On Nov. 22, 1939, Mary Gladwin- the nurse who started the Red Cross chapter in Akron - died in that city.

At the end of the 19th century, the Red Cross provided nursing training to young women and persuaded the military in several countries to use them during wartime. Gladwin served as a Red Cross nurse in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine insurrection, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I.

Born in England in 1861, she moved with her parents to Akron in 1868. She graduated from Buchtel Collegein 1887 and received a nursing degree from the Boston City Hospital School of Nursing.

During the flood of 1913, Gladwin served as a supervisor of Red Cross nurses in Dayton. Shortly after, she was appointed to the National Committee of the American Red Cross.

During World War I she was supervisor of nurses at the American Hospital in Belgrade, Serbia.

She received the charter and commission to start the Akron chapter of the Red Cross in June 1916.

She also wrote a book, Ethics for Nurses, which was known as the Nurses' Bible in Akron hospitals.

Rebecca Goodman

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com or call (513) 768-8361