Return to Frequently
Asked Questions 
Return to Frequently
Asked Questions Public Law No. 115, H.R. 20471, 13
May 1908
CHAP. 166.-An Act Making appropriations for the naval service
for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, nineteen hundred and
nine, and for other purposes...
[Note: The following is an extract from the section on the Bureau
of Medicine and Surgery, providing the full text of the portion
relating to women.]
The nurse corps (female) of the United States Navy is hereby established,
and shall consist of one superintendent, to be appointed by the
Secretary of the Navy, who shall be a graduate of a hospital training
school having a course of instruction of not less than two years,
whose term of office may be terminated at his discretion, and
of as many chief nurses, nurses, and reserve nurses as may be
needed: Provided, That all nurses in the nurse corps shall
be appointed or removed by the Surgeon-General, with the approval
of the Secretary of the Navy, and that they shall be graduates
of hospital training schools having a course of instruction not
less than two years. The appointment of superintendent, chief
nurses, nurses, and reserve nurses shall be subject to an examination
as to their professional, moral, mental, and physical fitness,
and that they shall be eligible for duty at naval hospitals and
on board of hospital and ambulance ships and for such special
duty as may be deemed necessary by the Surgeon-General of the
Navy. Reserve nurses may be assigned to active duty when the necessities
of the service demand, and when on such duty shall receive the
pay and allowances of nurses: Provided, That they shall
receive no compensation except when on active duty. The superintendent,
chief nurses, and nurses shall respectively receive the same pay,
allowances, emoluments, and privileges as are now or may hereafter
be provided by or in pursuance of law for the nurse corps (female)
of the Army.
Source: The Statutes at Large of the United States of America
from December, 1907, to March, 1909. vol. 35, pt.1 Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1909. pp.127 and 146.
26 May 1999