When the Philadelphia General Hospital (PGH) School of Nursing Class of 1918 completed its training, the world they stepped into bore little resemblance to the one they had known when they had begun their studies three years earlier. Their graduation coincided with two global crises that would define their early careers as healthcare professionals: the First World War and one of the deadliest pandemics in American history.
These thirty‑eight young women had spent years mastering bedside care, surgical procedures, and the demanding routines of hospital life. On March 27, 1918, they proudly received their nursing caps—symbols of professional achievement and entry into a respected field. But even as they celebrated, the United States was deepening its involvement in World War I. Military hospitals urgently recruited nurses, leaving civilian institutions understaffed and struggling to meet rising demand.
Then, only months after the ceremony, the influenza pandemic swept into Philadelphia with devastating speed. The city became one of the hardest hit in the nation. Hospitals overflowed. Temporary wards filled school auditoriums and parish halls. Physicians and nurses worked until they collapsed. For the newly minted graduates of PGH, the transition from student to professional happened overnight and under the harshest possible conditions.
Despite exhaustion, grief, and the constant threat of infection, these nurses stepped forward. They worked double shifts, improvised treatments, and cared for patients who often died within hours of arrival. Their service reflected the profession’s highest ideals at a moment when the country desperately needed them.
The cost was staggering. On October 12, 1918, the Evening Public Ledger reported the deaths of five PGH nurses, describing them as “worn by long, brave fighting against the influenza pandemic.” The Evening Bulletin called them “martyrs to their duty,” a phrase that captured both the tragedy of their loss and the profound respect they earned.
The Class of 1918 began their careers in a moment of national crisis, facing war abroad and a lethal virus at home. Their courage, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment to care stand as a testament to the essential role nurses have always played in times of upheaval.
Photo Notes: 1918 Philadelphia General Hospital School of Nursing graduation photograph. The nurses were pinned during the ceremony; this pin belonged to Margaret H. (Helen) Pickel, pictured first in line in the second row from the left. (photo from Judith Pickel Jefferis)
My aunts Grace and Reba were both nurses who graduated nursing schools (Grace from Mount Sinai in NYC) during WWI. My Dad had four sisters – one had a fiance killed in the Argonne campaign, another’s died of the flu, and Ada, the youngest, married Sgt. George Ritter, 3rd Infantry Div., who was gassed in the Argonne and died in his 50’s, partly from long term results of his gassing.
Thanks for passing this information along, John.