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  • Pin with U.S. insignia worn by Lt. Louise Lomax as part of ANC uniform
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Pin with U.S. insignia worn by Lt. Louise Lomax as part of ANC uniform

Object Details

Caption
During World War II, Louise Lomax joined the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) as a 2nd Lieutenant in March 1943 with the help of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses and trained as a psychiatric nurse at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. By September 1943 she was stationed at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, home of the Tuskegee Airmen. Lomax remained at Tuskegee during the war, where she was eventually promoted to 1st Lieutenant.
After the war, Lt. Lomax went on to serve at Lockbourne Army Air Base in Ohio; Provident Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland; at VA hospitals in Downey, Illinois; and Perry Point, Maryland; and finally at the Army’s Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. Lt. Lomax retired from active duty in March 1949 and transferred to the Reserve Corps, where she served for four years. She was honorably discharged from the ANC in April 1953.
Description
A U.S. insignia pin worn by Lt. Louise Lomax as part of her Army Nurse Corps uniform. The pin is gold with a push pin backing, but missing the clasps. It is in the shape of the letters "U." and "S."
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pia Marie Winters Jordan in memory of her mother, First Lieutenant Louise Virginia Lomax Winters, Army Nurse Corps; and her uncle, Sgt. Henry James Lomax, U.S. Army
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Date
1943-1953
Object number
2022.42.2.4.1
Manufactured by
Unidentified
Distributed by
United States Army Air Force, American, 1941 - 1947
Owned by
Louise Virginia Lomax, American, 1920 - 2011
Restrictions & Rights
No known copyright restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Type
insignias
Medium
metal
Dimensions
H x W x D: 3/8 × 13/16 × 5/16 in. (1 × 2 × 0.8 cm)
Place used
Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Awards, Medals, and Insignia
Topic
African American
Medicine
Military
Nursing
Segregation
U.S. History, 1945-1953
Women
World War II
Record ID
nmaahc_2022.42.2.4.1
Usage
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5f55d16af-fc32-4a45-a818-06d1c3d7f566
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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Washington, DC 20002

Our entrance is on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE.

street map of Postal museum

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