Sara Matilda Cox (March 15, 1863 – March 30, 1943) was an American nurse, born in Canada, one of the " Sacred Twenty", the first twenty women admitted to 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-190 ...

. She was superintendent of nurses at the Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C. during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Cox was born near

Grand Lake, New Brunswick Local governance reform in the Canadian province of New Brunswick in was implemented on January 1, 2023. This resulted in a significant reorganization of the municipal entities in the province, including a reduction in the number of entities from ...

, Canada.Mallory Warner
"Where is the missing piece of lining in this U.S. Navy nurse's cape?"
''O Say Can You See?'' (April 5, 2017). She trained as a nurse in Boston."Female Nurse Corps of the Navy"
''Army & Navy Register'' (December 5, 1908): 2. After her appointment to the Navy Nurse Corps, she had further training at the Naval School Hospital in Washington.

Career

By 1908, Cox had already been an Army nurse and worked in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. That year, she was chosen to be one of the "Sacred Twenty", the first twenty women admitted to the Navy Nurse Corps when it was established in 1908; the group included Esther Hasson,

Lenah Higbee Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (May 18, 1874 – January 10, 1941) was a pioneering Canadian-born United States Navy military nurse, who served as Commanding officer, Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I. She is best known for ...

, and

Josephine Beatrice Bowman Josephine Beatrice Bowman was the third superintendent of the United States Navy Nurse Corps. Early life Josephine Beatrice Bowman was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on 19 December 1881. She graduated from nurses' training at the Medico-Chirurgical Hos ...

, the first three superintendents of the Navy Nurse Corps. "These women were no more welcome to most of the personnel of the Navy than women are when invading what a man calls his domain", recalled Bowman. Cox was initially assigned to work at the Naval Hospital in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

in 1910. She was promoted to chief nurse at Norfolk in 1911; she transferred from Norfolk to New York in 1914, and from New York to Washington, D.C. in 1916. She served as superintendent of nurses at the Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C. during World War I. In 1921 she was transferred from Washington to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. In 1920, Cox was part of the wedding party when Nadezhda Troubetskoy, a "Russian princess" training as a nurse at the Naval Hospital, married American soldier Wallace Strait Schutz. Cox retired from the Navy Nurse Corps in 1928.

Personal life

Cox died in 1943, aged 80 years.Anna Csar
"America's Military Made the Call: Hello Nurses!"
an online presentation for the National Archives and Records Administration's 2018 Virtual Genealogy Fair; one slide shows Cox's birth and death dates on a file card. Her gravesite is in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. The

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...

has her nursing uniform cape in its collection.

References

External links

* * Doris M. Sterner
''In and Out of Harm's Way: A History of the Navy Nurse Corps''
(Peanut Butter Publications 1997). {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Sarah M. 1863 births 1943 deaths American nurses American women in World War I Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Queens County, New Brunswick Canadian emigrants to the United States American women nurses