within the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood metropolitan area. History The community was originally named Bu ...

, the daughter of Marcellus Coltharp and Amanda Dove Blankenship Coltharp. She graduated from Gatesville High School in 1917. In 1921 she completed training at the Baylor University School of Nursing. She earned a bachelor's degree at Montezeuma College in New Mexico in 1927, and had

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

training as a hygiene instructor.

Career

Coltharp was a school nurse in Utah, taught at a Texas hospital, and was a public health nurse in Mississippi. She worked as a field agent and regional director of the

before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, before joining the State Department in 1946, as the department's first foreign service nurse. She was staff nurse at the American embassies in Belgrade (1946–1950), Rome (1950–1955), Addis Ababa (1955–1959), Mexico City (1959–1961), and Conakry (1961). Late in 1962 she succeeded the first Director of Foreign Service Nurses,

Evelyn Weigold Crane Evelyn Ethel Weigold Crane (November 24, 1919 – October 17, 2009) was an American nurse. She served as an Army nurse on a hospital ship in the China-Burma-India theater in World War II. She was Director of Foreign Service Nurses at the United S ...

. Coltharp supervised foreign service nurses around the world as director, and retired from the State Department in 1963.

Personal life

Coltharp died in Austin, Texas, in 1993, aged 93 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coltharp, Myrtis 1900 births 1993 deaths American nurses Baylor University alumni