Block, Louise Jonas (1876-1920)

Title

Block, Louise Jonas (1876-1920)

Contributor

Zizelmann, Evelyn

Source

USAHS Relief, NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

birthday

1876-12-02

Birthplace

New Orleans, LA

Death Date

1920-01-16

Occupation

Nurse, Contract Nurse

Biographical Text

Louise Jonas Block was born as the fourth child to Augustus and Lucia Jonas Block, although she only grew up with two older siblings. She left New Orleans to attend school in New York, and graduated from Mt. Sinai Training School for Nurses in 1894. She then transferred to the Orthopedic Hospital and Infirmary for Nervous Diseases in Philadelphia, PA, and worked there for four years before applying in 1898 to be a contract nurse for the army. She was selected for the U.S. Hospital Ship Relief by head Doctor McGee, and served aboard from June to October of 1898. This ship brought over 200 sick men to land per return, many of whom were treated by Block. She was a life member of the Spanish-American War Nurses thanks to this posting.

After the war, Block resigned from nursing altogether due to her health. It is believed she might have been infected from the yellow fever infection on the Relief, or from tropical diseases when the ship docked in Siboney, Cuba. Block was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in the Spanish-American War Nurses section.

Bibliography

Crescent City Nightingales: Gender, Race, Class and the Professionalization of Nursing for Women in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1881-1950

The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review, Nursing World, Volumes 64-65

Louise Jonas Block (1876-1920), Find A Grave

BLOCK Louise, American Jewish Archives

Image 4 of New York journal and advertiser, (New York [N.Y.]), September 8, 1898, Library of Congress