To no one’s great surprise, as war broke out, there was a demand for medical personnel, including nurses.  The call was answered by many.

In the Kansas City area, the University of Kansas School of Medicine organized Base Hospital #28, which was made up of medical personnel from the area, including 100 nurses.  Among them was Ethelyn Belle Myers.  She had been born in Cherokee County in 1889, and received her nursing degree from Christ’s Hospital in Topeka in 1914.

Ethelyn Myers' dog tags

Ethelyn Myers’ dog tags

Now this is one of those instances where there is no point rehashing work already done.  A large collection of Ethelyn’s materials was donated to the Kansas State Historical Society from 1966 to 1970.  Her World War I experience has been written up here on Kansapedia.

Ethelyn passed away in 1931 at Van Nuys, California, of tuberculosis.  She is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.

 

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.