# Were any of the 18 African American Red Cross nurses sent to the American sector on the Rhine in 1919?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-of-the-18-african-american-red-cross-nurses-sent-to-the-american-sector-on-the-rhine-in-1919/1001003>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 1, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-of-the-18-african-american-red-cross-nurses-sent-to-the-american-sector-on-the-rhine-in-1919/1001003 "2024-05-01T12:21:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-of-the-18-african-american-red-cross-nurses-sent-to-the-american-sector-on-the-rhine-in-1919/1001003/1 "2024-05-01T12:21:35Z")

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Were any of the 18 African American Red Cross nurses sent to the American sector on the Rhine in 1919? Or were they kept in France? I haven’t come across any references to them being used during the Allied Rhine Occupation

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-of-the-18-african-american-red-cross-nurses-sent-to-the-american-sector-on-the-rhine-in-1919/1001003/2 "2024-05-01T17:02:49Z")

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It appears not:

_By the November 11 armistice, the Red Cross had enrolled 77 Black nurses but still had not assigned any to military duty. This slow response stemmed from “delays in the provision of separate quarters and mess for these women,” according to Julia Stimson, later ANC superintendent. This rationale however, holds little weight…_

Citations and links omitted. From here: [The Eighteen of 1918–1919: Black Nurses and the Great Flu Pandemic in the United States - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6507986/)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-of-the-18-african-american-red-cross-nurses-sent-to-the-american-sector-on-the-rhine-in-1919/1001003/3 "2024-05-02T09:08:51Z")

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Thanks Elendil\_s\_Heir.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2024, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-of-the-18-african-american-red-cross-nurses-sent-to-the-american-sector-on-the-rhine-in-1919/1001003/4 "2024-05-02T15:38:30Z")

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:: bows ::

At your service, **Octagon**.