Cadet Nursing Corps, World War II
The Corps was established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1943 to increase the number of nurses available for war efforts. The Corps was non-discriminatory, training nurses from backgrounds including Native Americans, African Americans and displaced Japanese Americans. The monthly stipend and scholarship these women received offered for many women an education they otherwise could not have afforded.
"As a former member of the Corps, I am excited to have this important part of our history not only acknowledged, but made available for more people to learn about this unique wartime effort," said Thelma Morey Robinson, a senior cadet who served with the Corps, who enrolled in 1943.
The nurses did more than assist in the war effort - they promoted the profession of nursing. Ancestry.com's collection contains stories on more than 124,000 young women between the ages of 17 and 35 who served the nursing profession during World War II.
With help from Ancestry.com, keep clicking to see pictures from the Cadet Nurses, courtesy of Thelma Robinson's collection...
A senior cadet nurse assists a Navy physician during a procedure.
A cadet nurse cleans intravenous tubing before sterilization.
Cadet nurses march to their induction ceremony in 1944. Unlike other professions in which women left to pursue other interests after the World War II, 85 percent of all US nursing students in the late 1940's were a part of the Cadet Nursing Corps.
A 1994 recruitment poster for the Cadet Nursing Corps with emphasis on lifetime education.
Native American nurses stand at attention. Nurses were recruited into the program through 1948.
President Harry S. Truman reviews a post war plan with a cadet nurse in 1945.
Recruitment of African American cadets to the Nursing Corps
Thelma Morey Robinson's cadet card from Ancestry.com's archive.
Thelma Morey Robinson and her sister Pauline commemorating the cadet nurses in 1994.
Here are the winter uniforms a member of the Corps would typically wear.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signs a bill into law creating the U.S. Cadet Nursing Corps on June 15, 1943.
The official badge of the Cadet Nursing Corps.