Born in Chatham, New Brunswick Canada on May 18, 1874, Higbee completed nurses' training at the New York Post-Graduate Hospital in 1899 and entered private practice shortly thereafter. She took postgraduate training at Fordham Hospital in New York in 1908. Lenah Higbee served in the U.S. Navy from 1908-1922. For eleven of her fourteen years of service, Higbee was superintendent of the Navy Corps. Facing continual stalwart resistance and institutionalized discrimination from the male dominated medical community, Higbee rose from her position as a rankless nurse paid considerably less than her male peers to become the second superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps.
In 1945, the Navy commissioned USS Higbee, the first combat warship to be named for a female member of the Navy.
References include: National Archives | Military Awards Archive | Award Descriptions | Hall of Valor Award Database | Eisenhower Library WASPs Cochran | Virtual Wall Lane | Distinguished Flying Cross Bonham | Silver Star Hester | National Aviation Hall of Fame Cochran | Navy Cross Higbee
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