This file contains a fabulous record about Clara L Shackford, born in Eastport, Maine on January 21, 1873 to Edward Wallace Shackford and Clara R Gardner.
NURSING SERVICE
Badge Number 3159
Name Miss Clara L Shackford
Address John Sealy Hospital Galveston,
Texas crossed out, hand written Harrington Me
Date of Birth Jan 21st 1873
Place of birth Eastport, Main. [sic, jsp]
Graduate of University of Penn Tr School for nurses Location Philadelphia, Penn.
Date of Graduation 1899
Registered in the following states Texas.
Experience since graduation
Supt of T. S. St Lukes Hospt St, Louis, Mo.
Supt of John Sealy Hospt. Galveston, Texas
Supt of Germantown Hospital Phil, Penn
Name and permanent address of nearest relative
Capt E. W. Shackford, crossed out replaced with Mrs E. W. Shackford mother Harrington, Main.
Date April 1912
From the back of the card: Discharged from service 1/10/19 Harrington
Followed by followup 1922-1930 with location being Harrington, Me
Clara was very involved in nursing leadership, working as a superintendent of hospitals in Pennslyvania, St Louis, Missouri and Galveston, Texas in the early 1900s. She signed a Texas State Board of Examiner's Diploma as the President of the State Board of Nurse Examiners in 1911. She was 39 when she joined the Red Cross in 1912 and 44 when she applied for a passport stating she was leaving the United States from New York aboard the Espange on December 3, 1917. An Ellis Island Record shows her returning on the Espange from Bordeaux on June 5, 1918.
According to a American Field Service Report and the History of American Red Cross Nursing, Clara spent part of her time serving with a Tuberculosis Unit in France, became ill (with tuberculosis), was hospitalized and then returned to America to recover at Saranac Tuberculosis Sanatorium but possibly decided to recover at home. She recovered, joined the Army Nurse Corp and served at Camp Devens until the end of the war, was discharged on December 13, 1918, and settled in Harrington, Maine where she cared for her mother who was quite ill. She died in Harrington on June 5, 1958.
Another amazing Shackford who warrants more research in the future. I would love to know if she wrote about her experiences as a superintendent of hospitals or about her experiences serving with the Red Cross overseas during World War I or about her service at Camp Devens
REFERENCES (need to update in the future to proper source citations)
American Field Service (http://www.ourstory.info/ : accessed 15 July 2013), Nursing Report of the Tuberculosis Bureau Jan 3 1919 mentioning Miss Shackford.
"U.S., American Red Cross Nurse Files, 1916-1959," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 July 2013), Clara L Shackford; Historical Nurse Files, Compiled ca. 1916–ca. 1959. Series number A1 27140, textual materials, 101 boxes. Records of the American National Red Cross, 1881–2008. National Archives at College Park, College Park,
Maryland..
Signed a 1911 Texas State Board of Nurse Examiners Diploma for Anna Jarvis as the President of State Board of Nurse Examiners. (Item 1027152101 sale at www.ebay.com
US Passport Applications, 1795-1925, Clara L Shackford
Maine Military Men, 1917-18
History of American Red Cross Nursing by Lavina L. Dock, 1922, Macmillan, p. 848-849