Edith DeVoe

Edith DeVoe (October 24, 1921 – November 17, 2000) was an American nurse. She was the second black woman admitted to serve in the United States Navy Nurse Corps during World War II, was the first black nurse to be admitted to the regular Navy, and was the first black nurse to serve in the Navy outside the mainland United States.

Edith DeVoe
13th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Negro Women, in Washington, DC, on October 12, 1948
Birth name	Edith Mazie DeVoe
Born	(1921-10-24)October 24, 1921 Washington, D. C.
Died	November 17, 2000(2000-11-17) (aged 79) Laurel, Prince George's County, Maryland
Buried	Quantico National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1940–1960

Early life

Edith Mazie DeVoe was born on October 24, 1921^[1] in Washington, D. C. to Sadie Frances (née Dent) and Joseph Edward DeVoe.^[2][3] Both of her parents were employed in government service^[4] and the family consisted of four children, Elizabeth, Edith, Joseph and Sadie.^[2] Her brother would die in 1934 and both of her sisters would become nurses.^[3][4] She completed her primary education attending Randall Junior High and Dunbar High Schools.^[4] DeVoe enrolled in nursing school with her sister Elizabeth at the Freedman's Hospital nursing school,^[5] graduating in 1942. She then supplemented her education with public health nursing courses in Richmond, Virginia at the St. Philip School of Nursing.^[6]

Career

DeVoe began her career working for the Visiting Nurse Association.^[6] On 18 April 1945, one week after the first black navy nurse, Phyllis Mae Daley, was assigned to active duty, DeVoe was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy Reserve. She was assigned to her first active duty on 13 June 1945,^[7] and served for two years during World War II at the Boston Navy Yard. In mid-1947, she was assigned to the Naval Mine Warfare Test Station, in Solomons, Maryland.^[4] On 6 January 1948, DeVoe was transferred to the Navy Nurse Corps and assigned to the Navy Communication Annex Dispensary in Washington, D. C., as the first black nurse in the regular navy.^[7][8][9] In March 1948, when Congress was deliberating on whether women should permanently become part of the military, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Harlem’s Representative to the House argued that the Nurses’ Corps should be permanent, that the military should be fully desegregated and emphasized that DeVoe was the only black nurse serving the 19,337 black servicemen in the navy.^[10]

In 1949, DeVoe earned the rank of Lieutenant (JG) and was assigned to the St. Albans Naval Hospital in the Queens borough of Long Island.^[11] The following year, she became the first black nurse assigned to a duty station outside the U.S. mainland,^[8] when she was sent to the Tripler Army-Navy Hospital, one of the few medical centers serving multiple service branches. Her assignment there, was to assist with the evacuees and injured serving in the Korean War. On May 1, 1952, DeVoe became a full Lieutenant and in August was transferred to the naval hospital in Pasadena, California.^[4] She was in a car accident in 1955, while serving at the Oakland Naval Hospital^[12] and on 1 April 1956, she was placed on the temporary disabilities list.^[7] She returned to duty and retired from military service in 1960 in Oakland, returning to Washington, D. C.^[6]

Death and legacy

DeVoe died from lung cancer on November 17, 2000 at Cherry Lane Nursing Center in Laurel, Prince George's County, Maryland^[6] and was buried at Quantico National Cemetery in Triangle, Virginia.^[1]

References

Citations

1. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 2014.
2. U.S. Census 1930, p. 5A.
3. The Washington Post 1994.
4. Cromer 1952, p. 5.
5. U.S. Census 1940, p. 1B.
6. The Washington Post 2000.
7. Sterner 1997, p. 194.
8. Sobocinski 2014.
9. The Pittsburgh Courier 1948, p. 1.
10. House of Representatives Hearings 1948, pp. 5733–5734.
11. The New York Age 1949, p. 4.
12. The Bakersfield Californian 1955, p. 15.

Bibliography

• Cromer, Lucille (August 9, 1952). "Navy Nurse Breezes In, Filled With Island Magic". The New York Age. New York, New York. p. 5. Retrieved 7 April 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
• Sobocinski, Andre (February 24, 2014). . Navy.Mil. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
• Sterner, Doris M. (1997). In and Out of Harm's Way: A history of the Navy Nurse Corps. Seattle, Washington: Peanut Butter Publishing. ISBN 0-89716-706-6.
• "1930 U.S. Census, District of Columbia, Police Precinct 5". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. April 3, 1930. p. 5A. NARA microfilm series T626, roll 295, lines 41–46. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
• "1940 U.S. Census, District of Columbia, Police Precinct 13, Freedman's Hospital". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. April 3, 1940. p. 1B. NARA microfilm series T627, roll 571, lines 58–59. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
• "Devoe, Edith M". Nationwide Gravesite Locator. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. June 18, 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2018. Devoe, Edith M: Lt. US Navy, World War II, Korea (10/24/1921-11/17/2000), Quantico National Cemetery, section 15 site 431
• . The Washington Post. Washington, D. C. November 23, 2000. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
• "In Regular Navy". Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Courier. January 31, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 7 April 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
• "Luncheon for the Lady Lieutenant". The New York Age. New York, New York. March 19, 1949. p. 4. Retrieved 7 April 2018 – via Newspapers.com.  
• "Near Greenfield". Bakersfield, California: The Bakersfield Californian. August 27, 1955. p. 15. Retrieved 7 April 2018 – via Newspaperarchive.com.  
• . The Washington Post. Washington, D. C. March 18, 1994. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
• "Statement of Hon. Adam C. Powell, United States Representative in Congress, Twenty-Second District, State of New York". Subcommittee hearings on S. 1641, to establish the Women's Army Corps in the Regular Army, to authorize the enlistment and appointment of women in the regular Navy and Marine Corps and the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve, and for other purposes/House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee no. 3, Organization and Mobilization (Report). Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1948. pp. 5733–5736. OCLC 22372937. No. 238.