Ten notable nurses

Here are some of history’s most famous nurses:

Dorothea Dix

Dix championed legislation that led to the founding of the nation’s first mental asylum. She ultimately founded 32 institutions that catered to the needs of the mentally ill.

Mary Todd Lincoln

As first lady of the United States during the Civil War, Mrs. Lincoln spent a lot of time in military hospitals tending to the needs of wounded Union troops.

Walt Whitman

One of the nation’s most celebrated men of letters worked as a nurse. Who knew? During the Civil War, Whitman worked as a nurse for three years, helping take care of Union troops, telling them stories and helping write letters to their families.

Clara Barton

She is best known as the founder of the American Red Cross, but during the Civil War, she risked her life to help wounded soldiers and lobbied to have medical supplies brought to the battlefield.

Mary Eliza Mahoney

Mahoney was the first black woman to complete nursing training in the United States and become a registered nurse. She later founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses.

Lillian Wald

An activist for better health conditions for the poor, Wald and a co-worker became America’s first public health nurses in the early 1900s.

Margaret Sanger

Sanger was a controversial figure in her day. She was an advocate of sexual education and birth control and founded what is now known as Planned Parenthood.

Mary Breckinridge

Breckinridge is credited with introducing the skill of midwifery to the United States. Her interest in health care was sparked by the death of her two young children.

Florence Guinness Blake

Blake was renowned for her advocacy for better training and education for nurses and elevating patient care to a professional level. She also raised the level of pediatric care.

Florence Nightingale

The most famous nurse of all time made a name for herself during the Crimean War by publicizing the poor conditions under which wounded British soldiers were being treated.