Lucy Nettie Fletcher

British-born American nurse
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroBritish-born American nurse
PlacesUnited Kingdom Great Britain
wasNurse
Work fieldHealthcare
Gender
Female
Birth18 February 1886, Grouville, Jersey
Death6 May 1918France (aged 32 years)
Star signAquarius
Education
Radcliffe College
Massachusetts General Hospital
White Mountain School
The details

Biography

Lucy N. Fletcher

Lucy Nettie Fletcher (February 18, 1886 – May 6, 1918) was a British-born American nurse who died while on active duty in France during World War I.

Biography

Fletcher was born in Grouville, Isle of Jersey, England, February 18, 1886. She was the daughter of Charles George Ellis and Nettie Murdock (Binet) Fletcher, and the granddaughter of Rev. William and Lucy Antoinette (Murdock) Binet. Fletcher's father and grandfather were English, but on her mother's side, she was descended from Massachusetts families, Mason, Dedham, and Robert Murdock, who emigrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1692. She had a brother, Vivian F. Fletcher, and three sisters.

In 1902, she came to Concord, New Hampshire, to make her home with her aunts, the Misses Eliza M., Alice L., and Maude B. Binet.

Lucy Nettie Fletcher

She was educated at St. Mary's School (now White Mountain School) one year; high school, 1902; and graduated from Radcliffe College, A.B., 1910. Fletcher began training as a secretary in the Associated Charities of Boston. She graduated from the nursing school at Massachusetts General Hospital, February 1916, and became night supervisor in that hospital. She was a member of the Boston Woman's College Club, St. Mary's Alumnae Association, and Radcliffe Alumnae Association. In religion, she was Episcopalian.

In June 1917, she left for France with the U.S. Army Base Hospital, No. 6, to which she belonged, joining the front in July of that year. She became head nurse in one of the medical wards.

Death and legacy

Fletcher contracted meningitis and died May 6, 1918. She was buried with full military honors in the first grave in the officers' cemetery. She was the first Red Cross nurse in General Pershing's army to die in the performance of duty. Fletcher's name, along with that of two other Radcliffe alumni, is inscribed on a tablet at Memorial Church of Harvard University.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 28 Sep 2023. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.