Appointment of Female Physicians and Surgeons in the Medical Corps of the Army and Navy
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APPOINTMENT OF FEMALE PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE ARMY AND NAVY HEARINGS BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE NO. 3 OF THE COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEVENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H. R. 824 A BILL TO AMEND THE ACT OF SEPTEMBER 22, 1941 (PUBLIC LAW 252, 77TH CONG.), WITH RELATION TO THE TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS OF OFFI- CERS IN THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES AND H. R. 1857 A BILL TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF FEMALE PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE ARMY AND NAVY MARCH 10, 11, AND 18, 1943 Printed for the use of the Committee on Military Affairs UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE S4691 WASHINGTON : 1943 SUBCOMMITTEE NO. 3 AVIATION, APPOINTMENTS, PROMOTIONS, AND RETIREMENT MATTHEW J. MERRITT, Chairman JOHN M. COSTELLO, California. DEWEY SHORT, Missouri. OVERTON BROOKS, Louisiana. LESLIE C. ARENDS, Illinois. JOHN J. SPARKMAN, Alabama. CHARLES R. CLASON, Massachusetts. PAUL J. KILDAY, Texas. CHARLES H. ELSTON, Ohio. CARL T. DURHAM, North Carolina. FOREST A. HARNESS, Indiana. E. C. GATHINGS, Arkansas. J. LEROY JOHNSON, California. ROBERT L. F. SIKES, Florida. PHILIP J. PHILBIN, Massachusetts. Julia Watterson, Clerk TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of: Pag» Hon. Emanuel Celler, Member of Congress from the State of New York 2-14 Dr. Emily Dunning Barringer 15-26 Hon. Edith Nourse Rogers, Member of Congress from the State of Massachusetts _ 26-27 Miss Dorothy Kenyon, legal adviser 28-32 Dr. Sara Jordan 32-37 Dr. Oswald S. Lowsley 37 Dr. Chas. Farr 37-38 Hon. J. J. Sparkman 39-41 Dr. James H. Fay l 41 Mr. D. S. Ray, of the American Legion 41-43 Dr. Helena T. Ratterman 44-48 Dr. F. H. Lahey 48-53 Mrs. Frank Vanderlip 53-54 Dr. Anita Muhl 54-55 Dr. Elaine P. Ralli 55 Dr. Alice Wooley 55 Dr. Zoe A. Johnston 55 Dr. Marguerite McCarthy 55 Dr. Henry Sage Dunning 55 Dr. Kathryn Whitten 55-67 Dr. Ruth Ewing 67 Mrs. Harvey Wiley __ 67 Dr. Frances Marshall 67 Mrs. Babcock 67 Miss Elizabeth A. Smart. _ I 67 Miss Chari Ormond Williams 68 Dr. Minnie L. Maffett 68-71 Dr. Margaret D. Craighill 71-72 Petitions 72-81 Letters, telegrams, etc 81-84 Brig. Gen. Larry B. McAfee 85-86 Dr. Ollie Josephine Prescott Bairs-Bennett 87-88 Statements . 88-101 APPOINTMENT OF FEMALE PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN THE MEDICAL CORPS OF THE ARMY AND NAYY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1943 House of Representatives, Subcommittee No. 3 of the Committee on Military Affairs, Washington, D. C. Subcommittee No. 3 met at 10 a. in., pursuant to call, Hon. Matthew J. Merritt, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Mr. Merritt. The subcommittee will please come to order. This is Subcommittee No. 3 of the Committee on Military Affairs. We have assembled to hear the testimony to be given on H. R. 824 and H. R. 1857. H. R. 824 was introduced by Mr. Celler, of New York; H. R. 1857 was introduced by Mr. Sparkman, of Alabama. The bills are as follows: IH. R. 824, 78th Cong., 1st Sess.] A BILL To amend theAct of September 22,1941 (Public Law 252, Seventy-seventh Congress), withrelation to the temporary appointments of officers in the Army of the United States Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act of September 22, 1941 (Public Law 252, Seventy-seventh Congress), be amended to read as follows: “That during the present emergency, temporary appointments as officers in the Army of the United States may be made, under such regulations as the President may prescribe, from among qualified men and women without appointing such men and women as officers in any particular component of the Army of the United States. All men and women so appointed as officers shall be commissioned in the Army of the United States and may be ordered into the active military service of the United States to serve therein for such periods of time as the President may prescribe. Such appointments in grades below that of brigadier general shall be made by the President alone, and general officers by and with the advice and consent of the Senate: Provided, That any appointment made under the provisions of this Act may be vacated at any time by the President, and, if not sooner vacated, shall continue during the present emergency and six months thereafter. Provided further, That any man or woman appointed as an officer in the Army of the United States under the provisions of this Act shall receive the same pay and allowances and be entitled to the same rights, privileges, and