LeNAH HIGBEE

In October 1908, she joined the newly established U.S. Navy Nurse Corps as one of its first twenty members. These nurses, who came to be called "The Sacred Twenty", were the first women to formally serve as members of the Navy. She was promoted to Chief Nurse in 1909. Lenah Higbee became Chief Nurse at Norfolk Naval Hospital in April 1909.

In January 1911, Higbee became the second Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. For her achievements in leading the Corps through the First World War, Chief Nurse Higbee was the first woman awarded the Navy Cross.