​Local nurses in World War I: Historical Society features student’s research

The Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County (HCSCC) and the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) will host a talk by local researcher Angela Beaton at the Historic Solomon G. Comstock House on Thursday, April 27, at 6:30PM. Beaton’s talk will illuminate the service and sacrifices of local nurses during World War I. This date was chosen to observe the 100th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson’s signing of a joint resolution declaring war on Germany, bringing our country into World War I.

Beaton is a history graduate student at NDSU and assistant with the NDSU University Press. Her talk’s focus will be on local women who served as nurses in both the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and the Red Cross. While the United States didn't officially enter the war until 1917, American women joined the Red Cross and the Army Nurse Corps as soon as the war broke out in 1914. Local nurses at the beginning of the war numbered just over 400, but by Armistice Day, 1918, the numbers had swelled to 21,480. These local nurses’ stories have rarely been told.

The nurses faced hardships, including the over 200 American Red Cross nurses on the home front who died during the 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic. They contracted the disease while treating their patients.

According to the National World War I Memorial and Museum, nurses during the war experienced “new and innovative” practices such as blood transfusions, the use of antiseptics, local anesthetics, and painkillers.

Tickets are available online at Eventbrite and on Facebook for a mere $5 (MNHS and HCSCC members get in for free). Admission includes tours of Moorhead’s historic Queen Anne mansion and refreshments from the Rex Cafe.

Beaton’s presentation will be the last student presentation of this academic year and programming will resume again in the fall. The HSCSCC has committed to providing more evening programming, and Beaton’s presentation is part of a series of events that have included” History On Tap!” lectures at Junkyard Brewery, along with and the “Parlor Talk” series. The next “Parlor Talk” will be on May 23 at 6 pm, featuring Tim Jorgensen at the Hjemkomst Center, who will talk about Viking Age art, and there will be local beer on hand too.

According to Davin Wait, Communications Coordinator for the HSCSCC, the organization exists “to tell local stories” with a mission to “collect, preserve, interpret, and share the history and culture of Clay County, Minn." The organization began in 1932 as the Clay County Historical Society and became HCSCC in 2009.

Looking to the future, Wait wants readers to know that the society is opening a “locally-produced exhibition at the beginning of 2018 called ‘War, Fear, and Flu: Clay County and World War I.’” He explains: “As the title suggests, it wasn't a particularly good time -- intimidation, alienation, and illness (the Spanish Flu) were rampant.”

Matt Eidem is the Director of Museum Operations and the Site Manager for the Comstock House. He says that one of his main goals for programming is to “create opportunities for the very talented student population that we have in Fargo-Moorhead to share their work and their talents.” He describes Beaton as “an exceptionally bright graduate student at NDSU who had done some research on WW1 nurses. With our exhibit coming up on World War I it was a great topic and a great fit for what we’re trying to do with these talks.”

The Comstock House is open through Memorial Day, Saturdays from 1-4 pm. From Memorial Day weekend – Labor Day, it is open Saturdays and Sundays – 1-4 pm. It is also available for group tours by appointment year-round.

IF YOU GO 

Local Women and World War I – Talk by Angela Beaton 

Tuesday, April 27, 6:30-8:30pm 

Historic Solomon Comstock House, 506 8th St S, Moorhead 

Tickets: $5 - Eventbrite or Facebook -- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hcscc-presents-local-... https://www.facebook.com/events/1433266146738002/

Contact: Matt Eidem - (218) 291-4211 or matt.eidem@hcsmuseum.org.