Sara Shaw, nurse from Holley, served with American Red Cross in two wars

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 6, No. 15

HOLLEY – Previous columns have highlighted Orleans County ladies who braved the conditions of war to serve as teachers or nurses:

Civil War nurse Lydia S. Johnson of Lyndonville, Minnie Goodnow of Albion, a surgical nurse in France during World War I and Irene Gibson of Holley whose fluency in French qualified her to instruct French cadets in navigation during World War II.

Yet another candidate may be added to that list: Sara Shaw of Holley who served as a nurse in two wars and later had a distinguished career in the efforts to eliminate tuberculosis. Born on April 30, 1871, Sara was the daughter of Dennis and Ella (White) Shaw. She trained as a nurse at Bellevue Hospital in New York, a program established in 1873 which adhered to the principles of Florence Nightingale’s and emphasized strict hygienic standards.

In 1898, Sara joined the American Red Cross and was one of early volunteers for service in the Spanish-American War. She was one of nine nurses dispatched to a US Army camp in Tampa, Fla. to treat an outbreak of typhoid fever.

During the Spanish-American War, Nurse Shaw was stationed in Puerto Rico and Cuba. Conditions were far from ideal. Nurses worked 14-hour shifts and diligently tried to maintain sanitary conditions. They operated in makeshift tents, overcrowded buildings and finally, on board the S.S. Lampasas which became a hospital ship. She recalled the many deaths.

Sara Shaw of Holley responded to the American Red Cross appeal for nurses.

“It was necessary to bury the soldiers at sea, and one of our young  doctors read the burial service, and the sisters held the Flag over the bodies.”

None of the nurses in that campaign were killed in combat, but 153 died of disease. Sara contracted typhoid fever and returned home to Holley to recuperate. While on leave, she was presented with a diamond ring by the Red Cross for her service in Puerto Rico and Cuba.

The American Red Cross was not officially recognized by the U.S. Army before the Spanish-American War, but the organization’s efficiency during that campaign made it clear to the Army that trained nurses were a necessity in war. Accordingly, each of the nurses who had served were recognized as members of the Army.

In March 1899, Nurse Shaw was one of a contingent of nurses serving officially with the U.S. 7th Army Corps who left for Manila in the Philippines, a journey of over forty days through the Suez Canal. Arriving in the middle of the Insurrection, the nurses set up a hospital in a convent in Manila where they dealt with epidemics of typhoid fever and malaria.

Following her return to the U.S., Sara worked as a private nurse for several years, then later accepted a position  at Bellevue Hospital in 1909. Active again in World War I, she was appointed Chief Nurse of the Italian Commission of the American Red Cross in 1917. Shaw established a nursing center in Milan and supervised nurses in six Red Cross hospitals that served American servicemen in Italy and Sicily.

Sara returned to work at Bellevue in June 1919 and was Director of Nursing in the Tuberculosis Clinic until her retirement in June 1940. Over the years, she maintained her connection with Holley and frequently returned to holiday with family members. Her death on Feb. 5, 1948  was the subject of a New York Times obituary. She is buried in Hillside Cemetery, Holley.