Kentucky-born Abbie Ewart (1889-1977) moved to Seattle with her family in 1907. She graduated from Queen Anne High School and then trained as a nurse. After caring for tuberculosis patients for two years at Firland Sanatorium, she and another nurse opened a single-day surgery clinic in Seattle. When the United States entered World War I in 1918, Ewart trained with other nurses at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, and served at American base hospitals in France.
This photo shows Abbie Ewart during her layover in New York en route to Europe, in May 1918. On the roof on the Irving Hotel, she models the nurse's rain outfit, complete with poncho, rain hat and rubber boots.
Handwritten on verso: Rainy day outfit with poncho in place of rain coat. May '18. Roof of Irving Hotel N.Y.
ID Number: 1987.60.18
Date: 1918
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : gelatin, b&w ; 6.5 x 9 cm.
Credit: MOHAI, Abbie Ewart Watkins Army Nurse Corps Collection, 1987.60.18
