A Determined Vanguard
By Renissa Gannie
Agnes Rogers Black
June 29, 1883 – February 24, 1968
Agnes Rogers Black, taken from her 1968 Denver Post obituary
As the blowing winds of change swept the nation in the early twentieth century, the suffrage movement demanded women be given the right to vote, in addition to other fundamental human rights.[1] Women were considered the property of their fathers and husbands and were not allowed basic freedoms, for they were deemed fragile and weak, constantly being underestimated. However, in April of 1917, when the United States of America entered World War One,[2] American women proved they were anything but fragile. More than 22,400 women, many of whom had never left their hometowns, enlisted and volunteered to serve in the Army Nurses Corps.[3] One such woman was Agnes Almanza Rogers Black, born the eldest child of Russell Clark and Cinderella Rogers in Humansville, Missouri on June 29, 1883.[4] Agnes grew up in Montgomery City, Missouri, and moved to Colorado to join her sister, who lived in Fort Collins.[5]
Agnes grew up in a time where women were not recognized for their bravery and value. She and countless women signed up with the American Red Cross and the United States military to serve and defend a country that had not yet allowed them to vote.[6] However, when her country needed help, Agnes became a trailblazer among women in Colorado, as she became the first nurse to enlist from Denver in the Army Nurses Corps to serve in World War One.[7] Agnes began her active duty on September 17, 1917.[8] On June 7, 1918, Agnes and many other nurses boarded the USS Manchuria from New Jersey, heading to France.[9] She was stationed in Bordeaux, France, during World War One. Bordeaux was close to the battlefield, and nurses were often forced to go without rest in order to tend to the wounded.[10]
The American Red Cross recruited roughly 22,000 professionally trained female nurses to serve in the U.S. Army in World War One between 1917 and 1919. More than 10,000 of these courageous female nurses served near the Western Front, and more than 1,500 nurses served in the U.S. Navy. Although the military leaders wanted nurses to be kept out of danger, the need for them on the front line was far too great, and many answered the call and became casualties of the war. The impact of the female nurses that served in World War One demonstrated that women could handle harsh conditions and their skills were indispensable in the fight. The United States Army was so impressed with its female nurses that they were the first females in the Army to be awarded ranks and medals.[11]
In World War One nurses played a critical role, for they saved countless lives and returned many men to duty.[12] Agnes rose to First Lieutenant in the Army,[13] braving the dangers and risks to help the wounded men and women she encountered. Agnes returned to the United States on the ship USS Floridian on June 15, 1919.[14] She moved to Suffolk City, Massachusetts, where she continued working as a nurse.[15] Two years later, in 1921 Agnes Rogers married a soldier named Charles H.A. Black, known as Clyde, and became Agnes Rogers Black.[16] She reentered the Army[17] to serve in World War Two. After World War Two, Agnes and Clyde divorced in 1948 in Dade County, Florida.[18] Agnes Rogers Black returned to Denver, Colorado and lived at 1626 Logan Street and worked as a nurse at Saint Joseph Hospital. Agnes was proud of her profession and her service to her country and she participated in many organizations including the National Retired Officers Commissioned Association, American Legion, St. Joseph’s Hospital Nurses Alumnae, and the National Organization of World War Nurses.[19]
Agnes Rogers Black, like many young women, served her country when the call went out for volunteers to assist in the war. The fact that she enlisted in the U.S. Army twice showed her continued commitment and valor. The need for nurses in World War I was in high demand and Agnes Rogers Black answered the call to serve her country and went on to help save many American lives. Her sacrifice along with the thousands of women that risked their lives is greatly appreciated and honored today. Agnes died on February 24, 1968, at St. Luke Hospital, at the age of 84.[20] She personifies the fight that shows women as valuable members of society; like the many other women who served in World War I, her efforts contributed to more Americans favoring the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, granting many women the right to vote.
Footnotes ↓
[1] Paul Buhle and Mari Jo Buhle. eds., The Concise History of Woman Suffrage: Selections from History of Woman Suffrage, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005).
[2] “America Enters World War I,” History.com, accessed on July 23, 2020, https://www.history.com.
[3] Evelyn Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee, And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II (New York: Anchor Books, 2004).
[4] 1900 United States Federal Census for Agnes A Rogers, accessed July 3, 2020, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[5] US Army WWI Transport Service, Passenger Lists, accessed on July 23, 2020, https://www.fold3.com.
[6]Ellen Carol DuBois, Woman Suffrage and Women’s Rights, 2nd ed. (New York: New York University Press, 1998), https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.
[7] Agnes Rogers Black Obituary, Denver Post, February 26, 1968, accessed July 3, 2020, https://digital.denverlibrary.org.
[8] Agnes Rogers Ancestry library, accessed on July 3, 2020, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[9] Naval Historical Center, “USN Ships--USS Manchuria US Army WWI Transport Service,” accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.fold3.com.
[10] US Army WWI Transport Service, USS Floridian Passenger Lists, accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.fold3.com; Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee, And If I Perish; “Interview with WWII Veteran - Dorothy Baggett,” YouTube Video, accessed on July 3,2020, https://www.youtube.com.
[11] Marian Moser Jones, “American Nurses in World War I,” PBS, accessed July 3, 2020, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/the-great-war-american-nurses-world-war-1/; “Nurses,” National WWI Museum and Memorial, accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.theworldwar.org; “The History of Wartime Nurses: Duquesne University,” accessed on July 3, 2020, https://onlinenursing.duq.edu.
[12] Marian Moser Jones, PBS; “History of Wartime Nurses.”
[13] National Cemetery Administration, “U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites, accessed July 3, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[14] US Army WWI Transport Service, Passenger Lists, accessed July 3, 2020, https://www.fold3.com.
[15] 1920 United States Federal Census for Agnes A Rogers, accessed July 3, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[16] Agnes Almanza Rogers, Ancestry Library, accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[17] Agnes Rogers Obituary Index, 1940-1955, accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[18] Florida, Divorce Index, 1927-2001, accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[19] Agnes Almanza Rogers, Ancestry Library, accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[20] Agnes Rogers Black, Obituaries 1968 Denver Post, accessed on July 3, 2020, https://www.denverlibrary.org; National Cemetery Administration, “U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites, ca.1775-2006,” accessed July 3, 2020, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com; Monahan and Neidel-Greenlee, And If I Perish; “Interview with WWII Veteran - Dorothy Baggett,” YouTube Video, accessed July 3, 2020, https://www.youtube.com
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