Find Books, Databases, Journals and more
Find Electronic and Print Journals
Have a question? Ask Us

Louise Hilligas Papers

Louise Hilligas
Louise Hilligas
Louise Hilligas Papers
Volume: 0.5 linear feet
Bulk dates: 1917-1919
Collection code: PC107
Organization of the Collection
Container List
PDF Version

Historical Note

Clara Louise Hilligas was a 1908 graduate of the St. Luke’s Hospital Training School for Nurses in St. Louis.  During WWI, she joined Base Hospital 21 (the base hospital associated with Washington University) and sailed with the unit to France in May 1917.  She served as a nurse with the unit from 1917-1919.  After returning to the US, Hilligas worked at University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.  In 1942, she became nursing supervisor at Barnes Hospital until retiring in 1955.

Provenance

Gift of Edward F. Moore (great-nephew of Louise Hilligas).  Accession 2001-007

Access and Use

The collection is open and accessible for research.  Certain categories of documentation, however, may carry restrictions on access.  For detailed information, contact the Archives and Rare Book Department of the Becker Library (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).

Scope and Content

The collection contains letters, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia written by and pertaining to LH service with Base Hospital 21’s nursing corp, 1917-1919. The original donation also contained photographs which have been removed to Visual Collection 322.

Preferred Citation

Louise Hilligas Papers, Washington University School of Medicine.

Related Material

See also the Louis Hilligas visual collection (VC322) at the Becker Medical Library.

Organization of the Collection (Series List)

Total Boxes: 1

Series 1: Papers

Container List

Series 1: Papers

Box 1 of 1

1. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H. W. Moss, February 20, 1918.
2. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, February 1, 1918.
3. Postcard from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, August 4, 1918.
4. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, September 4, 1918
5. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, November 23, 1917.
6. Newspaper clipping, May 27, 1918.

Note: The clipping might originally been selected for the article on the increase in railroad freight rates. However, it seems that the article on the arrival of the French Alpine chasseurs, also known as the “Blue Devils,” was noted with interest by pencil markings. The date is estimated to be 1918 based on William Gibbs McAdoo’s tenure as Director-General of the United States Railroad Administration from December 28, 1917 to January 1919.

7. Newspaper clipping, St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, May 1, 1919.

Note: Article features the arrival of Base Hospital 21 nurses at Union Station.

8. Newspaper clipping, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July, 1917.

Note: Article features excerpts from letters written by Base Hospital 21 servicemen, includes story of baseball games between hospital units.

9. Newspaper clipping, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 16, 1917.

Note: LH is quoted in the story entitled “Nurse writes of watching a battle in air.”

10. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, June 21, 1918.
11. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, December 20, 1917.
12. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, March 3, 1918.
13. Newspaper clipping, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 27, 1918.

Note: Article features the role of women in the First World War.

14. Letter from LH’s niece to LH, July 5, 1918.
15. Four letters from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss.  One is dated March 13, 1918.
16. Letter from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, August [18] 1918.
17. Newspaper clipping, [January 30, 1919].

Note: Article features the roles of Washington University Medical School faculty during the war. Date of the article is estimated according to the context of some of the articles on the reverse side.

Note: Three photographs and two postcards without inscription have been removed from the manuscript collection and relocated to visual collection VC322.

18. Letter from Mary Farrar to LH, [May 27, 1918].

Note: Fifteen photographs, two postcards without inscription, and one sketch have been removed from the manuscript collection and relocated to visual collection VC322.

19. Postcard with inscription from LH to her sister Miss Francis Moss, July 6, 1917.
20. Postcard with inscription from [Marci] Taylor to Mrs. Moss, December 1917.
21. Postcard with inscription from LH to her sister Mrs. H.W. Moss, 1918.
22. Letter from Edward Crisp, 63rd Royal Naval Division, to American medical staff of 12th British Hospital (Base Hospital 21), October 20, 1918.

Note: The letter includes a photograph, presumably of Edward Crisp, affixed with tape.

23. Newspaper clipping, n.d.

Note: Article features a letter from LH to her brother John Hilligas, October 21, 1917. Originally published in a newspaper in Ukiah, California, possibly the Redwood Journal.

24. Newspaper clipping, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, n.d.

Note: Article features the return of Base Hospital 21 to the U.S.

25. Newspaper clipping, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, n.d.

Note: Article features the return of Base Hospital 21 to St. Louis.

26. Newspaper clipping, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 4, 1955.

Note: Article featuring LH on the occasion of her retirement.

27. Christmas menu, Base Hospital 21, December 25, 1918.
28. Poem sent as an anonymous letter to LH, July 21, 1917.
29. Rouen Post, July 1948.

Note: Features reports on reunion hosted by LH.

30. Essay, “With Silent Friends,” by Richard King.
31. Newspaper clipping, Columbia Missourian, October 15, 1930.

Note: Article features the “wide interests” of Julia Stimson.

32. “The soldiers ten commandments,” [by] G. Gales, Lance Corporal, Royal Fusiliers, B.E.F.
33. Scrapbook.

Note: Scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and published photographs. 3 original photographs and 1 original photographic postcard have been relocated to VC322.

Back to Series List