benefits as members of the Officers’ Reserve Corps of the same grade and length of active service: And pro- vided further, That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the appointment of officers in the various components, of the Army of the United States in accordance with existing laws. [H. R. 1857, 78th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide lor the appointment of female physicians and surgeons in the Medical Corps of the Army and Navy Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter during the present war and six months thereafter there shall be included in the Medical Departments of the Army and Navy such licensed female physicians and surgeons as the Secretary of War 2 FEMALE PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN ARMY AND NAVY and the Secretaryof the Navy may consider necessary, whose qualifications, duties, and assignments shall be in accordance with regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary and who shall be appointedand at his discretion removed by the Surgeon General of the Army or Navy, subject to the approval of the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the Navy. Those appointed shall be commissioned in the Army of the United States or the Naval Reserve, and shall receive the same pay and allowances and be entitled to the same rights, privileges, and benefits as members of the Officers’ Reserve Corps of the Army and the Naval Reserve of the Navy with the same grade and length of service: Provided, That female physicians and surgeons appointed under this Act shall only be assigned to duty in hospitals or other stations where female nurses are employed. Mr. Merritt. I understand, Mr. Celler, that you have a statement to make in regard to this legislation. STATEMENT OF HON. EMANUEL CELLER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK Mr. Celler. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. I am very happy to have this opportunity to express a few remarks concerning the bill which I have offered, H. R. 824, and the bill which our distinguished colleague, Mr. Sparkman, has offered, H. R. 1857. I am indeed in favor of both those bills, but I naturally prefer my bill. I believe it meets the general need for women’s talents in the Army far better than the Sparkman bill. With reference to my own bill, I want, briefly, to give you the basis or genesis of its preparation and introduction. It would appear that there has been rather an archaic, a sort of mid-Victorian interpretation of Public Law 252 of the Seventy-seventh Congress, which was a bill to authorize temporary appointments of officers in the Army of the United States. That bill, you may recall, was adopted because of our expanding armies, and it provided for the commissioning of certain individuals, necessitated by virtue of that augmentation of the Army, and those commissions were to be for the duration of the war. Significantly that act, Public Law 252 uses the wmrd “persons.” For example, in part, that act reads as follows: “That during the present emergency, temporary appointments as officers in the Army of the United States may be made, under such regulations as the President may prescribe, from among qualified persons”; in another part, the bill reads: “All persons so appointed as officers”; and in another place the w'ord “person” singular, is used. The War Department has ruled that where the word “person” or “persons” is used in that act, only a man or men are intended, so wr e come to the inescapable conclusion that, as far as the interpretation of this statute is concerned, a wr oman is not a “person.” That sounds rather mid-Victorian, and anyone who says that is simply giving us words as though they came out the holes of an old, moth-eaten parlor sofa; I am sure that you gentlemen realize that a woman is a “person” beyond peradventure of doubt. All my bill does is to change the words “person” and “persons” wherever they are used in that statute to “man and woman” and to “men and women.” Now, it would appear that the head of the Army Nurse Corps, a Miss Flikke, who is a major in the Army Nurse Corps, was recom- mended for promotion, and was actually promoted by the Secretary of War, or by the War Department, to the position of colonel; but the Comptroller General ruled that since Miss Flikke was a woman, she, therefore, was not a person, and the promotion could not stand up, because the Comptroller General in his ruling stated that he wmuld FEMALE PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS IN ARMY AND NAVY 3 not approve the additional salary that Miss Flikke would receive as a colonel. He ruled that Miss Flikke would have to be termed Superintendent of Army Nurse Corps—as provided in the act setting up Army Nurse Corps—or hold her previous rank as major.