The Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area vividly narrates the American story. Museums sprinkle the District of Columbia in support the arts, sciences and history which contributed to the development of the United States. Tribute is paid through commemorations in Metropolitan Area architecture, political statues and military personnel remembrances; each evidence of the esteem and acknowledgement of individual and combined contributions that have built the United States. Nurses are among those honored and memorialized in the metropolitan region. There are three central memorials in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Area that celebrate nursing's consistent support of the health of the country: the Vietnam Women's Memorial, the Civil War Nurses Memorial and the Nurses Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Nurses Memorial at the Arlington National Cemetery is one of the most compelling dedications to the role that nursing has played in the United States. Section 21 of Arlington Cemetery "commemorates the devoted service to country and humanity by Army, Navy, and Air Force Nurses". The area is marked by the haunting white marble statue of a nurse in a uniform of her time, who stands eternal vigil over the chiseled gravestones of Army, Navy and Air Force nurses, each of whom courageously served the country and earned burial with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Colonel Anita Newcomb McGee was a pioneering force in the creation of the monument dedicated to the memory of those heroic volunteers who nursed the injured and ill during the Spanish-American War. Colonel McGee founded the Army Nurse Corps, was President of the Society of Spanish-American War Nurses, and was the only woman with the rank of assistant surgeon of the U.S. Army. She was solemnly laid to rest in the cemetery in 1940. Colonel McGee's dedication to the nursing profession and creation of the Army Nurse Corps continued with passing of the torch to Jane Arminda Delano.
Jane Delano founded the American Red Cross Nursing Service. During the Spanish-American War, she joined the New York Chapter of the American Red Cross and served as Secretary for the enrollment of nurses. Her tireless efforts toward the education and preparation of nurses led to her promotion to the role of Superintendent of the United States Army Nurse Corps. And, later as the President of the American Nurses Association and chair of the National Committee of the Red Cross Nursing Service. Jane Delano's tombstone humbly describes the contributions that she made to not only the nursing profession, but the world.
The devotion to forging an indelible place in history of the military's nurse heroes by these two leaders and many others is awe inspiring. Of particularly powerful tribute is the alabaster nurse's statue, ever at attention, casting her enigmatic gaze over the marble tombstones of the six-hundred-and-fifty-three nurses who lie in Section 21 of Arlington National Cemetery, all having loyally served our country and humanity.
We hope you will plan to visit the Arlington Nurses' Memorial Section 21 on your next visit to the Nation's Capitol. Linger a while among the silent remembrances of these valiant fore bearers of the nursing profession.
Arlington National Cemetery opens to the public at
8 am, 365 days a year. From April 1 to September 30 the cemetery closes
at 7 pm; October 1 to March 31 the cemetery closes at 5 pm.
