Ollie Josephine Prescott Baird Bennett
Image of Dr. Bennett in her World War I Uniform
Ollie Josephine Prescott Baird Bennett
Born(1874-03-27)March 27, 1874
Decatur, Illinois, US
DiedFebruary 4, 1957(1957-02-04) (aged 82)
Alexandria, Virginia, US
Buried
Arlington National Cemetery
BranchUnited States Army
Years of service1918
RankFirst lieutenant
Battles/warsWorld War I
Children3

Ollie Josephine Prescott Baird Bennett (March 27, 1874 – February 4, 1957)[1] was an American medical doctor, She was one of the first five women medical doctors to serve in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and as a first lieutenant in World War I. She instructed more than three hundred nurses and enlisted men in the administration of anesthesia at Camp McClellan, Alabama and served from May 1, 1918, to October 5, 1918.[2][1]

Early life

Ollie Josephine Prescott Baird Bennett was born in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, to John and America Stackhouse. She graduated from University of Pittsburgh and Boston Medical School.[2]

World War I

Ollie Josephine Prescott Baird was the first female medical officer commissioned in the U.S. Army. Upon joining the army she was sent to an anesthesia course at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, New York. She was one of three contract physician anesthetists who served stateside. Mary Botsford and Dolores Pinero were the other women.[3]

Baird was assigned to Fort McClellan, near Anniston, Alabama, where she instructed nurses and enlisted men in how to dispense anesthesia. She was also in charge of anesthesia for two operating rooms and gave anesthesia to five to seven patients every day.[3] She designed her own uniform because the U.S. Army did not have uniforms for female physicians. Baird later stated that she was instructed not to wear insignia, but the commanding officer of the hospital gave her permission to wear a cord on her hat denoting lieutenant.[4][3]

Following her military service, she was appointed to the War Industries Board.[5]

Personal life

Grave at Arlington National Cemetery

Ollie Josephine Stackhouse married George L. Prescott on July 15, 1889, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.[6] She had one daughter by this marriage, Olive, Mrs. E.W. Digges.[2][1] On July 3, 1909, she married William F. Baird in Boston, Massachusetts[7] and had two children. She was twice widowed. On February 4, 1934, she married Christopher C. Bennett.[8]

Dr. Bennett was active in her community. In 1928, she joined the Mary Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). She was a charter member of the Women's City Club, and was a member of the Washington Branch of the Association of the American University Women's Club, the Maryland Historical Society, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, the National Genealogy Society, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the National Presbyterian Church. Genealogy and historical research were her hobbies.[2]

Ollie Josephine Prescott Baird Bennett died on February 4, 1957, in Alexandria, Virginia and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.[9][1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Interment Control Forms, 1928–1962. Interment Control Forms, A1 2110-B. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, College Park, Maryland.
  2. 1 2 3 4 District of Columbia Daughters of the American Revolution (DCDAR) Memory Book Volume IV. Washington D. C.: District of Columbia Daughters of the American Revolution (DCDAR). 1958. p. 92.
  3. 1 2 3 Bellafaire, Judith (2009). Women Doctors in War. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-60344-146-9.
  4. ↑ "National Museums Liverpool Blog".
  5. ↑ Bellafaire, Judith (2009). Women Doctors in War. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-60344-146-9.
  6. ↑ “Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871–1920.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. Illinois Department of Public Health records. "Marriage Records, 1871–present." Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois.
  7. ↑ Michigan. Divorce records. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing, Michigan.
  8. ↑ United States Congress House Committee on Military Affairs (1943). Hearings. p. 87.
  9. ↑ "Bennett, Ollie Josephine (Section 10, Grave 10938-LH)". ANC Explorer. Arlington National Cemetery. (Official website).
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