Elizabeth Gordon Fox (1884 — November 13, 1958) was an American Red Cross nurse, director of the Public Health Nursing Service during and after World War I. She was the twelfth American recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal when it was awarded by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1931.
Early life Elizabeth Gordon Fox was born in Milwaukee,History of American Red Cross Nursing (Macmillan 1922): 1275–1976. the daughter of Edwin M. Fox and Frances K. Gordon Fox."Misses Fox, Havey, Given High Positions" Wisconsin State Journal (April 13, 1930): 11. via Newspapers.com Her brother E. Gordon Fox was an engineer in Chicago."Gordon Foxes Arrive Soon After Russian Stay" Wisconsin State Journal (January 27, 1933): 8. via Newspapers.com She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1907,Elizabeth Gordon Fox, "Possibilities in the Nursing Field" The Alpha Phi Quarterly (September 1913): 271–275. and trained as a nurse at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, completing her studies in the class of 1910."Miss Elizabeth Fox, 74, Dies at Ceremony Honoring Public Health Nursing Career" New York Times (November 15, 1958): 23.
Career Fox began her career with the Chicago Visiting Nurses Association in 1912. From 1918 to 1930, Fox was director of the Bureau of Public Health Nursing of the American Red Cross."Chief Executives of the American Red Cross Department of Nursing" The Red Cross Bulletin (November 25, 1918): 1.Elizabeth G. Fox, "The Goal of County Nursing" Michigan's Health (January–February 1922): 469. She was associate director under Fannie Clement before becoming director.Sandra B. Lewenson, "Town and Country Nursing: Community Participation and Nurse Recruitment" in John C. Kirchgessner and Arlene W. Keeling, eds., Nursing Rural America: Perspectives from the Early 20th Century (Springer Publishing 2014): 11–12. In 1922, she was co-author of The History of American Red Cross Nursing with Lavinia Dock, Sarah Elizabeth Pickett, Clara D. Noyes, Fannie F. Clement, and Anna R. VanMeter. "Forceful, direct and unaffected, a keen and analytical thinker and a remarkable organizer, Miss Fox held her bureau in strong hands," according to her colleagues in 1922.
As president of the National Organization for Public Health Nursing (NOPHN), succeeding Edna Lois Foley in 1921,"Resignation of Edna L. Foley" The Public Health Nurse (July 1921): 328. she wrote frequently for The Public Health Nurse and other professional journals, and lectured nationally on public health nursing.Elizabeth G. Fox, "How Can We Finance Our Organization for Public Health Nursing" The Public Health Nurse (October 1921): 547."Director of Red Cross Addresses Minnesota Nurses" Star Tribune (October 16, 1926): 27. via Newspapers.com She contributed to the discussions on the role of public health nurses in the professionalization of midwifery,Laura Elizabeth Ettinger, Nurse-midwifery: The Birth of a New American Profession (Ohio State University Press 2006): 81–83. and in disaster relief.Jennie MacMaster, "The Public Health Nurse in Tornado Relief" Public Health Nursing 16(1)(February 1999): 72–75. She spoke on public health nursing at the National Council of Women meeting in Cincinnati in 1927."Delegates to be Named by Clubs" Cincinnati Enquirer (December 4, 1927): 81. via Newspapers.com
In 1930, she was chosen as the American advisor to the League of Red Cross Societies."Report to National Committee on Meeting of Advisory Committee of the League of Red Cross Societies" American Journal of Nursing 30(2)(February 1930): 209. In 1931, she became the twelfth American recipient of the Florence Nightingale Medal, and the first American so awarded for civilian nursing."Nurse Gets Medal for Disaster Work" Los Angeles Times (June 13, 1931): 3. via Newspapers.com"The Florence Nightingale Medal" American Journal of Nursing 49(9)(September 1949): 579–580.
She was on the faculty of the Yale School of Nursing for 19 years, from 1930 until her retirement in 1949.S. E. Abrams, "The Retirement of a Public Health Nurse Leader" Public Health Nursing 26(3)(May–June 2009): 290–292. She was also director of the New Haven Visiting Nurses Association. She also served a term as president of the Connecticut State Nurses Association.
Death Fox died at a Connecticut Public Health Association ceremony honoring her lifetime of leadership and service, at a hospital in Newington, Connecticut, in 1958; she was 74 years old."Death Climaxes Honor to Nurse" Bridgeport Post (November 14, 1958): 52. via Newspapers.com There are papers related to Elizabeth Gordon Fox in the Charles-Edward Amory Winslow papers at Yale.Charles-Edward Amory Winslow papers, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University.
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