US Navy Nurses on Guam (1899-1910)

From the end of the Spanish-American War to the 1950s, the U.S. Navy controlled the American Territory of Guam. One of the main concerns on the island were the endemic diseases of Guam and their impact on its personnel. As a result, in 1910, the U.S. Navy took advantage of the new Navy Nurse Corps to send nurses to Guam to care for the members of the Navy, the Marine Corps, the families of the servicemen and the Chamorro. In addition, the mission of the nurses was to expand the training begun by American women living on Guam in 1902 to include a medical facility to help Chamorro women. The Navy nurses succeeded admirably, while simultaneously increasing their knowledge of medicine, teaching and the expansion of the United States

Instructor

Diana Ahmad, Ph.D.

Dr. Ahmad is a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita of American history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. She specializes in history of the American West, including animals on the overland trails and the expansion of the U.S. ... read more