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Dorethea Dix- On June 10, 1861, two months after the Civil War began, the Secretary of War appointed Dix as Superintendent of Women Nurses for the Union Army.
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Linda Richards – First professionally trained American nurse. Graduated in 1873 from New England Hospital for Women and Children.
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Mary Eliza Mahoney – First African-American in history to earn a professional nursing license in 1879.
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Clara Barton- Barton was an independent nurse during the Civil War. While in Europe, she worked with the International Red Cross and lobbied for an American branch. American Red Cross was founded in 1881 and Barton served as its first president.
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Isabel Hampton Robb – Implemented a grading policy which raised the bar for nursing students. In 1889, she was appointed Head of John Hopkins School of Nursing.
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Margaret Sanger - In 1910, Sanger started a publication promoting a woman's right to birth control. She was forced to flee the country until 1915. In 1916 she opened the first birth control clinic in the U.S. She fought for women's rights her entire life.
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Anna Goodrich- In 1918, she became the chief inspecting nurse of the United States Army’s hospitals. Goodrich also had the plan for the Army School of nursing and was the dean.
In 1918, she became the chief inspecting nurse of the United States Army’s hospitals. Goodrich also had the plan for the Army School of nursing and was the dean. -
Lavinia Doc – Nurse, feminist, author, pioneer in nursing education and social activist. Participated in the protest that resulted in the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.
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Margaret Breckenridge – In 1925, Breckenridge let it be known to Applachia that she would have a mid-wifery service.
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Ida V. Moffett – Born in Toadvine, AL in 1905. She became RN # 1830 in Alabama on June 3, 1926. She was the first woman involved with school accreditations. She has been inducted in the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.
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Hildegard Peplau – First nursing theorist since Florence Nightingale and created middle-range nursing theory of interpersonal relations. Around 1948, she led the way to humane treatment of patients with behavioral and personality disorders.
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Madeleine Leininger – Developed the concept of transcultural nursing, bringing the role of cultural factors in nursing into play on the best way to provide care to those in need.
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Dorethea Odem – After receiving her BS and MS in Nursing Education, Odem focused on teaching, research and administration. In 1971, she published Nursing: Concepts of Practice (her theory of nursing)
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Jean Watson – Dr. Watson is the founder of the “Caring Theory” that was published in 1979. The theory served as a guide for the core of nursing.
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Virginia Henderson – The International Council of Nurses presented Henderson the first Christianne Reiman Prize in June 1985.
