Ruth Agatha Houghton

Infobox Military Person
name=Ruth Agatha Houghton
born= birth year and age|1909
died=
placeofbirth=
placeofdeath=


caption=
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Navy
serviceyears= 1935–1962?
rank=Captain
commands=Director of the United States Navy Nurse Corps, 1958-1962
unit=
battles=World War II Korean War
awards=American Defense Service Medal with a star American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Medal World War II Victory Medal National Defense Service Medal
laterwork=
portrayedby= Capt Ruth Agatha Houghton was the Director of the United States Navy Nurse Corps, serving in that position from 1958 to 1962.

Early life

Ruth Agatha Houghton was born in 1909. In 1932 she graduated from St. John's Hospital School of Nursing in Lowell, Massachusetts cite book |last=Godson |first=Susan H. |title=Serving Proudly: A history of Women in the U.S. Navy |date=2001 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=1-55750-317-6 ] .

Navy Nurse Corps career

Ruth Agatha Houghton was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy Nurse Corps on 1 June,1935. During her years of service, her duty stations included the Canal Zone, Australia, and New Guinea .

From 1935 to 1936 Houghton was assigned to Naval Hospital, New York, NY, then transferred to Naval Hospital, Newport, RI where she was assigned from 1936 to 1942. Subsequent assignments included Naval Hospital, Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, Naval Hospital, Puget Sound, Naval Hospital, Corona, CA. During WWII she filled the billet of Chief Nurse at the Naval Training School, Cedar Rapids, IA and then, in July 1943 was assigned as Chief Nurse, Echo Base Hospital #10, Sydney, Australia and promoted to LCDR. In August 1944 she took the job of Chief Nurse, Base Hospital #13, New Guinea. In 1945 she was assigned as Nurse Indoctrination Instructor, Philadelphia Naval Hospital, then traveled to Klamath Falls, OR, and Portsmouth, NH. In 1946 Houghton was assigned to Nursing Division, BUMED as a Detail Officer for the Nurse Corps.

Houghton became the Senior nurse corps Officer, Navy Medical Unit, Tripler Army General Hospital in Hawaii in 1950. She subsequently served as Chief Nurse at San Diego Naval Hospital in 1952 and as Chief Nurse, Bethesda Naval Hospital in 1954. She became the first Navy nurse other than the Director to be promoted to the rank of Captain in 1957. In 1958 she assumed the role of Director of the Navy Nurse Corps .

Captain Houghton retired on 1 May 1962.

Education

Houghton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing Education from Boston College in 1951. She later earned a master of science degree in Nursing from Catholic University in America, Washington, D. C. .

ee also

References

Further reading

*cite book |last=Sterner |first=Doris M. |title=In and Out of Harm's Way: A history of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps |date=1997 |publisher=Peanut Butter Publishing |location=Seattle, WA |isbn=0897167066
*cite book |last=Ebbert |first=Jean and Marie-Beth Hall|title=Crossed Currents: Navy Women from WWI to Tailhook [Revised] |date=1999 |publisher=Brassey's |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1574881936
*cite book |last=Godson |first=Susan H. |title=Serving Proudly: A history of Women in the U.S. Navy |date=2001 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=1-55750-317-6 Fact filled, extensively researched account of the evolution of the roles of women in the United States Navy, treating the parallel and intertwined paths of the Navy Nurse Corps and the WAVES. About one-third of the pages are devoted to notes and bibliography.

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-tpic/nurses/nurses.htm Nurses and the U.S. Navy -- Overview and Special Image Selection] Naval Historical Center