Inspirational Women of WW1 Exhibition held in Oswestry, Shropshire, UK

Commemorative WW1 events took place recently at the Qube in Oswestry, Shropshire, UK and I have just received a report and photographs about some of those events: 

"The launch and exhibition at The Qube had many visitors but as there is still so much to research and add they have decided to have a closing exhibition as well March/Early April 2019 when the project finishes - so the A3 plates will have a second airing!

The Women's Day of Female Poets and Inspirational Women was one of the best days in the whole Festival! Brilliant feedback and some readers read from your books! H & H as a project actually purchased copies for our poetry discussion groups I ran and for 'coffee table reads' in exhibition space!

Dr Gladys Mary Coles - delivered a wonderful lecture on Mary Webb. "

With thanks to Jan for the feedback and photos.

Lou Henry Hoover (1874 – 1944) – American; wife of President of the United States, Herbert Hoover; served as the First Lady of the United States of America from 1929 to 1933

Lou Henry was born in Waterloo, Iowa, USA. Her parents were Charles Delano Henry, a Banker, and his wife Florence Ida, nee Weed. Lou became an accomplished horsewoman - she hunted and developed an enthusiasm for rocks, minerals, and mining.

Educated initially at the Los Angeles Normal School, now known as the University of California, Los Angeles, Lou transferred to and graduated in 1893 from San Jose Normal School, now known as San Jose State University, with a teaching certificate. She went on to study at Stanford University, where she met Herbert Hoover.  In 1898 Lou graduated, gaining a B.A. in Geology.

Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry were married in 1898 and honeymooned in Shanghai, China.  They lived in China from 1899 until August 1900.  While in China, Lou studied the Mandarin Chinese language.

During The First World War, Lou helped her husband provide relief for Belgian refugees. For her work, she was decorated in 1919 by King Albert I of Belgium. She was also involved with the American Women's War Relief Fund, which provided ambulances, funded two hospitals and provided economic opportunities for women during WWI.

Katherine Mary Geraldine Davies (1874 – 1928) - British scientist

John Ferguson read my previous post about Katherine (25th September 2015) and contacted me as he is researching her family.  John sent me the photograph of Katherine which is from "The London Evening News" in around 1915.

Mary Davies was born on 8th December 1874.  Her parents were Sir Robert Henry Davies (1824 – 1902), Governor of the Indian Province of the Punjab from 1871 – 1877, and his wife Mary Frances, nee Cautey.

Mary was training to be a bacteriologist at the Pasteur Institute in Neuilly, France when the First World War broke out.  The American Hospital was established at the Pasteur Institute and there Mary worked with Dr. Kenneth Taylor, who was a bacteriologist who qualified at Minnesota University.   Dr Taylor was working on a serum of Quinine Hydrochloride to treat Gas Gangrene, experimenting initially on guinea pigs.

In October 1915, Mary deliberately injected herself with the bacteria used to infect the guinea pigs and asked Dr. Taylor to treat her.   The treatment was successful and after some days in hospital, Mary was sent home to England to recuperate.  She wrote a treatise suggesting that if the cloth used to manufacture British Army uniforms were treated with Quinine Hydrochloride, the incidences of Gas Gangrene might be reduced.

It is perhaps worth noting here, that the Canadian Army Doctor, artilleryman and poet, John McCrae, commented upon his shock on discovering that the heavy use of manure used to fertilise the fields in Flanders and northern France, contributed to the infection of wounds sustained by soldiers on the battle fields of the Western Front in the First World War.

Mary, a member of the Bath Club in London, died in Cannes, France on 7th February 1928.

With many thanks to Geoff Harrison and other friends who sent me links to articles about Mary, and to ‘The Times’ for re-printing the story they ran about Mary's exploit from their edition of September 23rd 1915 in their 23rd September 2015 edition

And to John Ferguson for the photograph of Mary - photographer unknown.

Geoff also found an amazing cartoon which illustrates this story from the St. Petersburg Times of 9th August 1931 (I imagine that would be St. Petersburg in Florida...).

Sources:

GRAVES, Diane. "A Crown of Live The World of John McCrae" (Spellmount Ltd., Staplehurst, Kent, 1997)

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19310809&id=6q0KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0U0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7255%2C775711&hl=en

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/14ffba82a4a760bc?projector=1http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16453665

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/16453665

http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/library_and_heritage_services/library_collections/rcn_archive/historical_nursing_journals/browse_journals?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZyY25hcmNoaXZlLnJjbi5vcmcudWslMkZkYXRhJTJGVk9MVU1FMDU1LTE5MTUlMkZwYWdlMjcyLXZvbHVtZTU1LTAybmRvY3RvYmVyMTkxNS5wZGYmYWxsPTE%3D

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19151111&id=_mkWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_iAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1788,4736926&hl=en

http://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Citation/1928/04000/For_Americans_in_France_.2.aspx