Army Nurse Mary Elizabeth “Bess” Shellabarger

Mary Elizabeth “Bess” Shellabarger was a US Army nurse during World War I. Shellabarger joined the Army Reserve Nurse Corps and was stationed at Fort Riler, Kansas (3SS). She left Fort Riley in May 1918 and was sent to New York then to Europe, where she was assistant chief nurse in London and Winchester, England. (3SS) Shellabarger was then appointed chief nurse of the hospital ship Saxonia. (3SS) In 1919 she was an instructor at the Army School of Nursing, Fox Hill, Staten Island, New York. ^{1, 2, 3}

1. Elizabeth Shellabarger was born in Moffat, Colorado, on October 16, 1879, the daughter of Adam Shellabarger and Abigal “Abbie” Anna Wales, Colorado pioneers. ¹ A cleft lip and palette at birth was corrected in infancy. Shellabarger graduated from East High School (Denver) in 1899 and then attended a special literary course at Emerson College of Oratory in Boston, in 1901 and 1902, and vocal training at New England Conservatory of Music. (3SS) Following this early education, Shellabarger traveled to the Philippines and other destinations with her friend Mabel and her husband, caring for their infant. She wrote in her diary in April 1904, “I am so happy and have such an opportunity to see what I have longed to see. I trust that I may do something to make myself worthy to a slight degree at last.” ¹ Following her travels, Shellabarger enrolled at Bellevue Hospital for Training Women Nurses in New York City. (3SS) She graduated highest in her class and in 1908 was appointed Junior Supervisor and Instructor in Maternal Medicine at the school. ¹ In 1909 she was named Assistant Director of Touro Infirmary in New Orleans with a class of 100 students. ¹

From 1910 to 1912 Shellabarger was Superintendent of the Visiting Nurses Association of Denver. ¹ From 1912 to 1916 she was Superintendent of the School of Nursing at St. Mark’s Hospital, Salt Lake City. In 1914 she was appointed President of the Graduate Nurses Association, Salt Lake City. ¹ Following her work as a nurse during World War I, Shellabarger received her Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University Teacher’s College. ¹ She then became Director of the Public Health Nursing Course at the University of Colorado from 1920 to 1921, with clinical practice at Pueblo, Colorado. From 1921 to 1922 she was appointed director of Public Health Nursing under the American Red Cross Nursing Service in Albania and Montenegro in southwestern Europe. ¹ In 1924 she was Director of the Public Health Nursing Course at the Missouri School of Social Economy in St. Louis, a training school for social workers. ¹ From 1925 to 1927 she was Superintendent of the Hospital and School of Nursing at Memorial Hospital, Cheyenne, Wyoming, supervising the education of student nurses. ¹ She was the president of the Wyoming State Nurses Association in 1926. ¹ In 1928 and 1930, she was Inspector of Schools of Nursing in Arkansas and worked for the Statistical Division of Arkansas State Public Health, collecting vital statistics. ¹ She was then named Educational Secretary. ¹ In October 1929 she taught Sciences at the City School of Nursing, Colorado. ^{1, 2 ,4}

In 1931 Shellabarger worked for the Texas State Board Drought Relief 12 Counties at the Brady Texas Center. ¹ From 1931 to 1933 she worked for the Official Bureau at Houston, Texas. ¹ From 1934 to 1936 she was Superintendent of Public Health Nurses in El Paso and three counties of Texas. ¹ She was President of the Texas State Organization for Public Health Nursing in 1934 and 1935. ¹ In 1936 she was Regional Supervisor for New Mexico. ¹ From 1937 to 1938 she was Supervisor at the Methodist National Sanatorium, Colorado Springs, Colorado. ¹ In 1939 she was a dietitian and nurse for 200 soldiers at the Soldier & Sailors Home at Home Lake, Colorado. ^{1, 2, 5}

In 1940 Shellabarger worked for the Official Nursing Bureau at San Antonio, Texas. From 1940 to 1941 she taught a Refresher Course at San Antonio, Texas. ¹ In 1942, she was a University of the Incarnate Word instructor, teaching registered nurses how to teach History of Nursing and Public Health Nursing. ^{1, 2} Shellabarger retired from nursing in the 1950s.