Adda Eldredge

Adda Eldredge (27 November 1864 – 24 October 1955) was an American nurse, a leader in the state registration movement, and was a president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), and a member of the ANA Hall of Fame.

Eldredge was born on November 27, 1864, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the last of five children of Charles and Ann Marie (Bishop) Eldredge. She entered St. Luke's Hospital Training School in Chicago, receiving her diploma in 1899.

After finishing her education, she worked as a private duty nurse. From 1907 to 1914, she was an instructor at St. Luke's, where she worked to obtain support for the passage of the state's Nurse Practice Act, developing a strong interest in legislative issues relating to nursing.

Eldredge was honored to be awarded the first license to practice the profession of nursing in Illinois. Her work received national recognition as she served as the first vice president of the American Nurses Association from 1913-15 and then its president from 1922-26.

Between 1915-17, she was in public health nursing study at Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York. She spent one year at the Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor in New York City. Between 1917-20, she was the interstate secretary for the American Nurses Association, the National League of Nursing Education, and the American Journal of Nursing. She also spent some time on the nursing committee to the Council of the National Defense and the New York State Board of Nurse Examiners.

In 1934, Eldredge resigned from her position in Wisconsin after severe cuts were made in the State's budget. She returned to Chicago as director of the Nurse Placement Service, then teaching nursing legislation at the University of Chicago and later a course in nursing jurisprudence at the University of Minnesota. 

In 1935, Eldredge was awarded the Walter Burns Saunders Medal for Distinguished Service in the Cause of Nursing.

Eldredge died on 24 October 1955, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, at the age of 91. She is buried in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin at Rienzi Cemetery in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin