Call Number:

MC 10

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Barbara Bates Center for the Study of The History of Nursing

Extent:

1.7 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Sarah McCarron papers, Barbara Bates Center for The Study of The History of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1917-1964 (inclusive)

Creator:

McCarron, Sarah, 1917-1964

Donor:

Behringer, Emily

Form:

Diaries and Personal papers

Abstract:

Sarah McCarron was a Red Cross nurse during World War I. She served in Germany, France, and the Balkans. Later she joined the American Legion, as well as many other organizations. This collection contains McCarron's wartime diaries, as well as correspondence and other personal and professional papers.

Born in Brooklyn, Sarah McCarron was a graduate of Williamsburg Hospital School of Nursing in 1909. A year later, she entered the New York City Public Health Service. In 1914, she became a member of the American Red Cross's Nursing Service and sailed to Europe on the "Mercy Mission.” At that time, she worked in Cosel, Germany, near the Russian and Austrian frontiers, where the Red Cross nurses administered to all the sick and wounded. She returned to the U.S. in April 1915.

In 1917, she served at the Base Hospital in Fort Bliss, Texas, near the Mexican border in the Army Nurses Corp. From July 1918 to June 1919, Miss McCarron was assigned service to the American Ambulance Hospital France, at Chateau Theirry, Neuilla, Joug, and then in the Balkans.

She retired in 1942 after decades of participation in various organizations espousing the causes of nurses and veterans. She was a past commander of the Brooklyn Post 967 of the American Legion and acted as its delegate to their convention in France in September in 1927. She was a member of the National Organization of World War Nurses, Women's Oversees Service League, and the National Council of Catholic Nurses. She was the recipient of many medals and certificates which testify to her dedication and remarkable work in nursing.

Sarah McCarron spent the last nine years of her life in the VA Hospital in East Orange, NJ, and transferred to New York City. She died on January 8, 1964, at the age of 85.

Sarah McCarron's papers are noteworthy because of the inclusion of her two war diaries from 1914 and 1918 in which she relates her daily activities, patient population, and modes of treatment, and describes the anxiety and paranoia within a war torn community. Postal correspondence, Bon Voyage messages, and newspaper articles document the relationships between Miss McCarron and her family, friends, coworkers, and the nursing community. Also included in this collection are records of her certification as a registered nurse, oath to the Army, military orders, and death certificate. Artifacts include numerous pictures and various medals awarded to Miss McCarron for her outstanding participation in nursing and veteran organizations.